What videogames have to teach us about learning and literacy

I was absent for this assignmentm so I hope that I'm not too late to post my opinion.


1. Gee's fundamental argument is that children can learn a lot from videogames, and that they should be placed in learning environments to teach children more, and so that they have more opportunities to play and do so.

2. I agree with Mr. Gee to an extent. I believe that all children need time to play, and that some games can teach them a lot about real-world experiences, but I do not think that videogames should make more of an appearance in the classroom because later in life it will make the children, (then adults) lazy and give them an excuse to play instead of work. Videogames will have been all they knew.

3. I believe good teaching has a lot to do with keeping things new in the classroom. If the teacher 'spices things up', the children will not only be ready and willing to learn, but they will also be entertained. Teachers should introduce a new way of teaching as often as possible. Videogames can be used occasionally, but if used too often, I think that would present an example of bad teaching, because it makes the teacher come off as lazy for not getting the students involved.

4. I think Scratch is a great website to teach children short lessons and for them to play short, educational games, but I don't believe I would use it in my classroom. I found it to be difficult to understand at first, and I don't believe in letting my students play videogames everyday, all day.