Computer+Games+and+ELT

=Computer Games & ELT=

Some questions to get us started:
Why use online games with young learners? What technology can we use to play online games? How do we set up the classroom and our learners?

Type of Online Games Arcade games Arcade games often have very short, easy to grasp controls, iconic characters and rapidly increasing difficulty. They are designed as quick bursts of adrenaline-fueled thrills as opposed to most console games which feature more in-depth gameplay and stronger storylines. http://www.webpacman.com/ http://www.miniclip.com/games/alphattack/en/

Puzzle game These types of games emphasise puzzle solving including logic, strategy, pattern recognition, sequence solving, word completion or, in some cases, just pure luck. http://www.miniclip.com/games/sveerz/en/ Strategy game These types of games involve very little luck and it is usually the player’s decision making skills that are challenged, which have a high significance in determining the outcome. http://www.heavygames.com/3rdworldfarmer/showgame.asp Point & Click game Pure point and click games involve pointing and clicking using the mouse though some may involve other methods of input, such as mouse dragging and keyboard input. Escape the room games are a sub genre of this type of game. http://www.eyezmaze.com/eyezblog_en/blog/2005/09/grow_cube.html#monster

Escape the room The point of these games is to escape from a mysterious room. The player must interact with the objects that can be found within the room. The player must then use the objects to interact with other items to reveal a way to escape the room. http://www.3wish.com/game/game.htm

Walkthrough game Technically a walkthrough is a written text which attempts to teach a player how to beat or solve a particular game. Walkthroughs are often made by game players after they have completed the game. Games in this category can be so fiendishly difficult that a walkthrough is needed to make progress in the game without continual attempts. http://www.warbears.com/missions.php?id=1

= Walkthroughs = = = Walkthroughs are solutions to games that gamers post on the Internet. They are usually texts in English that we can use to make the game into a reading activity An example walkthrough of the game Arcane Season

= = = Game sites: = http://www.gamershood.com/ http://www.pointnclickgames.com/ http://www.minijuegos.com/ http://www.onlineflashgames.org/ http://kylemawer.wikispaces.com/free+online+computer+games = Further reading: = Begidian, L. 2006, ’Professor James Paul Gee shows the world the importance of video games’ http://pc.gamezone.com/news/07_03_03_06_17PM.htm Channel3000 article, 2005, ‘Video games, new teaching tools’, http://www.channel3000.com/education/4121724/detail.html Eck, R. van, 2005. ‘The digital natives are restless’ http://connect.educause.edu/library/abstract/TheDigitalNativesAre/39146 Prensky, M. 1998, ‘Twitchspeed’, http://www.twitchspeed.com/site/article.html Purushotma, R. 2005. ’remix culture – video gaming and modding’ [|www.lingualgamers.com/thesis/] Stanley G & K Mawer, 2008 'Language Learners and Computer Games' TESL EJ  http://tesl-ej.org/ej44/a5.pdf