Videogames and
Education: Are We Learning When We Play?
We live in
a digital age. This fact can no longer
be avoided. The personal computer has
invaded every place where paper texts were once so dear. The internet has changed the way we write and
the way we learn, but with this comes a growing concern. Many wonder what the effects this change in
medium will have on the future, whether it is helping or hindering our
society. Video games are a highly
stigmatized component of the digital age.
There is a concern as to how video games, and their use, are affecting
the development of children. While every
other aspect of our culture is being uploaded and integrated into digital
systems, the question remains: Should video games and interactive media be
incorporated as pedagogical tools for the future? As with any shift in culture resulting from
technological advance, there is a conservative cry that exposure to video games
is harmful on the developmental process.
This paper will examine this complex question and derive a conclusion as
to whether or not video games can benefit pedagogy.
To
understand the potential for video games as tools for education we must first
understand the context that shapes our response. In a recent article by Jenny Weight, Self,
Video Games and Pedagogy, she writes, "Your attitude to whether
teachers should harness the video game as a pedagogical tool is flavoured by
your attitude to reality and identity," (Weight). This is a powerful statement about our
reaction to videogames as human beings.
Weight is addressing the stigma of digital reproduction, and indirectly
the complex idea of authenticity. That
is to say, a person's reaction is shaped by their identification with, or opposition
to, the digitization of information and media.
While the average person isn't consciously saying to themselves, I don't
like videogames because they call to question our definitions of reality and
identity. Video games are often
perceived, usually by parents and mass media entities, as a waste of time. This results from a viewpoint of video games
as purely entertainment, similar to television.
A more extreme stance would be that videogames not only hinder learning
in adolescents, but also prevent social development. Weight observes that those in opposition
argue, "Not only are video games considered to hinder acquisition of
traditional academic skills, but critical learning is eschewed in conservative
humanities curricula in favour of content-specific, well-defined, canonical
bodies of knowledge." Her
observation again addresses the negative connotations applied to videogames,
but also their connection to alternative teaching methods. Howard Gardner's
theory of multiple intelligences, proposes that there are a variety of
cognitive disciplines. These are
developed through different mediums and teaching approaches (Gardner). If we consider his theory in relation to the
interactive relationship created by video games, their value as pedagogical
tools .
The
question becomes what type of education do video games promote. How does the experience of interacting with a
computer game become learning, and how can this type of education develop actual
practical skills. Jenny Weight used the
term "critical learning" in my earlier quote regarding the relationship
between pedagogy and video games. This
concept is frequently cited in arguments for the value of interactive media. Dr. James Paul Gee, a professor and
researcher in literacy studies, refers to the concept of critical learning in
his article Learning by Design: Games as learning machines. In his article Gee lists a series of a
principles of learning, derived from his research in literacy, psycholinguistics,
and education. After defining each
principle, he gives an example of how video games stimulate this aspect of the
learning process. One of these
principles is the idea of the "empowered learner". He explains that good learning requires
learners that feel like active agents (Gee 17).
I believe this principle relates closely to Weight's concept of critical
learning. When individuals are engaged
directly by media, or ask a teacher a question, thus opening a brief discourse,
their brain is actively invested in the learning process. The video game example Gee gives is of The Elder Scrolls: Morrowind. Morrowind is a sandbox style role-playing
game, which gives the player a large world to explore and a variety of moral
scenarios that affect the story's outcome.
This not only causes the player to contemplate their actions and the
possible outcomes, but reinforces their desire to solve more complex aspects of
the game. A quality game design, as Gee
would argue, challenges the user with a series of problems escalating in degree
of difficulty (19). This aspect of game
design is obvious to most outsiders as well.
Every time you get to the next level in Pac Man or Tetris, it gets
harder. What is interesting is how these
two aspects of game design come together.
When an individual is actively participating and invested in game play,
they are more willing to solve complex problems. As Gee would say, "When we think of
games, we think of fun. When we think of learning we think of work. [Video]
Games show us this is wrong" (23).
A well designed game is capable of triggering an internal desire to
learn. While institutionalized
pedagogical video games sound like a crazy idea, they may not be so
farfetched. I know that many students
who attended an elementary school in the 90's with a computer lab have probably
played Number Crunchers.
Interest in
the effects of video games on cognitive development is more than just an
argument between children and parents, and more than just a subject of
discourse amongst professors and academics.
For many years now, the potential for learning through video games has been
studied by the United States Army Science Board. In Michael Macedonia's article, Games, Simulation, and the Military
Education Dilemma, he references an Army Science Board Summer Study in
2001. He explains that, "Army
studies show that this 'wired generation' is very different in terms of skills
and attitudes than its predecessors," (Macedonia 158). Following this statement is a lengthy list of
characteristics of the "wired generation" according to the study. Two of these characteristics are defined as a
"Shift in focus of learning from passive listening to discovery-based
experiential and example-based learning.
Shift in type of reasoning from deductive and abstract to the
concrete" (Macedonia). If we expand
our perspective on video games as a unique form of media, and examine the
relationship between user and program as a potential learning experience; the
value becomes more apparent.
So if we
ask again, what value do video games hold as pedagogical tools, the answer is
becoming much clearer. The interactive
relationship between user and program facilitates an active experiential
approach towards learning. The
engagement of an individual in the video game realm forces the user to adapt to
a unique environment. In playing, the
user, either consciously or subconsciously, is driven to critically assess the
new digital environment. The user,
either through trial and error or by reading the manual, discovers the cause
and effect of each control. This process
is contingent upon the user's ability to understand a unique system of cause
and effect: I push button X and I jump, I push button Y and I duck. Once this basal understanding is acquired
between user and interface, the requests of the digital environment
expand. The user must now use their abilities
to engage in the environment around them: If I jump into pixilated red lava my
avatar dies, If I duck under the spikes I live.
Whether they are conscious of it or not, the user is critically engaging
the video game. The process of playing
forces the user to synthesize their understanding of reality with the
simplified structure of the digital realm.
Looking
past the simple binary of books are good, videogames are bad, there lies the
possibility for a revolutionary shift in how we approach education. The modern age of multimedia interaction obliges
us as a society to examine the possibilities of digital interaction. Video games can instruct and assess critical
thinking and reasoning skills. While the
application of video games on an institutional level of education is perhaps a
distant future, it is important to acknowledge their potential as viable
pedagogical tools, inside and outside the classroom.
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