William McKerrell

Return to: ETAP 623 Fall 2017 Home | William's Personal Page | Will's Mini-Course

About Me

Hello, my name is William McKerrell and I am a high school physics teacher enrolled in the CDIT program with SUNY Albany. I am in my second year teaching after graduating from SUNY Cortland in 2015 with a major in adolescent education in physics and math. Physics tends to have a stigma of being a complex course only for higher level learners, but my hope is to use project based learning, hands-on activities, and student led discussions to apply physics concepts to everyday life and help students of all levels better understand the world around them. I currently teach in Pearl River, NY and I look forward to continuing my growth as an educator both with SUNY Albany and through my experiences here at Pearl River.

My Topic/Purpose

The following questions will be addressed in my Digital Game-Based Learning (GBL) Mini Course.

• What is DGBL?
• What are its benefits?
• Where can I find resources that contain appropriate DGBL?
• How can I use DGBL while ensuring each individual learner is reaching the same learning target?
• How can I evaluate the effectiveness of a specific DGBL activity?
• What are some different ways I use computer games and simulations in the classroom?

Needs Assessment

Intent Statement: Video games have been around for a little while now, and it doesn't appear they will be going away any time soon. Tablets are being placed in the hands of younger and younger children, and as a result a wave of educational gaming, or Digital Game-Based Learning, has increased in popularity as a way of motivating students. Unfortunately, since this phenomenon is so new, many teachers who are considered digital immigrants have found themselves in the difficult position of trying to learn both how to effectively use DGBL in the classroom, and how to use the technology that comes with it. My intent for this course is to educate both digital natives and digital immigrants on how to use DGBL effectively and provide sources for educational games that may benefit their students.

Summary of Gathered Information: To better understand my target audience, I have decided to survey teachers in my district of various ages and content areas. In my results I noticed some polarizing results between those who use and don't use some type of computer game or simulation in the classroom. Teachers who evaluated themselves as being technologically savvy have used digital games and simulations in their classroom, but it may not always be the preferred option to a hands-on activity. Other teachers who evaluated themselves as being weaker with technology do not prefer using online games or simulations in the classroom, and would chose a hands-on activity instead. Both digital natives and digital immigrants appeared to give higher value to a real-life activity than an online activity, regardless of their familiarity with technology.

Prioritized Goals for this Course:

In what situations can educational digital games or simulations become a preferred teaching option? What are some resources for good educational games or simulations? How can I create a lesson plan that will maximize the potential of a DGBL lesson?

Instructional Context:

This mini course is self directed and designed for participants to learn at their own pace. Participants can interact with other participants who have viewed this course through a Google Doc discussing some pros and cons of educational games they've found, as well as a section for participants to post their own lesson plans to indirectly collaborate with others.

Performance Objectives

The target audience will be able to:

• Decipher between effective and ineffective online educational games or simulations.
• Design online labs using a simulation.
• Design effective game-based learning lesson plans.
• Choose an educational game or simulation that best fits the intended learning outcome.
• Understand the benefits of GBL and simulations, and how they can be used in the classroom.

Task Analysis

Unit One: What is Game Based Learning?

Topics

• Methodology
• Benefits
• Support

Unit Two: Exploration

Topics

• Game Resources
• Simulation Resources
• Approaches

Unit Three: Designing a Lesson

Topics

• Choosing a Game

• Integration

• Pitfalls

• Example Cases

Curriculum Map