In Alison Carr-Chellman’s article, “Bring Back the Boys” she focuses on statistics that have shown boys doing worse than girls in school. Because of this, she argues that we educators need to find a new, more effective way to engage our male students; her solution is video games. Here are the video games she lists that she believes could be useful in the classroom: Club Penguin, National Geographic (these first two are just examples she gives of virtual worlds), Civilization, Journey in the Wild Divine, Lotus Focus on Wii Fit, Generation Cures, Froguts, Collapse of Rome (COR), and Fantasy Hip Hop. She also briefly explores the option of making your own game. She concludes by saying that school boards should also look at their policies and strive to create a culture that is accessible for young boys.
Maybe it’s just the May issue and its focus on electronics, but I feel like Carr-Chellman went a bit on the heavy side with the need for video games. While she does say that these games are only one of the ways to engage our male students, she does not examine any other methods. When talking about Club Penguin, she states that it “may not seem to have high educational value but underneath can teach lessons on consumerism, hard work, and economics.” (Carr-Chellman, 2012) That may be true, but there have been activities that have been tested in classrooms and are already engaging the students whom are interested in those subjects; one example is the stock market game, in which students compete to see who can make the most money based on their investments during the period of the game. I agree that video games have a place in the classroom, but not every activity needs to be replaced with a simulation.
The biggest disagreement I have with this article is its focus on boys. Many of Carr-Chellman’s statistics that she pulls up show how in a comparison between girls and boys, the boys are losing at a high rate. However, she never looks at the girls she references; this raises the question: why focus on one gender when both may need assistance? I would have been able to agree with her much more readily had she broadened her focus to include all gender cultures. Many of our students will not be drawn in by activities because of reasons other than the lack of “boy culture” present in the classroom, and that needs to be fixed as well. While her ideas showed some merit, I just wish she had worked on her presentation.
The proposal to increase the use of video games in the classroom could apply to all the NETS for students. The end result would depend upon which video game would be used in the lessons. It could apply to NETS 1 if the game focused on the user developing their creativity and innovation; NETS 2 if it allowed for communication and collaboration; NETS 3 is the game focuses on researching and information fluency; NETS 4 if the game’s focus is critical thinking, problem solving, and decision making; NETS 5 if the game teaches digital citizenship; and NETS 6 if the game explores technological concepts, systems, and operations.
Alison Carr-Chellman has also done a TED Talk on the subject, which you can watch below:
To read the original article, please click here!
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Carr-Chellman, A. (2012, May). Bring back the boys. Learning and Leading, 39(7), 12-15. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/learn/publications/learning-and-leading/issues/Bring_Back_the_Boys.aspx
Carr-Chellman, A. (2012, May). Bring back the boys. Learning and Leading, 39(7), 12-15. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/learn/publications/learning-and-leading/issues/Bring_Back_the_Boys.aspx
I enjoy your critical points about the issues in the article. You raise many good questions. Unfortunately, when a society has accepted a technology, it is hard to revert the trend even if the technology is doing harm to children. One example is TV. It's full of violence, sex, and consumerism, but many children and adults still watch too much TV. Video games are another trend, especially among boys. I don't want to see teachers use video games to sugar coat a dry curriculum. If teachers want to use video games, they should know how to counteract the negative effects these games can have on children.
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I completely agree. I, myself, enjoy video games, though I shy away from violent or abusive themes. Because of this, I have been interested in how these articles advocate for the use of video games to teach our students. My main problem is that it seems as though many of these articles would have teachers replace every part of their curriculum and classroom with a video game or a screen. My main concern with that is what would happen to a student when they have to face something that isn't electronic. If we begin shifting our focus to purely online and/or technological, then we are missing out on a huge chunk of experience that they will need to survive in our society.
DeleteWhoa! I think this lady has got it all wrong. I think she started out with a conclusion and manipulated the story to fit her perspective. The statistics are undeniable that boys have more problems in school, but I see a very different reason for that. Two things: boys need a lot more physical activity and boys need fathers to show them how to be men.
ReplyDeleteExperts agree with me. Psychologist John Rosemond says that "boys are more active, more physical, more aggressive, (and)have shorter attention spans." Michael Gurian, a therapist and parenting educator, specialist in the study of boys, says that, "parents need to understand the biological differences that make boys tick." Rosemond "hopes parents can instill self-discipline and responsibility and encourage healthy creativity by minimizing television and other media influences." He has stated, "There's nothing more important than a father being a strong role model in the home." (Gray Hunker, 1999)
Gray Hunker, Paula. (1999, September 28). What are boys made of? The Washington Times. http://www.dadi.org/wt_boys.htm
Rosemond, John. (2012, April 19). Fathers important; marriage even more so. American Family News Network: OneNewsNow.com: Perspectives. Retrieved from http://www.onenewsnow.com/Perspectives/Default.aspx?id=1581170
One more comment: most boys get plenty of electronic time at home. I don't think they necessarily need more of it at school. I would rather they focus on developing good character and how they can help others. Teachers need to engage children, not entertain them.
ReplyDeleteCompletely agree, as the only boy in our reading group I can stand by the fact that boys have a shorter attention span and crave physical activity more frequently than girls do. I can still to this day remember how slow it took for recess and then lunch to come where I could get out of the classroom and go play sports. As for the article, I don't think there is a place for any video games in class. Often times, students will rush through other work so that they can get to the computer game and this creates emphasis on the wrong activity. I also don't agree with or understand why educational video games would be more effective for boys than they would be for girls. It is very contradictory to the fact that boys seek physical activity and aggression. Maybe a better alternative would be to include more educational activities that are outside and encourage students to be active.
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