I recall sitting in an online Professional Development session and thinking, “man, this lady is passionate about literacy, has written two books about it, and wants to improve the learning of others by seemingly doing something so simple.” Isn’t everything literacy? I thought it had to be more difficult than it sounds. Math literacy? Science literacy? Social Studies? Surely only literacy belongs in English, but it wasn’t. Students need literacy abilities to read and understand that content. It definitely felt like a lightning-in-the-bottle type of idea and she was capitalizing off of it. I wondered if I could find some million dollar idea that could help shake up education and soon the ideas started to flow.
I have loved video games since I was young and believed that I could be transported to another world and immersed in it for hours. I remember playing Kingdom Hearts Thanksgiving day for about 6 hours straight, continuing the beloved story of Sora going on an adventure with Goofy and Donald to save their worlds. In Golden Eye for the Nintendo 64, I took on the role of James Bond and read the dossier documents about the upcoming mission objectives. Playing Banjo and Kazooie, I had to read each line of dialogue to understand the next clue I had to figure out, bringing me one step closer to finding the evil witch who took my sister.
The point is I was learning while I was playing. Seeing these worlds created for me to explore, discover, fail, succeed and win are all crucial steps to learning, but why couldn’t something like this be used to help me and others learn in the classroom? All of this started coming to me after the meeting and I started thinking about games that I have played lately were I really divulged and learned.
My wife had shown me an article titled “Video Games Don’t Have To Be Educational To Spark Learning” by Katy Kline and thought “Yes! This is it!” This person who had a good understanding of classroom knowledge and how to learn, was able to learn about geography from playing a video game and be successful when tested on it. I always turn back to this article when I need a refresher or to show others who are confused by this idea, learning can happen from playing video games.
Now I am not talking about those games that are based on educational skills and concepts, those are more for early learning and those work. However, they lose their thrill after a certain age and from their is when we start to lose students. Many kids I have had the chance to teach love video games and they talk about them a lot. These are the kids I see struggle to understand concepts in the classroom and make those connections to the learning. I struggled to get them to work until I use Grand Theft Auto V with a student. I know what you are thinking, GTA V can’t help students learn! No way! But the answer is, it can. If you get your hands on it and can see past the guns, girls and killing, the GTA series is a unique experience.
You are one of three characters, Michael, Trevor, and Franklin and each character has a unique backstory. You have to progress through the story, complete different missions and make choices that affect story outcomes. Is this not plot that we teach students every year? Character development? Conflict/Resolution? As you play the game even more, you see that there are different geographical regions like hills, slums, suburbs, airports, city, countryside and more. As a player in the game you can purchase property and even learn and gamble safely, that’s math and social studies mixed in with some science. If a game can cover different content areas, can it be used and leveraged in the classroom? The answer is yes! Why not?
One of the main questions i have had asked during my presentations of leveraging video games in the classroom is “will students be playing games in class?” and at first I really wanted them to, I thought it would be great for kids to show what they are doing but ultimately that would be too much trouble for all those involved. Consoles cost money, stuff may go missing, kids may play too long or others would get distracted while kids played during a station rotation or something. The pros do not outweigh the cons. So instead, I focused on a learning protocol that would allow the student to play at home during their free time, and then show what they know in multiple capacities in the classroom during a unit. This could be super impactful to help close achievement gaps, bordeom or classroom productivity.
Gone are the days where kids would sit and listen to what the teacher was teaching. Now, it’s all about the student learning outcomes as opposed to learning and demonstrating what the teacher is showing. We need to adjust to the times and we are trying to provide students with 21st century skills. Video games could be the bridge that helps close the gap and helps us get back those students we may have feared we lost. I would call myself an average gamer, but the games I do play today, I am immersed in. I fall in love with what I am playing. I make a lot of connections and have even shared personal emotions, past and present. Even when I am done with the games storyline, I go beyond and want to learn more about the development and background of the game. I watch videos on reviews of the game and how they are impacting gaming and society. There is so much to unpack with each unique game, this post will just touch the surface of gaming.
This post is not to confuse gaming with esports or gamification, but could be included in that realm. Instead, it focuses on what kids already have at home, most students have some sort of console based game, and use what they do in their free time in their educational setting and to take their passion for gaming and connect that to their learning because it will show them that learning happens everywhere. I hope you continue to join me on this journey as I uncover more games that can be used and that you in turn see how they can benefit our learners. Ultimately what I want is to change education for the better, and to let them learn the best way they can.
Let Them Learn 