Difficult games addressing serious issues

          Serious games can be used to address serious social issues facing a country or the world. I choose to play Third World Farmer  it was a fun game that looked at the challenges facing people with farms in third world countries, the challenge was how to keep a family alive and growing in the face of the many challenges. I played the game 7 or 8 times, it took me a few games to get the hang of it. The first 3 times i played the game my whole family died because i didn't know that every year the health of your family drops. Some of the many challenges the family faced was drought, crop failure, civil war, guerrillas, poachers and fire. Some of these issues affect farmers in first world countries as well but the ones related to political instability were the hardest to overcome in the game because of the way it impacted the farm.

 This game can serve as a fun but also interesting way of exploring the struggles facing people in third world countries and the impact the instability has on their lives. After playing the game the students can write about the experiences of the farmers that they played. They can discuss the struggles the family face and if they were able to make decision to overcome the adversity they face. Performance Indicator - ESL.I.5-8.1.1.12: Students convey information and ideas through spoken and written language, using conventions and features of American English appropriate to audience and purpose. Playing the game itself won't fulfill the performance indicator but  a writing task discussing the game can help to fulfill it. The writing task can allow them to fully develop their thoughts on the subject and share them with the teacher. Some the students in an ESL class might be refuges who faced similar situations in their lives and may as a result be able to relate to the game more then other students. The students can discuss their opinions of the game, as well as if they were able to be successful and complete all the objectives. 

          This activity could also be completed as a group activity in class where the students are able to discuss the choices they make and how the outcome of the random events can affect the families. Performance Indicator - ESL.I.5-8.1.1.13: Students engage in collaborative activities through a variety of student groupings to read, gather, share, discuss, interpret, organize, analyze, and present information. The students discussion about their choices and the outcomes will allow them to use english to both discuss the activity as well. 

         With a couple of attempts I think every student can figure out how to play this game effectively and complete all the objectives of the game. This was a fun game and i think it could make for a fun in class activity that allows the students to start a serious discussion. 

Polleke’s Blue Room and interactive games

I tried Polleke’s Blue Room it was my first time really trying room escape games. I played the game 3 times the first time I tried it with out using the walkthrough at all. I made little progress with figureing  out what I needed to accomplish in order to escape the room. The second time I played I used the walkthrough and made much more progress and accomplished the goal. The game to me seemed very difficult without the walkthrough because of how small many of the details were for the hidden objects.


I think this game could be useful for ESL students because the students can try the game at first without the walkthrough and see how far they can get. After the first attempt they can follow it up with trying it with the walkthrough and have the students race each other because the game has a timer. The Performance Indicator - ESL.I.5-8.1.1.3: Students select information appropriate to the purpose of the investigation, relate ideas from one written or spoken source to another, and exclude nonessential information. This applies to this activity because of the use of the walkthrough and how they can apply it to completing the task.

In this activity the teacher can play a supporting role if the students get confused by the walkthrough and are unable to get past a certain point. The students can get excited by the prospect of playing a game and competing against their classmates. The students can also serve in a supporting role by helping any student who is unable to finish. I would asses the completion of my objects based on how well they can follow the walkthrough and apply it to the game. Following the completion of the game have the students then write what they did in the game in order to get out of the room.

Gamification and it's place in an ESL classroom.

From my understanding gamification is the use of game thinking and mechanics outside of game contexts to engage players in solving problems and increased participation. From what the article 7 Things You Should Know About Games and Learning said the mechanics of gaming can teach students important lessons and provide rewards for every completed stage. In this way gaming can reinforce concepts taught in the classroom and aid in the delivery of new material. This concept is becoming more common in the higher education environment. It is allowing schools to develop simulations and other activities that can give students important skills for when they graduate.

      The reasons gaming is so effective is because of how games are setup. Game developers know it is important that when a player fails to complete a task correctly to provide immediate feedback to the player in order to keep them interested and make a second attempt. The article Sculpting Flow and Fiero spoke about how important it is for developing a game to make sure there is an established flow and that players don't meet challenges that are to hard to early in the game, to make sure the level of difficulty matches their current ability.  The feeling of the reward is called fiero, it is the feeling we get when we overcome an obstacle. A well designed game takes advantage of this feeling by making tasks more and more difficult leading to bigger reward when they are overcome. 

      Gaming can be effective in any classroom, the role it can play in an ESL classroom is large. According to the article "Just Playing Games? A Look at the Use of Digital Games for Language Learning". it is very important when selecting a game because if the game doesn't motivate the students to play they will not get anything out of it. Mentioned was the idea that you could use educational games or commercial games for classroom use if you make the lesson work around such games. For digital games to be affective they have to be completely integrated into the classroom plan, if they are just extra credit the students will not get full advantage of its use. The process pictured below is important in establishing a lesson plan around a game. I think there are some fun ideas mentioned in the article about games involving exploring their city or campus to find clues using their smartphones. Taking advantage of games which almost all students play to help them with learning can create an activity which the students get a lot of enjoyment and information retention from.