I'm sure we've all heard the old folks mention how all young people do is play video games, and the truth is, many young people do. Not only that, but the largest consumers of video games are now in their thirties! So if so many people play video games, why not make it fun as well as educational! How can we utilize video games for educational purposes?
Now don't get me wrong, when I was young my parents got me one or two learning games (for math or spelling) that were suppose to be fun and educational. They ended up being a waste of money and left a bad taste in my mouth. These video games were made by educators to educate, and not game creators to be entertaining.
So how did video games help me learn? I used to be horrific at spelling and math (my two least favourite subjects), and got hooked on some RPGs when I was younger. I found out that because I played on some online communities, with other people all over the world, I wanted to be able to communicate effectively by typing messages to them and be able to understand what was said to me. So every time I was unsure how to spell something, I would either google it or look it up in a dictionary - I didn't want to look like I couldn't spell in front of others! When communicating in real life with friends, it was done verbally, but in the video game word, I was forced to communicate with written words. I looked up new words I had not even heard of, and slowly but surely, my personal lexicon grew. And without me even knowing it I was learning!
When it came to math, I needed to calculate how many gold coins were needed for a new item, and how much gold from different areas I needed to gather (i.e. if I have 800 gold now, I need to gather 200 more to buy this sword). Or if I sold 20 furs for 40 gold a piece, it would give me 800 gold. Again, slowly but surely, I was able to calculate faster each time the subject of buying and selling came up.
Funny enough, I'm not sure I would be as far as I am, in regards to education and work, without having played these video games when I was younger. The key was that all of them were meant for entertainment and not education. Learning was a byproduct of playing them. If video games are to be used for education, they must first and foremost be FUN.
How can we make video games that are fun and educational? Will these become valuable learning tools in the future? Will students in Canada have to learn and practice their Japanese in order to play games with people in Japan?
I think video games are a valuable learning tool, only if children like playing them, and it is something that I think educators should definitely look at further for their learning merits.
1 comments:
Hey Gordo,
I totally agree with you in learning as a byproduct of games.
I used to play video games when I was younger as well, and a large part of the game was communication, and not just written, but verbal, through programs like Teamspeak and Ventrilo. It was fascinating to be talking simultaneously to 300 people from all over the world. I have made friends in the US, UK, France, Germany, Russia, and even China. And when you reach a point like that, its much more then just a game, its a community where people can share and learn from one another.
If done right, I think video games have the potential to be a huge resource in education.
Nice post,
Micah
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