Descriptors of Quality Teachers and Quality Digital Games
Quality teachers and quality digital games (video and computer) are dynamic resources that experience ongoing changes based primarily on their interactions with learners. Characteristics of these resources have been, and will continue to be researched and identified in order to discover ways to improve student learning. This chapter uses the descriptors of one of these resources, quality teachers, to illustrate how the same characteristics are integral to effective digital games. North American youth now spend more time on digital gaming activities than they spend watching TV or reading (Greenberg, 2004; Prensky, 2005), prompting educators to become familiar with the ‘quality teacher’ traits of digital games that keep learners on task and learning. By using the descriptors of quality teachers to evaluate digital games, educators will gain a better understanding of why digital games are effective learning tools.