What Education has to do with Games?!

Two years ago we had a Workshop in the institute where I was teaching English as a second language. The purpose of that workshop was to emphasize on using more new systems of teaching and making the classes more fun for the students.There were some useful games that could be played in the classes at the end of the section or in the extra times we had.

For some levels there were loads of materials that should be included in every section, and in some levels the content of what we were supposed to teach was not to much , but it needed more practice.

Games were rather used in those classes with limited content to be teach, than those with lots of new vocabulary, long readings and new grammar. Some of those vocabulary and materials could not be loaded or used in the games, so the teacher was rather mono speaker, and students used their cellphone's dictionaries where there was no more time to teach all the worlds.

I am now an Student of Instructional Technology and we were discussing the same subject to be used in the Education! "GAMES" and Gaming.

We had to chose a game and play for at least one hour, and then think about the steps and decide whether we could use that game in the class or not. If Yes, How could we incorporate that game to our content and teaching.

I had never thought about games like that...What I used to do was to think about the games that I know the instruction for, and decide whether I can put that content into it or not, but this time I was thinking about the content and I had a variety of games in front of me to use them to teach what I decided to!

What I did was like going up the stairs and then going down... When going up the stairs I had to observe and learn everything myself, and find about different aspects of the game, when I reached the end and turned I had the path I had passed down there and it was easy for me to decide about the selected content to that steps and it was easier then to come down the stairs(decide).

I played several games, First I searched for the games that were designed for the second language teaching and learning, but I didn't find any new idea. then I went to my Hp Game center and clicked on a game I had never played before "Agatha Christie: Peril at End House" It began with a short story and then went into the game. There where clues in every room to be discovered, there are different characters in different games..

I loved the game, It was a story, including lots of new vocabulary, and lots of chances to talk about it.

On the other hand I was thinking about using that game for taking exams too, where the students are supposed to find the meanings or synonyms for the vocabulary they can have chance to search in the context and find the world, and if they did not know the word in that way If not forever, they will at least remember it for a longer time than checking it in the Dictionary.

On the other hand the stories can make the game interesting and will make them like to continue the game..

I didn't like to play games because I knew I'd become addicted to it if I like it,  But now I have changed my mind and I would like to try as much game as possible in my free time, to find something more to use in my instruction.