Presented

by Meg Bilodeau and Kevin Hodgson Western Massachusetts Writing Project Best Practices 2011 By the age of twenty one, the average young American has spent somewhere between two and three thousand hours reading books and more than ten thousand hours playing computer and video games. Jane McGonigal, Reality is Broken Games are fun, but their real value lies in leveraging play and exploration as a mode of learning the literacy of problem-solving, which lowers the emotional stakes of failing. -- Aran Levasseur, Media Shift website Some resources: Pew Research Study: Teens, Video Games and Civics: http://pewresearch.org/pubs/953/ Media Shift: What Kids are Learning from Video Games: http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2011/08/the-literacy-of-gaming-what-kids- learn-from-playing215.html Games as Formative Assessment (slideshow): http://www.slideshare.net/g4li/games-as-formative-assessment- environments-8703787 What is Game-based Learning: http://www.upsidelearning.com/blog/index.php/2011/06/20/what-is-game- based-learning/ Overview of Gamestar Mechanic: http://youtu.be/ac_jfJzcb0U From Derek Robertsons What We Can Learn about Assessment with Games presentation (http://edte.ch/blog/2011/08/08/what-can-we-learn-about- assessment-from-video-games ) on what games bring to the table:

More Than a Game: Video Games and Digital Composition

Giving dynamic and ongoing feedback Presenting incentivized learning experiences Using meaningful profiles and reports Trusting in the ability of the player/learner Nurturing growth mindsets Maximizing the potential of peer assessment Presenting purposeful and relevant learning intentions Ensuring assessment is not done to learners Giving the players the best chance of success

Kevin developed these for the National Writing Project around gaming: n More Than a Game: One Teachers Journey into Gaming http://digitalis.nwp.org/resource/2603 n Bringing Young Gamers Together: A Summer Camp http://digitalis.nwp.org/resource/2694