activity+9

===__Discuss the role of games/interactivity in the e-learning environment. Do you feel that they are an effective means of learning? Why or why not? Describe the levels at which such activities might be most effective. Support your reasoning and give examples. __===

===  Planning and designing for increased levels of interactive learning are particularly important for online learning since learners and instructors rarely, if ever, interface in a live, face-to-face manner. As it turns out, games are an effective way for instructors to design for interactive learning. According to Kafai (2001), games increase students’ motivation to learn by presenting the learning material in a form that encourages engagement, practice, learner-control, and learner-created feedback. Moreover, when people play, according to Kafai (2001), they allow for more efficient learning and cognitive material intake than they would in a more traditional learning setting. === ===  Contemporary games are very different from the quick, trivial, mostly uncomplicated board games of yesterday. According to Prensky (2004), t oday’s best-selling computer and video games, by contrast, are deep, complex experiences that take anywhere from 30 to over 100 hours to finish and deliver a much more intricate, adaptive experience than games in the past. Through such systems, Shank (2007) reasons that games offer teachers a unique way to show students the implications of their individual decisions. === ===  For me, games create experiences. Since the ultimate goal is to design learning experiences rather than learning activities, it seems that games can be used in pedagogical design to increase the depth in which learners relate to the content. More significant interactions with the course’s content and tools will likely result in new ways of thinking. ===

References:
=== Kafai, Yasmin, (2001). //The educational potential of electronic games: Fromgames-to-teach to games-to-learn//. Retrieved from the Web April 22, 2011.Available online: [] ===

===Prensky, M. (2004). //The Emerging Online Life of the Digital Native//. Retrieved from the Wed April 22, 2011. Available online: [] ===