Choosing a Lesson Plan

A major mistake that educators, excited about using games in the classroom, make is to ignore the relative strengths and weaknesses of videogames as a medium.

When considering the use of games in the classroom, ask yourself: Is the concept I am trying to teach best conveyed by using a game?

Consider the characteristics and issues that you will contend with when using this medium as a vehicle for instruction.

First, there are two crucial characteritics of videogames: they are eminently interactive and they are an experiential medium. While you may think that these are great characteristics (and they are!), keep in mind that they also need to be in line with the concepts you are trying to teach your students.

Secondly, you must consider two very real issues with using videogames:

1. Making a custom videogame to convey a concept can be very expensive and time consuming, as well as requiring considerable technical skills.
2. Using commercial videogames in your instruction may bring in a lot of extraneous material to the lesson. In other words, when compared to books where the author can control the flow and presentation of information to a certain degree, in games the player has a higher degree of control since choice and input are fundamental elements required to play.

Now that you've weighed the strengths and weaknesses of videogames, you need to consider thefollowing questions:

In the lesson, am I trying to highlight one specific concept, a snapshot of a system, or a dynamically changing relationship between system elements?

One aspect of games conveyed best is it's dynamic nature. Through constant interaction with a constantly changing system, the player learns with every decision and move made.

For example, in a history lesson about the effects of England and France's decisions before Germany's invasion of Poland, it is critical that the student understand the relationships between internal and external policies in these countries. A simulation game, therefore, that places the player in the role of decision maker would be effective at teaching him or her about this historical moment.

On the other hand, in a science lesson about the molecular structure of diamonds, a diagram or other representation might be more effective. However, if you were trying to teach how the diamond became a diamond in the first place, a simulation game about the forces of nature would be an interesting way to convey the concepts.

Is the lesson best conveyed through a linear sequential narrative or as a system where things might happen in parallel?

Once more, games immerse the player into a system of dynamic relationships. As such, games can portray stories but usually with a level of detail and complexity that could be overkill and even hinder understanding of a narrative. As such, consider how important it would be for the learner to understand a sequence of events versus events that happen in parallel.

Is the lesson I am trying to teach developing students' critical thinking skills, problem-solving skills or practical skills?

Because games put the learner into the role of decision maker, inherent skills like critical thinking and problem solving are required to play games. Therefore, games might be better fit for lessons where the use of these skills would offer more of a potential benefit to learners (e.g., a science lesson) than in lessons where a set of simpler skills are the goal (learning the multiplication tables).