22.10.2010

Today, we covered our last two stations before rounding up this topic on game based learning. I must say that this session of game based learning has been the most enjoyable of all. Perhaps it maybe due to the fact that we played stations 1 and 2 which are the Mcdonalds and the new blood wii game respectively. When Angela and myself were playing the Mcdonalds game, we lost and ran out of money shortly after commencing the game! We were totally clueless of what we were required to do and what must we do in order to win. After trying a few rounds, we understood the game and personally i found the game quite complex. It didnt seem as easy as I thought it was!

We had to run the restaurant well and had to consider factors like cash flow problems, if we had sufficient cows for beef, the management of the restaurant, workers etc. It was a difficult task indeed! I finally understood how to run a restaurant well virtually. Then after, we adjourned to the wii station. The game played was called "new blood" and our task is to save the patient by removing all the glass pieces, putting ointment,bandage the patient, etc within the stipulated time. Bryan and Isa were the first to try and it seems quite a challenge especially when we have to have steady hands to do the required tasks. Angela and Irma were next and they did a better job compared to the first pair because they learn from their mistakes and Bryan and Isa were teaching and guiding the two girls as they proceed to the next few levels of difficulty.

From this, I could sieve out the few advantages of game based learning. It is alright to fail as long one learns from his/her mistakes especially when we learn from one another. Han and myself were the last to try and this time round, Bryan, Isa, Angela and Irma were teaching us. Not to mention, we were the most privileged of all because we had 4 sets of brains to help us! I enjoyed this game tremendously! After returning to our seats, I was pondering and reflecting on the two games which were just attempted and I realised why I enjoyed the new blood game the most. Its because I was slightly better than the rest of my group members when playing new blood.

We can bring this experience/theory of thinking into teaching. It is very important to be aware of our students' talents/ achievements (this can be referred to non-academic achievements), tap on them and recognise them in order for students to boost their self esteem, have a sense of belonging and be motivated intrinsically for effective learning and teaching.