Gamers might be the ideal students for a constructivist classroom
Perhaps the most interesting piece of Warlick’s presentation was his emphasis on kids as gamers (viz Got Game by John Beck.) Beck’s book is aimed at managers hiring out of the “gaming generation.” Gamers teach themselves through experimentation. They expect goals and competition, take risks, and welcome social situations. Beck/Warlick warns against bosses and teachers acting like the monsters the end of each level in a shmup and suggests that they might be more like a “strategy guide”, help file, or man page for students to use as a reference.
Another reference: What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy by James Paul Gee.
