The idea of introducing educational games in early education exists and has even been implemented, but do more traditional games deserve a place in schools? Topics such as English and Media exist to teach students about famous literary texts and powerful films, deconstructing these pieces to derive meaning and improve understanding of certain ideas and issues. Should time be dedicated to providing worthy games with the same analysis? Why, or why not?
It might also depends on the game relative to the age. – J.D. Jankowski4 years ago
Great topic!
For me, it's not so much about "worthy games" as it is about "worthy topics." If there's a particular set of topics worth exploring in a particular classroom, I'd say, we should explore those topics using whatever texts we believe are useful and engaging for that exploration. Most of my own work on video games has been for conference presentations and journals, but I've also presented in university classrooms on the representations of gender in specific video games. – JamesBKelley4 years ago
I also think it's necessary to define a "game" here. Do you mean strictly in the sense of what is traditionally considered a video game, or do you also include more analog "games" like board games, word games, even computer software that can be "played" with? If the latter, then really all teaching at all levels relies on games, in the sense that there are rules that we follow and students who "win" by getting the correct answers. It really depends on how we define "play" and how we differentiate it from work. – Eden4 years ago
FWIW-- I'm a teacher who teaches video games as texts, just like books and films. If someone picks up this piece, I'm happy to serve as a source. There's tons of scholarship on this topic. I recommend James Paul Gee's What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy. It's not only smart, but it is also a fun read. – ProfRichards2 years ago