Gaming in Education Research/Information

Chris and I have a presentation coming up to some of our fellow teachers who are interested in using the Wii in the classroom. So, besides just playing with the console, we wanted to provide some research to back up the use of the Wii in the classroom. We don't just use it as a reward or even as something fun to do before the kids go home on Friday afternoon (although we do sometimes play on Friday afternoon and the students do have fun)! There is a lot of research (including our research on this blog) that shows the benefits of using the console in the classroom.
While this isn't an exhaustive list, and they are not all specifically about the Wii console, it should give anybody interested plenty of ammunition to bring to their principals when asking if they can bring a "game" into their classroom! And, if you want to leave a comment telling us how that conversation went, please feel free! Good Luck!

Software and Information Industry Association has info on Best Practices for using games and simulations in the classroom: http://www.siia.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=207:games&catid=159:education-articles&Itemid=190

Value of Games in Education: a Case Study: http://www.ictineducation.org/home-page/2010/1/21/the-value-of-games-in-education-a-case-study.html

Games in Education: http://www.ictineducation.org/home-page/2010/10/20/games-in-education.html

Education and Simulation/Computers and Gaming: http://seayj.people.cofc.edu/cb/simgames.html?referrer=webcluster&

Drill Down: Gaming in Education: http://thejournal.com/articles/2011/01/11/drill-down-gaming-in-education.aspx

Wii Standards at the Primary Level: http://primarypete.net/wii-foundation-objectives

Gaming and Education: http://blogs.cisco.com/virtualworlds/gaming_and_education/

Learning by Playing: Video Games in Education: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/19/magazine/19video-t.html

Are Video Games Educational?: http://www.education.com/magazine/article/Video_Games_Educational/

Video Games in Education: http://socialstudiescentral.com/?q=content/video-games-education

Wii in School for You and Mii: http://www.examiner.com/education-news-in-national/wii-school-for-you-and-mii

Government Backs Wii in Schools: http://www.mcvuk.com/news/29447/Government-backs-Wii-in-schools

Why Wii in a School Library?: http://ashworth.wordpress.com/2008/07/31/why-wii-in-a-school-library/


Big Brain Academy: http://mimanifesto.wordpress.com/2009/03/14/big-brain-academy-cathkin-learning-community/

Wii in the Classroom: http://www.teachhub.com/news/article/cat/14/item/607

Wii Debuts in D.C. Schools: http://www.myfoxdc.com/dpp/news/031209_wii_in_dc_school

Wii Love Learning: http://www.edutopia.org/ikid-wii-gaming-technology-classroom

Educational Wii Games for 2010: http://www.squidoo.com/Educational-Wii-Games

50 Ways to Use the Wii in your Library: http://oedb.org/library/features/50-ways-to-use-wii-in-library

What are the Benefits of Gaming in Elementary Education: http://www.ehow.com/about_5048410_benefits-games-elementary-learning.html

The Many Benefits of Video Games: http://www.sandradodd.com/videogames/

Report Touts Educational Benefits of Computer Games: http://www.edweek.org/dd/articles/2009/06/23/04games.02.html

Edte.ch Blog: http://edte.ch/blog/category/wii/

Arcademic Skill Builders Site with games that use the Wii controllers: http://www.arcademicskillbuilders.com/wii/