Games Games Games!!!! (I know this is a bit late, apologies)

Frankly i've enjoyed every bit of the last 3 weeks, because i guess computer games have always been a pertinent part of my life since i was a wee little lad. I grew up playing Coleco - a console game made in about 1982? I was able to play games like the Dukes Of Hazard, donkey kong, to name a few. I was in Primary 2.

Upper Primary saw Nintendo come into my life, with games like Super Mario Brothers and the Legend Of Lynx partaking my leisure time. We received our first PC when i was in Primary 5. We had our first PC, running on DOS. My first computer game was Alley Cats, and Ultima, and there was no such thing as Windows. You basically had to type commands to run games like C:\alleycats\alleycat.bat. We had to learn how to edit Autoexec.bat files and config.sys files to enable your computer to boot properly.

What's my point? My point is that games and computers have always been a part of my life. And what it afforded me was that it afforded me to fail in my exploits, and to reinforce and build on my identity of who i am. I have been playing World Of Warcraft since 2005. For the last 4 years, on and off, i've been playing the role of a healer.

I've healed various dungeons, raids, and group missions. That's my character and that's what i do best. My nurturing and healing instincts of wanting to help others and keeping others alive is what fuels me to keep playing. When i die, i know all is not lost, and i can resurrect and try again. I foster relationships with real people. I confide in them. When my girlfriend of 9 years dumped me, i played WOW. My online family grieved with me and took my side. There was no facade. Everyone accepted everyone as they were. I went on msn. I grieved. Online messengers have been part of my life since 1991 when we had Teleview and chat forums. Then came ICQ. And Msn messenger.

I saw Paul Gee's learning principals embedded in what i was engaged in.
1) I take risks - "Psychosocial Moratorium" Principle. If i fail, i just say sorry and we try again.

2) Identity Principle - i reinforce my character in game play.

3) Self-knowledge principle - I learnt to adapt to the environment, what my limitations were and how much potential i had.

4) Achievement principle - the more i quested, the more gold i had, the more raids i cooperated with people in, the better chances i had in getting better loot and rare items to don myself and upgrade myself in.

And so on and so forth. I could go on and write a whole paper on this. Which i did for my final project thesis at university.

It would be most interesting if we could go beyond the 'front-loading' principle and try to embed 'game play' principles in our teaching methodologies.

Even more so if we could design games that would have content and sufficient fun and play factors embedded so that students can be engaged and subconsciously learn concepts, theories or historical facts. A new game about the History of Singapore is due for release in the near future. I wonder whether this will be sustainable? How long can students stay engaged before they lose interest and move on?

Realistically, how can a game engage students long enough for them to acquire the knowledge and content that the teacher would like to depart. For most students, at this point of time it would be a 'one-off' experience. Yes Dafur is dying. I played it once, but that's all i was going to do. Game play was too simple, and although the content was noble, i wasn't going to re-visit it during my spare time. Would others do so?

The McDonalds game was an eye-opener. Yes we were aware of the atrocities (rumors) that were swirling around the capitalistic giants, and this had enough challenge for students to want to revisit. What do they learn subconsciously? Heaps! Micro management? Economics? And real life politic-ing.

The Wii Stations were absolutely engaging. It can teach students how to play sports, which encompasses the rules and regulations, and also the surgery station was awesome. Students can be inspired to even try a career in medicine.

I can't wait to see the day computer games take the leap into the classroom. I wonder if i can even start a CCA - Computer game play , or a WOW club, fully funded by the school, with the premise that it would help students learn to be motivated, intellectually challenged, and also learn how to EQ with one another?

I know one school has successfully won that battle. I wonder what it would take for us to win this one and change old conventional teaching stereotypes?