We live in a digital society; therefore we need to utilize technology in learning to achieve one of the 21st century goals which is link between how students learn and how students live.
Simulations and games have become a billion dollar industry thanks to the visual and sound effects that attract users to be engaged in them; therefore we need to utilize such an industry in our schools to motivate students to learn as well as help them develop high-level thinking skills required by today's knowledge society that we live in and by that students not only become consumers in this industry but also become producers where we as teachers provide them the technical skills to create the simulations and games and as a result the students can express their creative skills in producing them. Also, becoming producers will help the students understand the purpose of learning some subjects like geometry when they incorporate what they learned in these subjects to the simulations and games they are producing.
From my experience as an IT teacher in Bahrain, students are taught programs like adobe flash, Microsoft PowerPoint and 3D-Max and although these programs can create very simple games but it can be a starting ground to help students become creative game producers.
Simulation and game corporations can use students as testers to their products, where they are exposed to things they won't be able to perform in real life, uncover the hidden world that isn't tangible to people in any other way and help improve the games and simulations.Deploying games and simulations online will enable students to have a teacher anytime and anywhere.
However, there are some concerns that by using simulations and games in learning may contribute to students becoming computer addicts but isn't that a good thing because they will be addicted to learning which is a requirement in our knowledge society or am I wrong?
This is a link to a video demonstrating how educators can benefit from simulation and games in their classrooms http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-GVEANUEVo.
