Literature Review of Mary Fran Daley’s article “Using Video Games to Embrace Inquiry: Learning for Life Through Fun”

Mary Fran Daley - Image retrieved from: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maryfrandaley

Summary:

Mary Fran Daley, a second-year teacher-librarian (at the time of her article in Knowledge Quest), creates an empathetic rapport with fellow educators by laying things out as they are. Right from the get-go she explains that, as a newcomer, she had little-to-no classroom management skills and no real knowledge of video games – despite opting to teach a video game design course to “difficult” students.

Before diving in to the meat of her article, Daley explains why she decided to teach the class, claiming that “Technology may not be a panacea for education, but it certainly is one of the most powerful tools at our fingertips to do so much more with less, as we are increasingly asked to do (Daley, 2011, p. 67).” She clearly states that her mission is to guide the 21^st century learner in education with the help of technology.

Having set the stage, Daley then breaks her article down into four main sections – think, create, share, and grow – reflecting on the ups and downs of her pioneering technology class throughout.

Firstly, in the Think section, she explains how video game creation (via programs such as MITs “Scratch”) can and does get students thinking. Daley describes how the complexity of game creation involves higher-order thinking skills as well as media literacy.

Retrieved from: http://designforeveryone.howest.be/input/index.php/applications/125-scratch-mit-media-lab

Secondly, in the Create section, Daley writes that “Video games are works of art […] visual imagery, film, and logic” and that they can be a “magical dance with content from any subject area (p. 67).” By this, she explains that though her students’ games focused mainly on math and science, video games can easily include material from social studies, English, etc.

Thirdly, in the Share section, Daley reports that “all of the collaboration [she] was trying to force in [her] STEM and library classes came organically in [her] video game class (p. 68).” She writes that even the students who had previously avoided group work and academic interactions were giving and receiving feedback from their peers and creating together. Daley attributes this phenomenon to technology being a collaborative catalyst.

Finally, in the Grow section, Daley reflects on how many of her so-called “difficult” students (with some exceptions) not only completed their work – learning logic, media, etc. in the process – but were enthusiastic about their projects and actually enjoyed working on them.

To conclude her article, Daley suggests that while video games will never replace other forms of learning, it is the task of the educator to pursue any and all ways of reaching learners. To that effect, video game design proved to be an effective technological route that should not be overlooked.

Image retrieved from http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2010/09/east_syracuse-minoa_students_d.html
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Reflection:

As an advocate for the potential of video games to be more than simply entertainment but a form art and education, this article certainly resonated with me and got me excited about the possibilities. It was an engaging and informative read in that it got me thinking about different ways video games could be applied in the classroom. I hadn’t previously considered creation of video games in curriculum development, but as Daley described, there is an inherent story-telling and logical learning to crafting a game (just as there is to writing a short story or even an essay). I also enjoyed how Daley emphasized the importance of different students learning in different ways as well as making learning fun and engaging.

However, while the article was a fun read, I do wish that Daley had gone deeper into actual research and information gathering. It would have been nice to see more of the real and detailed progress (and struggles) of the students.

That being said, I found the article to be inspirational and I would love to do more research on the subject – perhaps even testing out Daley’s theory and hypotheses in my own future classrooms.

Resources

Daley, M. F. (2011). USING VIDEO GAMES TO EMBRACE INQUIRY: Learning for Life Through Fun. Knowledge Quest, 40(1), 66-69. Retrieved from EBSCOHost database.

Scratch - Imagine, Program, Share. (n.d.). Retrieved December 17, 2014, from http://scratch.mit.edu/