Seriously... 20(ish) years later and I still don't know...
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| Borrowed from thegeektastics.com |
The game I chose to take a further look at was Carmen Sandiego series. There are many variations of the game that include "Where in the USA is Carmen Sandiego," and "Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego." I remember spending hours with these games as a kid, specifically "Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego ?" and "Where in the USA is Carmen Sandiego?" While this game has the obvious history connections in regards to tech and teaching, as an English teacher, it has some other fantastic qualities. Granted my memory is a little rusty, but I remember learning tons of vocabulary from these games. I was able to learn adjectives to describe the suspects that aren't typically learned in school. For example I learned what flaxen-haired was while playing the games. Secondly there were some awesome connections to culture and works of literature that this game promoted. In the 1997 version of "Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego?" I was introduced to Shakespeare and helping him find his stolen manuscripts in the Globe Theatre. Looking back at this experience through my English teacher lens I see an awesome opportunity to start building factual knowledge without the student actually knowing that they're learning something. Later in my career I was able to draw on this knowledge to have a mental picture of what I thought the Globe Theatre should look like along with some lines of "Romeo and Juliette" already memorized.
After watching the Gee video about video games and learning plus reading his article, I think we owe it to our students to expose them to games like this. In my personal experience I didn't even realize that I was learning. I was building base knowledge about things like Shakespeare before I even knew how to read it! It was really interesting to work backwards and apply Gee's learning principles back to this game. The game really focuses on well-ordered problems because you are a detective with clues to try and catch the bad guys. This game does a great job leading the student to higher order thinking where they are making a hypothesis based on the clues they are provided. This game also does a great job with risk-taking. The student is allowed to make mistakes, and it's ok if the bad guy gets away. The student is allowed to pick the game back up from the beginning of the mission and there's plenty of room for trial and error until the student is able to capture Carmen and her cronies. It's fun looking back at this game through a teaching lens now that I see this game as more of a tool than a toy.
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First off, I have to say that I LOVED playing Carmen Sandiego. It was actually a computer game my parents bought for my sister, but I would take over and play for her. Don't mind me, I was only 5 years older.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I've noticed that I tend to stick with a method once I've figured out that it works, and don't really go beyond that. When I was leading study groups for physics, we just sat there and discussed test questions. I didn't introduce them to games or anything like that, so one could argue that it was pretty dry.
I'm always surprised what people (myself included) learn from playing games. I picked up a bit of reading comprehension when playing Carmen Sandiego, and learned what dysentery was while playing old-school black-and-white Oregon Trail. But as a teacher, you could totally put a different spin on it by asking students to compare the game to the actual diaries/records of pioneers who actually traveled the trail. I would totally take your class!
On a side note, does anyone ever catch Carmen? I've only gotten to catch her henchmen.
Holly, I can completely relate to both you and Melissa on playing Carmen Sandiego as a child and I was happy to come across your reflection back to it. I chuckled at "Seriously 20 years later and I still don't know" comment because in truth I don't have a clue either, I hope that this character was based on an actual person. I hadn't remembered that the game provided an environment that was ok to fail, you were able to pick up and try again. Melissa, I also wondered if you ever do actually catch Carmen. I hadn't realized the extensive vocabulary used in the game, while, this game is not as applicable to my content area, earth science. Carmen Sandiego models the use of mystery, a safe environment to fail and well ordered problems that could be integrated into activities or a basis to find other games with these similar elements.
ReplyDeleteEven though I can't relate to the three of you with playing Carmen SanDiego, I had a similar learning experience with a different game. When I forst moved to California I had to learn a new language! (I was a native Spanish speaker). Pne of the things that helped me achieve this was playing a video game, whose name I don't remember, about a frog eating different parts of a sentence. For example, if the frog was hungry for some verbs you had to click on all the verbs on the screen and the frog would est them like they were flies. It was so fun and educational!!! Like you mentioned above, I was able to make mistakes without being watched by everyone else. This helped me learn the different parts of a sentence faster than if I hadn't played the game. I now need to go and play a Carmen SanDiego game!!
ReplyDeleteHolly, it's amazing when we realize that some of our favorite childhood games were actually very educational. As children we tend to view them only as a fun activity, but once we look back on our experiences we can begin to see that video games and computer games influence our lives in other ways. I used to watch Carmen Sandiego on TV all the time and I was so excited when my parents bought me the game. Though I sometimes struggled to figure out how to solve the mysteries and what to do with the clues I was given, I always learned a new fact or piece of information. Though I may not remember the individual details now, I remember learning about different countries and cultures through this game. The fact that I could always start over and the bad guys and Carmen wouldn't mock me was also a plus in my book. Some video games, though they can't be used in the classroom because of violence, might have learning strategies and skills embedded in them. Carmen Sandiego, however, is a game that I think can be used directly in the classroom, not only because of it's learning strategies and skills, but because it has direct educational value as well. If more kids play games like this they will begin to realize that it is okay to make mistakes and take risks.
ReplyDeleteFYI, I don't think I ever actually caught Carmen. She must still be out there somewhere!
I absolutely LOVED this game; I would play it all the time. I learned so much about different parts of the world. I don't every remember being good enough to ''catch Carmen," but I never stopped trying. This game helped me develop my love of travel and other cultures, and also helped me develop persistence and perseverance. It helped me develop a love of Social Studies and was totally enjoyable...good times. It stimulated my love of learning; wouldn't it be great if all children had similar experiences with educational games?
ReplyDeleteHolly, you are just one of many people from whom I have heard great things about this game. I sadly admit that I, personally, have never had the opportunity to try out this game, but I have always wanted to. From your post, it sounds like the game is certainly relevant to a history classroom, which excited me. I especially liked that the game has many versions which would give me, as a teacher, more options for incorporating this game into different history classes (e.g. U.S. history, World History, etc.). Even important, is that the game seems to be relevant to other subjects as well. For instance, you mention the game helped you with learning new vocabulary. I love when teaching tools, especially games, have relevancy across disciplines! I really enjoyed your post and could definitely see this game being useful in my classroom, so thank you for recommending a new teaching tool!
ReplyDeleteThis game is a testament to the power of building academic persistence. I played it over and over and over to catch every single henchmen and Carmen. I really think games which hook kids enough to get them to play until they excel is a great way to teach follow through. If a student learns that repeating an activity to learn to do it better, then they can translate that into the classroom. They may not like it but it's there in the back of their head. "If I keep trying, I'll get it eventually."
ReplyDeleteI remember watching Where in the World is Carmen San Diego as well as playing it online, but I had not realized the educational advantages of playing a game like this. I really think it is impressive that you remembered specific vocabulary that you were able to learn from playing as well as what you learned about Shakespeare and the Globe Theater! The fact that you remember where you learned that information is a testament to the educational benefits of a game like this. Since we are working on teaching the 6th grade to understand claims, evidence, interpreting evidence I realize that a game like this would be more beneficial then simply explaining the meaning of these words. Thanks for the refresher and pointing out how a game similar to this could help us in the classroom!
ReplyDeleteThe most salient point to me that you brought up was the fact that playing the game taught you new vocab words that you wouldn't have necessarily learned in school. Teachers are humans, and most humans only have a certain amount capacity in their brains for vocabulary. Because of this, teachers can only expose their students to a certain amount of vocab words in everyday discourse. I noticed this in college. In a given semester, I would listen to 4 different professors, and each one used a unique vocabulary. Thus, I was fortunate enough to be exposed to a wide array of vocab. However, many students have the same teachers(or teacher in elementary school) for most of the year. However I think teachers can expose their students to a different set of vocabulary than they use by using video games like this one, showing some video clips/documentaries, or having guest speakers if the circumstances allow. All of these activities I think would help expose students to more vocabulary beyond what just their teachers use everyday.
ReplyDeleteYessss! This was one of the fist games I played as a kid. My sister and I would fight over playing it. Even my mom, who never plays games, wanted to play. I don't know whatever happened to this game sadly. I think there was a TV show too if I remember correctly. Anyways, it was a great way to learn vocab and other cool stuff. I really only remember the first version, which was early 90's. I vaguely remember finding Carmen only a few times. Great game! Glad you brought it up!
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