Initial thoughts and concerns regarding game based learning

I am actually quite excited to learn more about game
based learning. I think it is an important area to explore in terms of increasing student engagement and is a way to make learning more interesting. I have not been much of a “gamer” to date so I have a lot to learn in this area. My current gaming experience involves using the Wii and Second Life (if that is considered a game). I would LOVE to figure out a way to use the Wii technology to teach proper body positioning and thrust technique for chiropractic students. Past gaming experience is limited to PacMan- I’m quite challenged using keyboard commands for the online version. I don’t want to date myself but I also remember Pong!

I hope that through this course I can develop the skills to allow me to integrate games into my current online teaching. Our chiropractic students could benefit from simulating patient encounters and situations whether through a virtual world experience or through a game. The Aldrich textbook provided great examples of gaming in education and got me quite interested to explore further. It also gave me some ideas for potential projects. One of my major concerns that I have is the time that it is likely to take to create these games. I’m also concerned about my limited technical skills.