When Gamers Learn!

Sim City is what some call an oldie but a goodie.  I spent Saturday on a journey back into my childhood playing what is now called Sim City Classic.  As the name of the game suggests, players build and design a city.  As you may know there have been multiple new additions and even cross-reference games, however I prefer to stick to the original.  The player can build a town with several zones such as residential, commercial, and industrial.  One can change the tax rate, build a power plant, build transportation systems (auto or train) and take many other actions, in order to enhance the city.  The game can take a long time to play.  I forgot how intricate the game can be, and found it much harder to sit and play like I use to. 

I choose Sim City because this game is a great example and was discussed multiple times in the module readings.  Even at school this week I found Sim City is familiar to even the current school age children (of course, they play the newer versions).  I had no idea my students today would love playing it even though it’s almost thirty years old. 

One of the main reasons I picked Sim City is because it really brings many mathematic concepts to life for the students.  The spacing and visual understandings of how to make sure there is enough room for buildings and roads.  Seeing the implications of working with a budget, taxes, and cost of creating new (in this case shopping, homes, and factories), how the player working with math to calculate what can be done and how to better society while doing it. 

The aspect I have really noticed, not only this week, but throughout this whole semester is how much this generation of students really thrives with new media.  I totally understand why we would name them digital natives because it’s almost like they are wired to be more attracted to or pay closer attention to a video screen than the person standing right in front of them.  So it’s become very apparent we as educators need to do two things.  First, we need to make sure our lesson plans are top notch, engaging, and meaningful.  Second, we need to find ways to work game-based learning into our curriculum or school day.  One of the best ways to use game-based learning is during RTI or homeroom.  Allowing students to play games gives them a break yet if you pick the right games their minds continue to work.