Tech Edge, Mobile Learning In The Classroom - Episode 15, Critical Thinking With Games

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05/31/2016 Added

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Technology Information: Critical Thinking With Games

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[00:00:00.300]Coming up with Mobile Learning in the Classroom,
[00:00:02.420]Critical Thinking with Games.
[00:00:04.577](disco music)
[00:00:17.380]Hi my name is Guy Trainin.
[00:00:18.840]And I'm Zoe Falls.
[00:00:19.783]And this is Mobile Learning in the Classroom,
[00:00:22.246]and today we're talking about Critical Thinking with Games.
[00:00:26.266]So, I have SimCity up on my iPad
[00:00:29.057]and,
[00:00:30.562]what I like about SimCity is,
[00:00:32.319]especially for critical thinking,
[00:00:34.179]is you have to think through the steps you're going to make
[00:00:36.599]to play the game.
[00:00:37.432]It's not something where you can just be passive.
[00:00:40.069]You have to think about the choices you're making,
[00:00:42.419]and how those choices will cascade,
[00:00:44.959]and affect other choices you make later on.
[00:00:47.319]And so, for the critical thinking aspect of it,
[00:00:49.919]there is an element of thinking about
[00:00:52.894]how one aspect will affect another.
[00:00:55.379]So, problem-solving through the end goal.
[00:00:58.879]So if the end goal is to develop a zoo for your city,
[00:01:01.899]what steps do you need to take,
[00:01:04.099]to create your zoo.
[00:01:06.999]And for students especially you know,
[00:01:08.784]over the summer,
[00:01:09.617]when they're,
[00:01:10.450]when they're playing,
[00:01:11.819]this is a great way for them to still be engaging
[00:01:14.499]in learning and working through different things,
[00:01:18.199]but still getting to play a fun game.
[00:01:20.339]Like SimCity. Yeah, and fun,
[00:01:22.054]and one of the other things that I like
[00:01:23.899]about the games we're gonna talk about today is,
[00:01:26.136]they're not about fighting,
[00:01:27.439]they're not about winning necessarily.
[00:01:30.499]They're more about long-term engagement,
[00:01:32.719]and problem-solving.
[00:01:34.279]The second piece that I really think
[00:01:36.214]that is important to try and do
[00:01:38.659]when kids are playing this,
[00:01:39.659]because it really depends.
[00:01:40.619]Some kids really like puzzles,
[00:01:42.159]and other kids get discouraged really, really early like,
[00:01:44.999]it's not working for me,
[00:01:46.059]I'm moving on, I don't wanna do this any more.
[00:01:48.639]So there are two ways to deal with that,
[00:01:50.399]that are both important to developing
[00:01:52.119]this problem-solving ability.
[00:01:54.259]One is,
[00:01:55.972]if they can work with somebody else,
[00:01:57.859]so they've friends, and they're all playing the same games,
[00:02:00.461]they show each other how to do things,
[00:02:02.539]they discover things and tell the other one.
[00:02:05.279]And when they're really discouraged,
[00:02:06.559]sometimes they'll say just you take it,
[00:02:08.119]and you do this a little bit,
[00:02:09.519]and then they see the solution and learn from that.
[00:02:11.979]So that ability to share the task,
[00:02:13.659]and to share what they've learned,
[00:02:15.319]and the second thing is to really stop,
[00:02:17.759]if they don't have somebody or,
[00:02:20.317]if you're traveling and they don't,
[00:02:22.119]and they don't necessarily have somebody around them
[00:02:24.559]that they can talk,
[00:02:26.219]talking to adults really matters.
[00:02:28.759]Explain to me why you made that choice,
[00:02:30.739]tell me why you're doing this and not that.
[00:02:33.499]You'll get a real insight into
[00:02:35.379]how they're thinking and solving problems,
[00:02:37.239]and you also start seeing that,
[00:02:39.519]even things that seem random,
[00:02:41.259]and they're like,
[00:02:42.092]I wouldn't make that choice.
[00:02:43.339]They actually have a reason.
[00:02:44.359]Sometimes they are trying,
[00:02:46.459]especially in these kind of games,
[00:02:47.579]sometimes they want to see distraction.
[00:02:50.019]Sometimes they want to see things burning,
[00:02:52.179]or blowing up, or whatever it is.
[00:02:54.239]And then,
[00:02:55.072]they're really doing problem-solving for that goal.
[00:02:57.701]Well, and they think so differently about it and,
[00:03:00.099]one of the things,
[00:03:00.932]so I had a group of students in my class this past semester,
[00:03:04.107]use the
[00:03:05.356]the Sims game
[00:03:06.306]to,
[00:03:07.139]talk through how they would create a virtual reality game,
[00:03:10.479]for children with disabilities,
[00:03:12.859]physical disabilities,
[00:03:13.919]learning disabilities and,
[00:03:15.979]how through that sort of immersive experience,
[00:03:18.839]they could help teachers,
[00:03:20.999]help speech language pathologists,
[00:03:23.039]learn to work with these kids or,
[00:03:25.559]encourage these kids to continue to be successful and so,
[00:03:28.959]for the students like,
[00:03:29.792]their part of the critical thinking,
[00:03:31.459]was less the game itself,
[00:03:33.054]but thinking about
[00:03:34.699]how to use the game,
[00:03:36.019]the importances of the game and,
[00:03:37.979]so I think keeping that in mind when you see,
[00:03:40.456]you know,
[00:03:41.289]younger children working with the game,
[00:03:42.759]and sometimes it's not really about the game at all.
[00:03:45.259]So engaging them in that dialogue
[00:03:46.839]about what is going on,
[00:03:48.839]can be a really powerful learning moment for them.
[00:03:51.659]And for you, by the way.
[00:03:53.039]As adults,
[00:03:53.899]sometimes we're learning as much, if not more.
[00:03:56.799]So what do you do in SimCity?
[00:03:58.319]So, in SimCity you build a city,
[00:04:01.319]which sounds really basic,
[00:04:03.319]but you have to be able to manage the money,
[00:04:05.719]you have to keep your public happy,
[00:04:07.539]you have to have a high enough population,
[00:04:09.659]to warrant additional buildings.
[00:04:11.979]And,
[00:04:12.939]some of it is waiting around.
[00:04:14.939]So I know for some kids,
[00:04:15.799]it can be a little
[00:04:17.579]impatient
[00:04:18.659]with the game.
[00:04:19.599]Cuz I know I get impatient with the games,
[00:04:21.279]cuz you play it for, you know,
[00:04:23.239]15 minutes,
[00:04:24.072]and then you have to wait.
[00:04:25.419]Until it's built Until it's built,
[00:04:27.299]until you get money, and all of that.
[00:04:28.779]Yeah,
[00:04:29.612]but the cool part of that is,
[00:04:30.899]they get to track their progress.
[00:04:32.299]So they can set goals with their friends,
[00:04:34.079]you know, as a parent maybe you could set goals
[00:04:35.839]with your kids over the summer.
[00:04:37.599]Let's see how high you can get your population.
[00:04:40.339]And then you know,
[00:04:41.172]it's less about
[00:04:42.959]winning the game,
[00:04:44.499]which I think, again,
[00:04:45.459]is a really cool way to keep them interested,
[00:04:47.576]and keep that positive attitude going.
[00:04:49.899]But, they go through and,
[00:04:51.759]this one is fairly
[00:04:53.519]Basic.
[00:04:54.352]Basic. It's mine.
[00:04:55.185]It's mine, that's why it's so basic,
[00:04:56.959]I just started it so,
[00:04:58.179]recently, so you can kind of create a building,
[00:05:02.269]and
[00:05:03.102]put another residential zone somewhere,
[00:05:05.399]and will get 52 more people living there,
[00:05:07.779]once we stop building.
[00:05:10.279]And what you can see is that,
[00:05:11.799]it's taking time,
[00:05:13.219]and also because you need
[00:05:14.839]some resources to fill it up.
[00:05:16.999]That will take time as well.
[00:05:19.179]And--
[00:05:20.012]It's gonna make you a factory.
[00:05:21.239]Yes, we gotta make a factory,
[00:05:22.599]but if you build factories,
[00:05:23.883]and you build houses next to them,
[00:05:25.524]then people start complaining,
[00:05:26.539]why do I have a factory next to my house,
[00:05:28.859]and so,
[00:05:29.692]the complexity grows as your city grows,
[00:05:31.939]and this is a really great way to learn,
[00:05:33.659]because it does take a little bit of time,
[00:05:36.147]and when you're making...
[00:05:38.419]If you have a problem like we just had,
[00:05:40.519]you need to put a road in there,
[00:05:42.039]because otherwise,
[00:05:43.819]your factory can't
[00:05:45.479]supply your city so,
[00:05:47.139]lots of learning in there.
[00:05:48.379]So that's SimCity.
[00:05:50.339]I think I've played SimCity as a fairly young person,
[00:05:53.739]and that was a long time ago.
[00:05:56.099]And,
[00:05:57.079]you've definitely--
[00:05:57.912]I've played SimCity, yep.
[00:05:59.199](laughs)
[00:06:00.119]And it's really, really fun for adults,
[00:06:01.799]and definitely fun for kids, and again,
[00:06:03.339]it's,
[00:06:04.299]for me it's like some other games where
[00:06:06.959]the goal is really not combat,
[00:06:09.539]and you don't have that immediate feedback
[00:06:11.659]that sometimes is not so good because,
[00:06:13.839]then kids
[00:06:14.879]are all about the immediate feedback,
[00:06:16.399]you've gotta wait.
[00:06:17.419]There's a
[00:06:18.252]there's a learning curve just in waiting
[00:06:19.559]for things to happen,
[00:06:21.179]and having the patience to develop over time,
[00:06:23.819]so that's
[00:06:24.652]that's part of
[00:06:26.787]SimCity,
[00:06:27.975]and working and playing with that.
[00:06:30.135]The next one I wanted to talk about,
[00:06:31.605]is
[00:06:33.438]a game called Plague.
[00:06:35.055]Plague Inc. actually.
[00:06:36.855]And in Plague Inc., you are the Plague and,
[00:06:41.195]you get to learn about diseases,
[00:06:43.975]and the whole idea is,
[00:06:45.675]that,
[00:06:47.115]you are,
[00:06:49.015]you can
[00:06:50.055]start a new game in this case,
[00:06:51.495]where bacteria,
[00:06:52.395]I didn't advance through the levels,
[00:06:53.775]so I don't have other deadly things.
[00:06:57.115]And you can,
[00:06:58.475]you have different game
[00:06:59.435]difficulties, and let's play casual,
[00:07:01.995]because I'm not very good at this.
[00:07:03.497]I named my disease.
[00:07:05.535]This is my disease.
[00:07:08.235]Yes, I can't pronounce it,
[00:07:09.855]but it really doesn't matter.
[00:07:11.735]And,
[00:07:12.715]you can see that
[00:07:14.295]this allows you to...
[00:07:16.175]You have the ability to
[00:07:17.815]play with a genetic code
[00:07:19.275]and to change...
[00:07:21.655]the nature of
[00:07:23.655]the disease, in this case the bacteria,
[00:07:25.915]so you can
[00:07:27.142]say,
[00:07:27.975]is it an environment in...
[00:07:32.175]oh, that costs money,
[00:07:33.615]we're not gonna do that.
[00:07:35.195]We're just going to go ahead and start.
[00:07:38.015]I like these games when they are free,
[00:07:39.535]I don't like paying for them,
[00:07:40.715]although you can.
[00:07:42.095]And what you can see is,
[00:07:43.475]nobody's sick,
[00:07:44.815]so you see on the bottom it says
[00:07:45.895]how many people in the world are infected,
[00:07:47.575]and the first thing you actually have to choose,
[00:07:49.315]is where does it start?
[00:07:50.995]So...
[00:07:54.495]We are starting in Egypt,
[00:07:57.175]and it infected the first person and,
[00:07:58.975]what I love about this,
[00:08:00.015]and this is what we know about the Plague is,
[00:08:01.675]they have to transfer around the world,
[00:08:03.375]so you can see,
[00:08:04.735]that there's boat traffic and airplane traffic,
[00:08:08.300]throughout the world,
[00:08:09.849]and as that advances,
[00:08:12.629]in dates,
[00:08:14.856]there are
[00:08:16.620]there's the ability to infect other places.
[00:08:18.760]So, as you go along,
[00:08:20.100]you can see nobody's really infected,
[00:08:22.660]you can see everything in Egypt is business as usual.
[00:08:27.060]You can look at the different aspects,
[00:08:29.640]there's no medical research about this disease,
[00:08:31.260]because it hasn't really hurt anybody.
[00:08:34.760]And, on the side you have this DNA structure,
[00:08:37.560]and the DNA thing
[00:08:38.728]helps you develop your
[00:08:40.660]disease as you go along,
[00:08:42.580]and if you really want,
[00:08:43.500]and this is something I like,
[00:08:44.540]you can speed things up,
[00:08:46.220]you can speed things up. Oh, very nice.
[00:08:47.980]Because,
[00:08:50.247]that, that,
[00:08:51.299]especially at the beginning,
[00:08:52.351]you need to speed things up,
[00:08:53.192]because nothing is happening,
[00:08:54.325]you've got eight people,
[00:08:55.597]right?
[00:08:56.430]And it's a good way to keep...
[00:08:57.263]Again, the kids from getting bored with the game.
[00:09:00.179]Yeah, and...
[00:09:02.139]and you can see that
[00:09:04.199]you'll get notices and
[00:09:05.659]as things pop,
[00:09:07.199]now we've got 30 people sick,
[00:09:09.639]and now we can go to my disease,
[00:09:11.719]and you can look at the disease,
[00:09:12.552]where is it in Egypt,
[00:09:13.959]when did it start,
[00:09:14.792]how many people are infected on a daily basis,
[00:09:17.219]eight people, that's not enough.
[00:09:18.879]If we want to really have an impact,
[00:09:21.759]and you can see that you can play with the symptoms,
[00:09:23.819]with the transmission,
[00:09:25.097]and with the abilities of the disease
[00:09:27.482]that's especially about drug resistance.
[00:09:29.519]So it's a kind of a funny way to learn,
[00:09:31.319]because you're learning backwards
[00:09:32.559]from the bad side. Right, and you're,
[00:09:34.119]and you're learning to like,
[00:09:35.299]be the,
[00:09:36.297]your modifying the disease,
[00:09:38.159]cuz there's board game that had,
[00:09:40.639]that looks very similar,
[00:09:42.059]but instead of creating the disease--
[00:09:44.199]Your fighting it.
[00:09:45.199]Your fighting the disease,
[00:09:46.179]so you kind of,
[00:09:47.359]so I think this would be a nice way
[00:09:48.839]to pair a digital game with,
[00:09:51.299]like a family night board game,
[00:09:52.939]where
[00:09:53.859]you learn on the digital device,
[00:09:56.019]like how the disease spreads,
[00:09:57.659]how you can manipulate the DNA,
[00:09:59.639]what goes into that, and then
[00:10:01.759]with the board game,
[00:10:03.179]you can then work the other side of it and,
[00:10:05.719]fix the disease then.
[00:10:07.859]And that your goal is really
[00:10:09.819]to spread worldwide,
[00:10:11.159]and to kill as many people as possible,
[00:10:12.659]which sounds horrible but,
[00:10:14.899]through that reverse,
[00:10:15.939]you're also learning about what kills people,
[00:10:18.159]so diseases can be
[00:10:19.599]highly infectious, but not very deadly,
[00:10:21.539]which is the first disease I created was like that.
[00:10:23.839]It was highly infected.
[00:10:24.759]I infected the whole world,
[00:10:25.759]but almost nobody died,
[00:10:26.979]because it wasn't killing people.
[00:10:28.499]So,
[00:10:29.857]and then the cure was developed and then,
[00:10:32.059]I lost the game,
[00:10:33.099]but,
[00:10:33.932]or won depending on how you look at it,
[00:10:35.819]if you're human.
[00:10:36.859]But,
[00:10:37.917]that's basically how it is,
[00:10:39.987]so you can see the date is on top,
[00:10:41.727]and you're moving along,
[00:10:42.667]and you develop your disease and,
[00:10:44.467]as it goes on,
[00:10:45.907]the map gets redder and redder.
[00:10:48.187]And that's the goal in this game and again,
[00:10:50.607]if you,
[00:10:51.440]you're really thinking about how is this critical thinking,
[00:10:53.767]it's really about,
[00:10:54.967]talk about it,
[00:10:55.800]what is your strategy,
[00:10:57.087]why did you choose that strategy,
[00:10:58.987]did it work, did it not work.
[00:11:01.247]The game has clues that come up once in awhile,
[00:11:03.347]but it's a great way to develop those skills, okay.
[00:11:06.487]So if I do want to be successful next time,
[00:11:08.627]I know I have to develop a disease that's
[00:11:11.587]more deadly because,
[00:11:13.187]if you give people enough time,
[00:11:15.187]they'll develop a cure.
[00:11:16.582]Well, I think that's one of the keys elements with,
[00:11:18.507]with both the games we've looked at so far,
[00:11:20.227]is that they sort of demand that
[00:11:22.187]the child interact with another person.
[00:11:25.267]An adult, a friend, a combination of both, siblings.
[00:11:29.707]And I think in a lot of ways that,
[00:11:31.467]it makes the games more about the community.
[00:11:33.887]They're not sitting there, just in isolation,
[00:11:35.927]playing this game.
[00:11:37.247]They're getting valuable social skills,
[00:11:39.107]they're gaining that critical thinking through
[00:11:41.727]conversing with others,
[00:11:42.707]and figuring out what strategies their friends are using.
[00:11:45.767]And this is,
[00:11:46.600]this is really an important skill
[00:11:47.907]that is not often emphasized.
[00:11:50.627]The two things that you want to build from here.
[00:11:52.587]One is,
[00:11:53.727]to have these critical skills,
[00:11:55.167]you've gotta talk about it,
[00:11:56.227]or write about it,
[00:11:57.227]or interact with somebody else about it.
[00:11:59.447]You don't develop those critical skills just by playing.
[00:12:02.147]Some people do,
[00:12:03.467]but a lot of kids don't because
[00:12:04.687]they're just kind of clicking on things
[00:12:06.607]and see what happens.
[00:12:07.827]You start developing those critical skills,
[00:12:10.027]when you have to communicate with somebody else.
[00:12:12.267]The second piece is that,
[00:12:14.267]playing games does not have to be a solitary activity.
[00:12:17.737]And I think,
[00:12:18.570]people who play games know that.
[00:12:20.487]But a lot of people who criticize games as a way to learn,
[00:12:23.547]always focus on people alone in the rooms,
[00:12:26.607]and they're in the dark,
[00:12:28.167]and they're playing a game and
[00:12:29.647]that's totally not what's happening, so my kids,
[00:12:31.947]when they play Minecraft for example,
[00:12:33.887]do that, there are four or five kids,
[00:12:35.269]they may be actually on different Minecraft
[00:12:37.987]platforms.
[00:12:38.820]Not even in the same world,
[00:12:39.727]but they're all in the same space physically,
[00:12:41.847]and they show each other things,
[00:12:43.507]and they share things,
[00:12:44.747]and that's a huge part of how they play.
[00:12:47.347]So there's tremendous social aspect to gaming,
[00:12:50.807]that is sometimes neglected,
[00:12:52.447]as we talk about it.
[00:12:54.030]The last one,
[00:12:54.872]I just wanna take a peek at,
[00:12:56.147]because I haven't had enough time to look at it
[00:12:58.787]in full details,
[00:12:59.787]but this is The Oregon Trail,
[00:13:01.307]and this is an adaptation of the original Oregon Trail,
[00:13:03.867]but it's got better graphics and,
[00:13:07.287]richer everything,
[00:13:09.407]and
[00:13:11.004]it's not just text,
[00:13:12.067]which was my original Oregon Trail
[00:13:14.575]with the--
[00:13:15.408]With the little green and the tiny lit, yes--
[00:13:18.282]But,
[00:13:19.207]anybody that remembers Oregon Trail, this is great,
[00:13:21.347]and it's all about expansion going West.
[00:13:24.047]So now we're starting to look for wares and,
[00:13:28.887]we don't have enough.
[00:13:29.947]But you can help harvest,
[00:13:31.601]right?
[00:13:32.434]And if you help harvest,
[00:13:33.608]you get some money,
[00:13:34.441]so it's more thoughtful in that way,
[00:13:36.467]and we get some money and some food,
[00:13:38.127]we're getting some things.
[00:13:40.027]And then we take it to the tavern,
[00:13:41.847]so you can see it walks you,
[00:13:43.107]like all good games,
[00:13:44.067]it walks you though the first few steps,
[00:13:45.815]just to make sure that you know what you're doing,
[00:13:48.127]and you're collecting things,
[00:13:50.367]to make sure that you can go on your travels,
[00:13:52.427]and then all the adventures in the travel,
[00:13:54.127]so you can see how this game works,
[00:13:56.127]and starts developing,
[00:13:58.007]all of those skills,
[00:13:59.027]as you set up on your journey,
[00:14:01.467]and you'll see that you can get the map,
[00:14:03.727]and you're on the road.
[00:14:05.487]We're really fast.
[00:14:07.427]And we got the coin.
[00:14:09.387]This is fantastic,
[00:14:10.447]and it goes to the next level.
[00:14:11.847]So, you go through the levels,
[00:14:13.467]you figure out now to travel,
[00:14:14.887]and where to camp, and all of that,
[00:14:16.427]and that's
[00:14:17.867]a really fun game.
[00:14:19.287]Again,
[00:14:20.367]where do you get the critical thinking,
[00:14:21.867]you get the critical thinking from the discussion,
[00:14:24.227]from working with others,
[00:14:25.787]from describing what you're doing
[00:14:27.567]and why you're doing it.
[00:14:28.667]So it's fun,
[00:14:29.647]it's great but,
[00:14:31.007]it also involves quite a bit of thinking.
[00:14:35.247]So this is Oregon Trail.
[00:14:37.827]So today on Mobile Learning in the Classroom,
[00:14:39.687]we talked about Critical Thinking with Games,
[00:14:42.287]and there are lots of other games you can do this with.
[00:14:45.087]And we'll see you next time,
[00:14:46.187]on Mobile Learning in the Classroom.
[00:14:48.727](disco music)

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Tech Edge, Mobile Learning In The Classroom - Episode 15, Critical Thinking With Games

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