Impact of Computer Games

The world of computer games is another domain with tremendous potential for reaching, motivating, and fully involving learners. The games constitute the most interactive multimedia resource in our society today.

Most children have their first contact with computers through a computer game. As we can see, almost each cyber cafe that you enter will have children playing computer games.
Not forgetting to mention, even in schools during computer lesson some students will be more interested in playing computer games rather than listening to the lesson being taught by their teacher.

Computer games cannot be defined as totally bad for children. If we look at a different perspective, computer games can actually helped develop a student 's mind to think more positively and react to different situations.

Thus, it enhanced a student's knowledge and perhaps perform better in their academic performance. For example:

• Tekken, Mortal Kombat - These action games that usually depend more on eye to hand coordination than on the content of the game
  

• Age of Empires - This is a strategy game that stress the importance of logical thinking and planning
  

• Indiana Jones - This is an adventure game that usually involve exploration and problem-solving
  

• Final Fantasy VII - This is role play games, similar to the adventure games but instead of focusing on resolving enigmas they depend on the evolution of the characters. They are also called multi user domain because they can play it on line with a number of players at one time
  

• Golf, PCFootball - This is a sports games that simulate basic strategies from individual or group sports
  

• SimCity 3000 - -This is a simulators, which recreate an object or process in great detail

• Solitaire,Minesweepers - This is a classic games, normally computerize versions of well-known board games

Computer games could be a useful instrument for learning specific strategies and for acquiring knowledge where students can used it in other areas of study.

Students can developed some skills from playing computer games such as problem solving strategies, recognition of computing terms and operations, ability to read images such as pictures or diagram, development for reading three-dimensional images, develop learning through observation and hypothesis-testing, able to broaden the understanding of scientific simulations, and increase strategies for parallel attention.

Due to the tight computer syllabus in schools it is quite difficult to include computer games as one of the lessons.

Those adventure and simulation computer games consumed a lot of time and thus is not easy to include these games into the school timetable.

Therefore, computer games are useful and beneficial to the students if they are not been abused by the students.

References:

http://www.gamedev.net/reference/articles/article2082.asp
http://www.wired.com/gaming/gamingreviews/news/2003/08/59855

Assignment 1

Comparisons with computer studies curriculum in

Brunei, UK and Australia for Year 9

Brunei Secondary Computer studies curriculum

• Database Management Systems(DBMS)
• Introduction to Computer Language
• Problem Solving
• Introduction to 'Basic' Programming Language
• The future of Computing in Brunei Darussalam

Fearns Community Sports College

• Web Evaluation
• Multimedia Presentation
• Profit Spreadsheet
• Formatting Spreadsheet
• Graphs and charts
• IF statements
• Memo
• Poster

Macintyre High School

• Basic skills
• Computer graphics
• Information systems
• Software applications
• Algorithms and programming

The above shows the computer studies curriculum Year 9 in Brunei, UK and Australia.

The aim and structure of the curriculum in Brunei is somewhat simpler:

• Focuses on the basic fundamental in managing information and data
• Develop logical thinking through simple BASIC computer programming
• Recognize the differences between the low level and high level languages.
• Appreciate the computer’s role in influencing the change in society and the benefits to the people of Brunei Darussalam.

The aims of the curriculum of those from UK are more complicated and complex in what the students are being taught. The 1^st lesson concentrates on investigating the difference between a few major website designs of major companies. They follow it up by asking questions about and evaluate the guidelines being used in website designing.

The following lesson that is in the course assumes that the students have acquired the skills and knowledge that are from year 7 and 8. This in turn refreshes the student’s memory and leads them to a more advance level. In multimedia presentation, the students had to use PowerPoint to present in a real world format. Then the uses of spreadsheet are being use in a business-like format whereby students need to think of the real world business environment like generating and calculating profit. The last few lessons also teach to use Word application in a more real world format like typing a memo and so on.

The aim of computer studies in Macintyre High School in New South Wales, Australia is concerned with the functioning and application of computers in a rapidly changing society.
Students are expected to understand the fundamentals of computers in four areas:

• practical use of computers
• the knowledge of how computers work
• the social implications of computers
• graphical representations on computers

Students will be introduced to all aspects of Word Processing, Databases, Spreadsheets and communication packages. Students are required to master the basic skills that include computer software and hardware, learn the workings of a computer system, typing skills, basic word processing, spreadsheets and database.
In computer graphics, students will learn how and where computer graphics are used & produced. They will use computer graphics software to create presentations, animations, and graphical techniques with computer generated images.

Students will use the Internet as a research and information gathering tool, create web pages, Desk-top Publishing, use Computer Simulations and computer control systems & use
CAD / CAM in school and industry. Besides that, Students learn how to program languages used in software, and the way they interact with hardware to produce a solution to a problem. Programming languages, such as QBASIC, Visual BASIC, HTML, and JAVASCRIPT may be learn.

From these three countries, I can say that UK is far more advanced when it comes to computer studies. Therefore, Brunei's computer studies syllabus should somehow focus more on Multimedia because of the ever changing borderless world.

Computer subject is not like any other subject in school, its a living subject where it changes all the time. In order to follow the changing Technology trend every now and then, Brunei's lower secondary should somehow consider to change their syllabus more to Multimedia education. Multimedia students will be doing more practical learning task compared to just learning and memorizing the theory part. With more practical work students will understand better and will have more interest in their work.

The aim of studying multimedia in lower secondary is to expose students to the world of Information Technology which grows rapidly. Multimedia is part of internet business where some websites are 100% built with Adobe Flash. Some web developers are charging exorbitant prices for a small content built with flash. Students should be exposed to software such as Adobe Flash, Photoshop, In-Design where they could learn this at an early age and proceed to a higher level later. At least when they reach a certain stage the students are ready to continue learning computer studies at a higher level with the basic knowledge already acquired.

Spiral curriculum could be enforced here as the students repeatedly experienced and practise on what they have learnt over and over again. For example, students could learn basic usage of Adobe Flash in year 7 and later in year 8 they will be ready to go for a higher level by revising what they have studied in year 7.

Therefore, by learning multimedia in lower secondary, the students will grow up to use that as a base for learning something more advanced and thus contributing to the development of Information Technology in Brunei.

References :

http://www.fearns.lancsngfl.ac.uk/index.php?category_id=49

http://www.macintyre.hs.education.nsw.gov.au/computers.html