O'Connor Supports Gaming in Education

Former Supreme Court Justice, Sandra Day O'Connor appears to have it right. She said, ""You're going to have greater success if you teach it in ways that [students] like to use"...According to an eSchool News article, O'Connor commented that typical students spend as much as forty hours a week in front of a screen. Twenty First Century students know how to learn digitally. Therefore, today's teachers have a responsibility to provide their students with learning experiences that speak to their learning modalities.

According to the article, O'Connor is specifically working with developers on two video games: "In the first game, students play the director of a constitutional law firm who must decide which amendment resolves a problem posed by a client. In the other, students play a Supreme Court law clerk. They have to help Justice Irene Waters write the majority opinion on whether a school can ban students from wearing music band T-shirts."

Personally, I'd love to see how the game provides students with access to important content knowledge which they can then apply to the scenarios described above. A high quality educational game does not just allow students to play. Instead, it offers students an opportunity to learn important information and then apply the information in meaningful ways.

What games have you found to be most successful with your students? Why have you found these games to be successful?