Handheld Learning article syndication http://www.gamebasedlearning.org.uk Tue, 07 Sep 2010 18:40:03 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://www.gamebasedlearning.org.uk/images/M_images/rss.png http://www.gamebasedlearning.org.uk Handheld Learning article syndication http://www.gamebasedlearning.org.uk/content/view/67/1/ Crossing Borders, Blurring Boundaries and Taking Action. They do though don’t they though - children learn things from computer games while they play. There has been considerable interest in the use of computer games for learning mainly due to their ubiquitous nature amongst learners and for their powers of motivation. In 2009 it is generally accepted that computer games not only engage young people, Prachett (2005) found that some 78% of 16-19 year-olds play computer games and 87% of 8-11s and 88% of 12-15s played games on a games console at home in the UK and Lenhardt Et al (2008) who note that 99% of boys and 94% of girls across the socio-economic spectrum in the USA play some kind of computer or video game, but also promote learning. Papert (1998) MacFarlane (2002) Gee (2003) Gee and Hayes (2009), Prensky (2000), BBFC (2006) all espouse the benefits of computer gaming and note the skills and attributes that they promote in learning. Marcin http://www.gamebasedlearning.org.uk/content/view/59/1/ Design, Resources Affinity SpacesIt has been common for some time to see the formal learning in school compared unfavorably to informal learning out of school (Cross, 2006). Humans seem to learn more deeply, and more equitably, without gaps between rich and poor, when they learn outside of school in areas they choose and for which they are motivated (Gee, 2003; 2004). Even three-year-olds can become experts on dinosaurs or trains, as Kevin Crowley has shown in his work on “islands of expertise” (Crowley Jacobs, 2002).Today, however, informal learning has become more and more complex, demanding, and sophisticated at a time when much learning in school has become skill-and-drill test preparation. Steve Johnson, in his popular book Everything Bad is Good for You (2006), has argued that modern media—television shows, anime, and video games, for example—are more complex and demanding these days than they have ever been before. Marcin http://www.gamebasedlearning.org.uk/content/view/58/1/ Computer games as learning tools, who'd have thought it? Those modern day folk devils that up until recently have lurked in children's bedrooms are now not only sitting centre stage in living rooms but also, now in classrooms! What on earth is going on you may ask? What on earth has a game for the Wii, the Xbox360, DS or PSP got to do with the world of school? I mean, aren’t these machines just frivolous time wasters that induce cognitive stagnation, cause obesity and turn our children into bedroom dwelling loners?! Marcin