Fresh off another high energy and non-stop trip to NY for the combined SIIA/AEP series of events, I’ve just read an article I clipped from the USATODAY while I was travelling. As you see when you read the article, everyone from college students up to Sandra Day O’Connor agree that gaming is a great way to learn.

 While I’m excited about this mainstream push of gaming as a legit learning and instruction style, I don’t want everybody to just throw away the notions of scope-and-sequence or deep curriculum content building.

No doubt, there are some very exciting new edu_gaming companies in the market, not the least of which is Madison’s own Filament Games. Gaming, like interactive whiteboards, field trips, and chalk, all have a place in the educational process.

As we all move forward to incorporate more gaming into the classroom, a move I support, we must remember that real and meaningful teaching is still a key component of the overall learning experience.  Yes, we need more thoughtfully integrated technology in the classroom. We also need to include the teachers who are willing to understand how teaching in current day is so very different from the teaching they learned about in college, even if that was just 5 years ago.

When my son tells me that he learned more about European History playing Assassin’s Creed than in his 100 level classes, I completely believe him. However, I also believe this had more to do with his professor than with the gaming.

As with all things, we need to seek balance with our approach in the classroom. This is not a call for slowing down, not even one little bit. This is a call for having some sort of strategy towards the technology integration.

Go ahead, try stuff. Try lots of stuff. Just pay attention to what you are trying to accomplish and what is actually happening.

Let me know how it goes.