A Generation of Players: The Future of Gaming in Education
I have always been and will always be a book girl. Hard and paper backs arranged on their shelves, stacked on the floor, stored in dresser drawers, boxes, and lovinging read and re-read until their covers need a thick layer of packaging tape. I am forever the English professor’s daughter, raised in offices and libraries with those who taught me to respect books and the stories they tell.
But I’m also a lover of visual story telling- graphic novels, movies, and (increasingly) video games. It’s the sharp incerase is storytelling through games that I find intriguing. Those who have never read DC or Marvel comics, who are new to Harry Potter, and haven’t yet met Indiana Jones can get to know these classic characters through a whole new medium. This begs the question- can these games be integrated in to literature lessons. Is there a future in game-based education- not just for small children or those GameBoy brain trainers, but as real building block for education. Imagine reading a book, and then playing your way through it. Or, even better, allowing students to design a game based on their reading list- the integration of reading comprehension, writing skills, and computer skills combined with the critical thinking skills neede to combined the three will go a long way to helping students become well-rounded citizens with the ability to solve challenging problems.
What do you think? Does gaming have a future in the education arena?
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Claire is a self proclaimed books and movies nerd, and spends her free time watching way too much TV and playing with her daughter who loves Doctor Who. By day she’s a grad student studying sustainability, by night a geek mom making the next generation awesome. She drinks too much coffee (if there is such a thing) and enjoys relaxing with her dog Judy and a good book.
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Yes. If nothing else, the teachers who are really interested in getting their students immersed can use things like FoldIt and PHYLO to have discussions about biology and genetics…although, now that I think about it, it’s a little bit of a false premise since games have been a part of education for at least 25 years (Number/Word Munchers, Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego [which we used to study for geography] and so on).