Games in the classroom

I can hear you say it from here: ‘those kids play enough playstation at home’ and ‘in our days, we didn’t need those games, why do they now?’
I have to confess that I used to approach the idea of Flemish Minister Pascal Smet to allow games in the classroom rather negatively. But now, partly due to the fact that I landed in the ICT sector myself, I totally agree.

Work and experience have opened my eyes. With this blog, I would like to explain why. I hope to clear out some of the misunderstandings about gaming in the educational system and want to persuade those in doubt about the benefits of ‘serious gaming’. Pretty ambitious for a very first blog, I am aware of that. But hey, here we go!

Games in the classroom

Clearly, it all begins with the way in which the proposition of Minister Smet is being announced in the media: deredactie.be headlines “Smet: Gaming should be allowed in class” on DSO we read: “Minister Smet pleads for games in the class”.

Beside the article, there is a hungry-for-spectacle picture with gaming children in a some situation and one must think that the quote regards bloody, addictive playstation games.

Not!

Going to school still means that children should learn educationally. They should not analyze bloody fighting scenes in history class, but it also does not mean that they should have a boring fact-based lesson about Spartacus, without a little fragment with Rusell Crowe.

The image helps to memorize the words (especially when you are sixteen and full of hormones).

There are different ways to teach educationally by means of computer games. Just think about the little games on children’s websites in which colours are put in the right basket. Online language games in which pleasure and learning go hand in hand with each other are another good example.

Because of the digital revolution going on, every child will encounter one of these games sooner or later.

Games are a perfect way to learn kids about the value of money or to bring them closer together.

In other words: games can support the learning process of our school children in an active way. More active than a textbook ever could.