EFFECTIVENESS OF COMPUTER GAMES FOR CHILDREN’S LEARNING AS PERCEIVED BY OGUN STATE SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHERS (EDUCATION PROJECT TOPICS AND MATERIALS)
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1Background of the study
Nowadays, education is thriving with many tout new theories and practices promising to offer solutions to learning difficulties. They are mostly based on the proliferation of the digital and communication technologies. Included among these learning solutions are: blended learning, m-learning, v-learning to name only a few. They have emerged as a result of the digital revolution. But approaching learning through amusement is probably the most effective way of imparting knowledge and teaching skills. And so, using digital games (video or computer games or other similar terms) to directly or indirectly achieve educational purposes could become an increasing educational effort in the 21th century (Prensky, 2001b; Torrente, del Blanco, Marchiori, Moreno-Ger&Fernández-Manjón, 2010).
Technological innovations influence field of science in both direct and indirect ways, changing the teaching and learning environments and transforming the traditional methods. Hence, the rapid development of Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) one of the emerging educational technologies is educational computer game.
Computer game has been introduced to students and teachers as an innovative strategy for enhancing learning. These games have brought a new dimension to education by supporting student-centered education, increasing student motivation and providing students the option to learn while having fun (Cankaya&Karamete, 2009).
Many aspects of digital games can serve education; Denis and Jouvelot (2005) reported that with the use of digital games, students “are experienced to learn by doing”. Scaffolding is one of the digital games (Federation of American Scientists, 2006). Furthermore, every learner has a different learning style and computer games allows for such flexibility. But, the traditional education system may not be able to accommodate all the learning styles suited to all learners. Digital games offer learning experience that can meet a variety of learning styles (Federation of American Scientists, 2006). Furthermore, Watson, Mong, and Harris (2011) have shown that students’ negative attitudes toward difficult subjects such as math or boring subjects such as history can be changed through using digital games by making them easy or fun to learn. Despite all these digital game benefits touted by researchers, many people in the education field are against the idea of involving digital games in traditional classroom activities. This opposition according to De Aguilera and Mendiz (2003) stems from the fact that such people have not experienced digital games in their lives. That simple fact does not allow them to appreciate the potential benefits of these games. Therefore, this study is aimed at exploring and investigating secondary school teachers’ perception on utilization of computer games in Ogun state secondary schools. To answer fundamental questions: such as do secondary school teachers in Ogun state have a favorable or unfavorable perceptions toward using digital games in their teaching? And does computer gamesposse a positive or negative effects on children education learning in their various academic subjects? For answering these fundamental questions we implemented questionnaire-based research surveying 150 teachers in various secondary schools at Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State.
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EFFECTIVENESS OF COMPUTER GAMES FOR CHILDREN’S LEARNING AS PERCEIVED BY OGUN STATE SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHERS (EDUCATION PROJECT TOPICS AND MATERIALS)
