This is a perfect lead in to next week’s unit on design. This closing paragraph is the crux of the problem with Education:

MUD, MUSH, MOO – Oh, Which Will I Choose?

I get very aggervated with them when they are on games instead of doing the work I assigned them to do; I must admit, that on many occassions, that the games they are playing are requiring them to utilize problem solving skills along with communciation skills through these on-line multi-user games but that doesn’t eliminate the problem that they are not problem-solving for me, as a teacher, they are problem solving for WOW (World of Warcraft). As a teacher, should I take this personally or just be happy they are using their brains for something?

Yes! Take it personally! Why are they willing to invest hours and hours in these games and environments but they won’t take more than the minimum amount of time (or a bit less) to just squeek through on the assignments you give them in class? You know the answer as well as I do. The assignments you give are boring, time consuming, and carry no gratification for successful completion. The kid doesn’t get a nifty new sword or a great spell at the end of the campaign, altho they MAY advance to the next level if they string together enough of these activities.

So, yes! Take it personally, but take it as a lesson. Don’t condemn the environments that are engaging the students. Find ways to take advantage of them! Why are they engaging? What are the students doing? How can you adopt/adapt/use those functions and features? I’m not talking about the interfaces and implementations here, but the actual game functions and features.

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