Video Games and Learning

I have to admit that video games are not my specialty, which makes it difficult to relate to my “gamer” students. However, I believe that the experiences students have had with online games have a significant impact on their learning and thinking of civics/government curriculum. Let me tell you about one of my former students Johnny....Johnny suffered from ADHD, had a really difficult time focusing in class, and never turned his assignments in on time. BUT, if you put him in front of a computer game, he was a totally different Johnny than in class. Video games kept his attention for hours on end! I remember when a popular video game went on sale at Best Buy at midnight. Johnny’s mom let him wait in line at the store for this video game (I think World of Warcraft). Johnny and his friends bought the game and stayed up until 8am the next morning playing it, and of course, were late too school. I don’t necessarily agree with Johnny’s mom letting him stay up that late to buy it and then letting him stay up all night to play it, but regardless of that fact, something about that game Johnny loved and it maintained his attention. Oftentimes, when we had class discussions about global political approaches or political theories, Jonny and other gamer boys would jump right into the discussion with analogies to video games. I was left speechless as I had no idea what they were talking about!


I was very intrigued with James Paul Gee’s article “What Video Games Can Teach Us About Making Students Want To Learn.” Not only did he provide me with insight into the learning strategies with games, but challenged me to create a classroom framed around strategies that capture students’ attention. I didn’t realize that video games really do apply a lot of applicable learning strategies in their design, especially with strong character identities. Players are required to explore the game and approach playing from a character’s point of view. In doing so, they can emotionally relate to the game and get invested into the outcome…wanting to keep trying and winning. According to Gee, they see “learning in a new domain.” Games also let players choose the degree of challenge and accommodate automatically. This reminds me a lot of differentiation; players finish the game successfully with minor accommodations and different “twists and turns” throughout. Gee commented, players “feel pleasantly frustrated” putting them in a “flow state.” Isn’t this what was strive for in the classroom? We want students to feel challenged in a way that doesn’t stop them from learning but encourage and motivate them to engage in higher order thinking. Perhaps our classrooms need to create a more “game-like” atmosphere to help students solve problems through creative thinking. I also think it’s beneficial when teachers ask students to wear different “hats.” I have often asked students to think of an historical situation or political situation from various perspectives, often found in online games. Thinking back to my former student Johnny, something found in the video games was missing from my classroom for him…..higher order thinking? Strategy? Character identity? Constant visual simulation?


When looking at video games culture, there are several disadvantages that were identified in the articles. For example, it is difficult to find class-time and computer-room availability to play online video games during school. In the game Labyrinth, they required students to play this for “pre-work” for the teacher to allude to in class. If we require students to play a game at home, some won’t have internet access. Accommodations will have to be made for those who don’t. I also found it interesting about the gender of video games. I also carried the attitude that gaming was a “boy-thing.” While some of these video games are reaching out to girls, it’s almost in a negative way. I was appalled at some of the pictures of the women in the video games….I had no idea they were that stereotypical and portrayed women in skimpy dress! I think most games are definitely geared towards the male audience, and considering this, it’s hard to draw female students into this. When considering drawing students into classroom material, I’m definitely going to consider the gender roles the game utilizes.


In my own classroom, I have used games with students…both online video games, board games, and simulation games. One game that my school bought for civics class was the Demcocracy Game. (similar to the one found here http://takegame.com/strategic/htm/democracy.html). Students were in charge of running certain countries, and in doing so, earned and lost points of they balanced the budget or went into deficit. They had to strategize what to do when other countries attacked or wanted to trade with them. Students LOVED it! I think it really helped them to understand the political process. However, students also got tired of playing the game after awhile, especially female students. The male students were just a little bit more into the video game strategizing than girls! I’ve also used an online simulation game to show students how difficult it is to balance the U.S. budget. (similar to this one here: http://www.boingboing.net/2008/05/20/online-game-balance.html) Again, kids got really into the “online” aspect of it and changing the different departments to balance the budget. I specifically remember kids were shocked that they couldn’t provide the same amount of money to both education, defense, and health! They were frustrated at where to cut money! It definitely spoke to many kids’ emotions and captured their attention. It was well-suited for all kids and everyone was challenged or intrigued by it in some way. Additionally, there board games such as monopoly or real-life simulations present the ‘real-life’ situation that are well-suited for middle-school kids and get them involved in the learning process. I strongly believe that anytime you can get the kids involved and they find themselves attached to the situation through experience, emotion, or feeling, they will learn. To summarize, I think that video games as well as other games, provide meaning and purpose to learning. It challenges kids to think in new ways and forces them to invest energy, talent, and thinking to the situation. And, well, some are just fun!