Gaming Benefits

So, what are the benefits of gaming?  Some of the benefits vary depending on the kind of game.  Some games are social, some aren't.  Some games involve a lot of strategy and thinking, some don't.  Some games can be education, some aren't.  It is important to look at games, not as a whole but individually, because not all games are equal.  I can't compare the nutritional value of pizza to that of an apple because not all foods are the same.  This is completely true when thinking about games.

Games are social.  Games can be played with multiple people in the same room, games can be played with people on different continents.  Most games have a social component to them.  Not all games are social.  Some are immersive environments where one player is interacting solely with created characters, such as the Elder Scrolls series or The Sims.  Others, including many popular games such as World of Warcraft (WOW), Halo, or Call of Duty (COD) revolve around gameplay that is interactive and strategic planning with friends/clanmates. 

Games are often educational.  You can learn, even when it isn't science, math, or reading.  Games have a lot to teach us about communication, technology, strategy planning, perseverance, and the joy of success.  Some games do offer more in the way of traditional education, where a player is actively learning a skill such as typing or the basics of city planning.  Others are created to be largely entertainment, but can still teach skills.  Halo, a common shooter game involves destroying a horde of aliens.  The players work together to accomplish tasks.  Teamwork is essential.  One player may be driving a car, while the other player mans the rooftop gun.  The teammates must communicate and work together or they will fail at the task, resulting in the death of their characters.  Teamwork is something that is important in daily life, from marriage to the workplace.  Skills learned in the game may help translate to these other environments allowing the employee to take on a leadership role and function well with others.  Games can engage students, like the students shown in this video (below).  This video also addresses some of the current issues in gaming - the main focus right now is entertainment.  Although some current games exist purely for the educational market, we need to work as a society to increase the number and the quality of educational games.

 

Games can influence your body.  This article talks how games impact a persons body and mind.  Games are a form of stimulation, like any other real world activity.  Your body and brain interacts with the game to find solutions, to overcome fears or challenges, and is rewarded by success.  Video games can boost visual skills and improve hand eye coordination, according to this National Geographic article.

Games are a growing part of the economy.  Games cost money to make, they employ many people in the creation and development stages.  The physical product of the game disc or server space employes more people.  This YouTube video talks more about about gaming, including spending.  In many games, people pay real life money to get premium objects.  Many games, such as The Simpsons Tapped Out, which is a city building game in The Simpsons universe is a freemium game.  A Freemium game is one that is free to play, but you can pay for premium content.  In Tapped Out, a player gets many buildings and characters for free.  A player need never pay anything to enjoy the game, but if a player pays real money, they are given in-game currency that can be used to buy goods or services.  While many do play for free, this particular game has earned more than 100 million between August 2012 and October 2013. 

I have recently been playing Settlers Online which is a game where you found a little society.  It is a strategy and city-building game similar to Age of Empires, Civilization, and Sim City.  You are the mayor and your city needs many things to survive.  You have to have resources to advance, to feed the population, to expand, to create what you need to survive and advance.  Fishing, hunting, and deforestation are real in this game.  Mines are used up and collapse.  You have to balance what you take with what you get.  Space is limited and the gamer needs to create a strategy that will allow the civilization to have what it needs, in the space allotted, and with the resources available.

There are additionally social benefits to Settlers Online.  There is a running chat and forums with lively discussions, most of which are not game related.  People are willing to share tips and aid others, although lines of loyalty clearly align with clan lines.  For someone who has never been in a clan, it is a unique experience.  All clans are different, but many are people who form close friendships and are fiercely loyal to the others.  Many people, on top of investing hundreds of hours of time into the game, are investing real money to purchase goods, resources, and bonuses to help their society.  Within clans, you will even find sharing of premium goods that cost that user real money.  Educationally, the game forces the player to think about the limitation of resources, what goes into city planning, and even historically what was needed for society to advance to where it is today.  This game is also freemium.  It is free to play, but you can get bonuses, items, and resources by paying cash.

In summary, the world of gaming is a lot more complex than it seems.  It goes far beyond simple games meant to amuse individuals for short periods of time.  They are educational, they make us happy, they challenge us, they teach us, they are viable business models, and they are expanding.  It will be interesting to see how the gaming industry evolves during the next few decades.  We are already seeing a decline of console games, in favor of portable device gaming.  As this expands, new developers are joining the marketplace.  Many are starting to offer educational games and simulations.  Eventually this will expand in both quality and quantity.  Students will only benefit by the future of gaming and the integration into the classroom.

Gaming as a New Paradigm

So what is a video game?  Are they just entertainment?  What is the educational potential of a video game?  A video game is an interactive tool where a user is required to do certain tasks to stay alive, to level up, or to complete the game.  Games can teach courage and team-work.  You are rewarded for success and punished for failure.  You learn, while being entertained.  Nothing is more engaging than having fun and not even realizing you are learning.  

This article nicely summarizes so much of why video games, while being both cool and fun, are an awesome learning tool.  One thing that the article mentions is how learning at different speeds is allowed in games.  I loved that during my own childhood.  I took to many things quickly, including typing.  I was many levels ahead and not restrained by my classmates who took longer than I did - a common frustration of mine during childhood.  This article also discusses that games can be made to teach any subject.  While educational games exist, more are needed.  Many already allow you to interact with astronomy, biology, botany, and so many other topics.  As the topics grow, the students can learn. 

As a child, I played Oregon Trail, the Amazon Trail, Sim City, had an interactive encyclopedia that had a little video game quiz, a French language game, and learned to type from Mario in our computer lab in elementary school.  Several of these games are listed here, in a list of some historical educational games that influenced how we learned.  My teacher paired early American history and manifest destiny with Oregon Trail.  The game let us experience some of the harsh conditions and troubles faced by early settlers.  It made the topic more interesting because it came alive for us.  Although they were small and virtual, our little people often died of dysentery or died while making a decision to forge the river.  Rarely, did even some members of the party make it across the trail.  I enjoyed the game, but I learned.  I learned by interacting with the game, by the lessons of my teacher, and it is one of the few specific things I remember from my grade school classrooms because it was memorable and enjoyable.  Mario was my typing teacher, I learned more about geography from Carmen Sandiego, and had a game existed about all of the United States Presidents - I might have a better knowledge of the Presidents between #9 and #31 (with a few notable exceptions, of course).

Will gaming be a new standard in education?  This video, with Jonathan Schenker, argues that students are already playing video games and incorporating education into the video games is something essential.  Schenker's argument for "well-designed computer games" is something that could make "serious learning enjoyable" and helps students by giving individualized attention that they would not normally receive because of class size.  He also argues that failure is extremely beneficial and that "experience is the best teacher."  I absolutely agree with this statement because I am willing to take chances with failure in a game that I would not in a classroom.  It is embarrassing to try something new that may blow up in your face

In the video, Jonathan Schenker also mentions Pokemon, a game that I love and spent an embarrassing number of hours on as a child.  Pokemon is a complicated universe and the many different creatures have many levels and interactions.  Each benefits from certain environments, has boosts, weaknesses, and works best when paired with certain creatures and others are their kryptonite.  If the game used real world elements, would it have been any different?  I would have been entertained, and my understanding of chemistry would probably be better.

Another similarity that Jonathan Schenker mentions is typing and other clan skills.  I did learn to type in elementary school, my speed came from gaming.  For several years, I played an online game and I was a clan leader.  My typing speed was needed to keep up and to advance our clan.  It was essential to our success.  I became faster and better, because I was required to be better.  Typing for a job or career will eventually give you the same skills.  I went in with those skills because of my game. 

The video also addresses the barriers to gaming, so many of which older educators need to change their perceptions.  Some video games can be violent, many are not.  Some are mindless, many others are challenging and complicated.  Schenker also discusses simulations, a game class that I adore.  I love exploring and understanding the world around me.  Gaming allows me to do this.  If educators understand how gaming helps students, of all ages learn, we can progress.

We may be a ways off from interactive helmets like the one that Lisa Simpson imagines where she has a personal tour from Genghis Khan, but hopefully we can learn how to integrate games to teach students in a way that is fun, engaging, and meaningful to them.  Everyone would benefit.  Teachers would be able to reach every student in a way that they can't always in current classrooms.  The educational system would benefit by increased student learning and engagement.  The students would feel the largest benefit - additional learning.

Lisa with her interactive helmet 

 Genghis Khan taking Lisa on a tour

The technology exists.  Everyone would benefit.  Now comes the difficult task of pushing forward something that will change our very understanding of classrooms and learning.

My Gaming Experiences

My gaming experience in the classroom is currently limited - but this is something that I am hoping to expand.  One area that I am hoping to expand is finding appropriate games for the course level and the subject material.  The games fitting in an in-person classroom are much different than those in the online classroom.  The online classroom has many advantages that the in-person class lacks.  One advantage is that each student has his/her own computer where they can participate in simulations or games that require a computer/internet.  In person classes often lack access to computer labs, which can make integration of technological games difficult. 

In person I have incorporated games where possible/fitting.  I feel that it enhances the learning experience.  I have done game activities where there was a limited amount of resources (self-replenishing, but slowly) and the students had to attempt to remove a marble(s) to get enough to give everyone in their group while not depleting the entire pile.  The students started in small groups and combined after each round.  As the group size grew this became more and more difficult, until at the end of the activity the entire class was in one group and supporting everyone caused depletion.  This helped to illustrate carrying capacity. 

Online there are games/programs/apps that do the same thing, while being interactive to the individual.  The student can repeat the activity in different ways to see what would have happened if they had done this or that. 

The benefits of games are that the students are learning without realizing they are learning.  It can help students engage and feel involved with the activity rather than passively sitting and writing line after line of notes.  One negative is because the students are engaged and not taking notes, some don't realize that this is something that is likely to be on an exam and fail to recall/study this concept before an exam.  Because of this, I feel that it is important to include the key points in notes and follow that with the gaming activity. 


Others feel uncomfortable with a "game" being included at the college level.  Calling a game an activity often makes individuals who feel that games have no place in college to accept the activity.  In my medical terminology class, the students must complete an "activity" that is a crossword puzzle.

Overall, gaming in the classroom is beneficial.  As the millennials and beyond go through college, learning styles that integrate more gaming/technology/alternative ways to learn will be increasingly important.