Using WoW for learning in schools
by Mike Schramm 
Jun 25th 2009 at 3:00PM
We've heard about WoW in schools before, but usually it's at schools of higher learning, where they're studying social networks or how society evolves. But a group in North Carolina is planning to put WoW in schools in a different way: by using situations in World of Warcraft to develop literacy, mathematics, and other competencies. WoWinSchools has math lessons and other tests based around WoW terms and knowledge: one example question asks "Which types of heals produce a greater number of recovered hit points during an encounter?" Another wants to know "Which buff (a spell that enhances a character's abilities) is more effective for your character, Blessing of Kings or Blessing of Might?" The idea is to use situations that the kids are familiar with in World of Warcraft (raiding, for example), and apply higher level thinking to those situations.There are even creative writing suggestions dedicated to the game, from writing an RP story about a character in Azeroth, to writing a song parody (that one should be taught by Professor Turpster) or designing a quest chain. And lest you think they're just joking around, there's a whole slew of research behind the idea, too, and it definitely makes sense: kids who play World of Warcraft are much more likely to be interested in problems about DPS and Healing rather than Susie and Bobby's apples that we added and subtracted back when we were kids in school.
It seems like the only place this is implemented is in one afterschool program -- while there are lots of good ideas here, it's not necessarily being used in many classrooms yet (and my guess is that not every student in schools would vibe with a World of Warcraft-based curriculum, either). But it is a plan in development, and anything that better helps teachers understand what their students are interested in is probably worthwhile.
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Virtual selves, Odds and ends, Talents, Buffs
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
GuruClef Jun 25th 2009 3:05PM
"Which buff (a spell that enhances a character's abilities) is more effective for your character, Blessing of Kings or Blessing of Might?"
So, wait, they're teaching theorycrafting in school now? I had to learn stuff like math and science...
Xanwryn Jun 25th 2009 3:13PM
Technically speaking, yes. I don't really mind this, since for the most part, World of Warcraft is extremely mathematical (people call it Theorycrafting but not all of it's theory, some of it's based off mathematical formulas for spells and abilities, found by data mining).
For literacy? Possible I *suppose* but it all depends on the age group. I wouldn't recommend this for anyone under the age of 13, not only because it's generally not allowed for under 13s to play MMOs and because we don't need more 10 years olds spamming Trade, thanks.
As for Science? Don't see that happening.
So overall, I don't mind it. Mainly because I think the school curriculum in most countries is piss-poor anyway (well, it is in New Zealand and Australia anyway). Especially in regards to learning shit you may never need (Readings, Maths and Writing and possibly basic Science, all good, the rest are just bullshit to me and shouldn't be mandatory).
kozom Jun 25th 2009 3:13PM
"So children...if the orc has 5000 health left, how many rank 4 moonfires will it take to totally 'pwn' him?"
As awesome as this sounds in theory, I still think I'd prefer the current system :P
yunkndatwunk Jun 25th 2009 3:22PM
Those crazy gnomes decided to make the deep run tram more efficient and add a 2nd tram, on the same track! One takes off from Stormwind at 30kph, the other tram leaves from Ironforge at 25kph, what time and location do they collide?
Draenors Jun 25th 2009 3:29PM
Having the trains collide wouldn't be very efficient, would it? On the other hand, it sounds like something the gnomes would accidentally do.
BadBart Jun 25th 2009 3:28PM
Have them try to figure out the Hunter or Rogue DPS spreadsheets. That should keep them busy for a few days.
http://elitistjerks.com/f74/t30710-wotlk_dps_spreadsheet/
Elmo Jun 25th 2009 3:29PM
A Shaman with windfury on an 2 handed axe wants to know how many times he hit during a 10 minute encounter.
Buffed, his weapon speed is 1.6
assume every 5th attack procs windfury
Amaxe Jun 25th 2009 3:46PM
Unless the mechanics have changed, there is a 3 second cooldown on WF. Ideally WS of 2.6-2.8 is ideal to take advantage of every chance to proc.
Of course figuring out Shaman DPS requires a degree in Higher Maths anyway
cynmoon Jun 25th 2009 3:29PM
Leave it to Australia to take the fun out of video games.
Doffencrag Jun 25th 2009 3:32PM
Wait... aren't MMOs technically banned in Australia? ;)
MadMac10 Jun 25th 2009 3:40PM
When I taught school, I'd have a group of kids stay after to play WC2 & Starcraft on the school's network. The benefits to their education were too numerous to post here...
SpearXXI Jun 25th 2009 3:33PM
I could see them teaching Hypothesis and how to do experiments with WoW. Like if you have a full group of rogues, will you be able to defeat the boss. etc
Amaxe Jun 25th 2009 3:43PM
"Lolpwned is a ninja. If he can loot two epics before he is /gkicked. How long will he be able to do this before he has to change servers assuming he runs 2 instances a day?"
Hendrata Jun 25th 2009 5:14PM
Insufficient information.
How many epics per instance? How many guild in the server? Does he get to change name?
Amaxe Jun 25th 2009 6:59PM
Let X = number of guilds for his faction
Assuming he loots 2 epics (E) per instance and runs 2 instances (I) a day (which are red herrings) the maximum number of instances he can run is equal to 2X, after which the thread for his server on the WoW forums will be flooded with "Don't run this guy" and he has to do a server and name change
;-P
Amaxe Jun 25th 2009 7:00PM
... and I can't do maths either. It would be simply X. Guess I fail WoWmath
Eddie Jun 25th 2009 3:49PM
I teach math in Jr. High, I think I'm going to try and incorperate some of these Ideas into my classroom. Its a great way to get students interested in a lesson or an idea.
CavalierX Jun 25th 2009 3:51PM
So they're basically teaching children that only things that interest them are worth learning. That'll come in handy when they start looking for a job in the real world. "So we're looking for someone who is willing to learn the insurance business from the ground up." "Like bringing a healer is insurance against wiping?" "...What?"
alex Jun 25th 2009 4:05PM
My step-brother went to one of those hands-on schools where they let kids focus on areas they find interesting (in addition to a small core of basic curriculum.
So I just asked him - he is in the insurance business - why he decided to learn the "insurance business from the ground up."
Guess what? His answer was, "Um, to make money?" Note: it wasn't "it was so interesting!"
webdesign Jun 25th 2009 4:04PM
"Acquire two different weapons in world used by your character's class. Using the targetting dummies in a capital city, find the average damage over time of each weapon and plot the data on a graph. Try the same experiment again, this time with gear that changes your character's agility, strength, attack power, or other melee-related statistic. Graph the new data. What's the relationship between the statistic you tested and the DPS output?"
That's actually not a bad example for a basic statistics lesson versus "Flip a coin, flip it again, repeat a hundred times... fall asleep. Eat the coin by accident."
I actually do the requested exercise above via a program called Rawr for gear/gem/enchant changes (though with one weapon, Ret paladin after all). Knowing the reason they are getting a set number of DPS is alot better than ROFLPWNIKEELZYOUNOOBLETCAUSEIGOTPRETTYPRETTYPRINCESSARMOR!!