Bill MacKenty's Words of Wisdom: Getting Started with Games and Learning

School will be starting in a few weeks, and many educators have been hearing more about the use of interactive video games for learning. As I've mentioned on previous posts, Bill MacKenty is a pioneer in this area. He's an instructional designer at the Hunter College Campus school and is an advocate of the effective use of technology in learning settings. He's been blogging since 2004, if not before.

It is well worth the time to visit Bill's blog on a regular basis or sign up for his blog feed. Here are some quotes from Bill's Games in Education page:

"Technology strengthens, deepens, and broadens our learning...
Are you a classroom teacher? So am I. I'm using games to teach, it works!

YES. Computer games are an incredible learning tool
YES. We can prove kids are learning
YES. We can see kids become excited and engaged about learning
YES. You can do it! "

Bill has some good information on how NOT to go about integrating video games in the classroom in his recent blog post, "10 easy ways to miss the boat".

With the push towards measuring student responsiveness to intervention and utilizing data for educational decision-making, those of use who work with K-12 learners might consider exploring this avenue. Computer/video games are excellent masters of keeping track of all sorts of data. This power can be harnessed to support education in a variety of engaging ways.

If you are new to my blog, take the time to do a search about games, education, and interactive multimedia applications. My Interactive Multimedia Technology blog also has a few treasures that you might find useful.