Problems+and+Challenges

=Problems with Gaming and Learning=



While the authors of this wiki agree that gaming in education provides excellent opportunities for in-depth learning, there are some drawbacks to bringing games into schools, and as with all other educational opportunities there exist problems and questions yet to be answered.

Edutainment or education?
As described previously in this wiki, games have been used as a means of education for a long time. Alexander et. al. describe three categories for approaches toward rationale for bringing digital games into school in modern times; the idea that learning desirable skills within a game will translate to using those skills in non-game situations; a focus on putting curriculum into games that exist anyway (such as Jeopardy games to drill factual learning); and an idea that takes the learning principles of games and applies them to educational content. [2] The authors argue that the first theory is problematic and cite the example of chess, where strategy and planning are key to success in the game, but where grand masters may not have obtained the ability to use those skills outside of the game itself. Putting curriculum into games that exists can lead to "edutainment" where the learning, in spite of being in the context of a digital game, is rote and at a superficial level. In simulations, they argue, students are more engaged with the content, but argue that it is not yet clear if the real gist of what we want students to learn about, say, the Oregon Trail, is learned through simulations. [3] In the third approach, the transfer of learning approach, the authors see the most promise and the least research. In this approach, the characteristics that engage students in games are brought to the learning environment, and not necessarily the games themselves. This approach is detailed in the @Learning Design section of this wiki. There is not a wellspring of empirical evidence that gaming does in fact help learning in the way necessary for schooling, and further studies will have to investigate that link more closely.

What is Reality?
Sherry Turkle, whose seminal book //Life on the Screen// praised virtual identities as a "wondrous" forum for the exploration of different facets of one's own identities (see @Identity and Avatars chapter), has recently published //Alone Together// outlining some of the perils of the constantly connected world. In a TEDx talk at UIUC, Turkle shares her concerns that the ability to alter and regulate relationships in an online environment allows people to remain relatively disconnected from deep and complicated relationships.

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The work of Okita, Balienson and Schwartz [cite] shows that subjects learned more when they even believed that they were interacting socially with an avatar. However, Turkle sees this as a problem when people start to have relationships with bots, or computers. They can regulate those online and/or artificial relationships in ways not possible in real life, and thus are able to have "the illusion of companionship without the friendship." In the blur between reality and virtual worlds, students could get caught with an inability to attempt learning where the consequences for failure were real, or where the relationships they had to deal with were more complicated than in a virtual or gaming environment. In addition to getting caught not facing reality, users of games in which users create avatars could be subject to fraud and/or predatory practices.



Other problems and questions

 * Access: With most technology related items, access to computers, the Internet, connection, etc. is often a problem due to the fact that access is not a given in every educational situation. In order to access the majority of these simulations and games, students will need a connection to the Internet as well as device to use the game. Thus, access could pose an issue or challenge that perhaps a Chromebook or other mobile device might help offset.
 * Uncontrolled Environments: Some of the virtual games are included within uncontrolled environments. In these environments, students could be susceptible to the dangers of the Internet when not monitored appropriately by teachers and parents. These uncontrolled environments could potentially also lead to addiction with the game and students dropping in academic performance due to an obsession with a specific game or environment, regardless of how instructional the environment might be. Some limitations should be placed on a student's usage of the game for educational and entertainment intents. This limitation would help instill in the student that moderation is a good quality to possess and will also limit the interaction with others in an inappropriate manner.
 * Addiction: Some users of games become addicted to them. If a student were in fact getting treatment for a gaming addiction, coming to play at school could be difficult or impossible. For a look at how gamers become addicted, see the following wiki page from Technology Use and Abuse on gaming addiction.
 * Sex and Violence: While certainly games made for K-12 classrooms will be vetted to not contain overt sex and violence, the perception that they are can lead to a reticence toward using digital games in the classroom by teachers. [6] Kearney and Pivec argue that the success of such games as Ultimate //Brain Games// and //Brain Age// for the Ninento DS (not to mention the more recent //Sims//, //Guitar Hero// and wii //Fit// ) will change the image of games as they inevitably become part of the classroom experience. [7] (see the 2011 Horizon Report) [8]