Video Games in Education – Approach with caution
by Margaret McKay-Lowndes
In the 1990s (answers.com, 2010), we called it the information super highway. Twenty years on, the highway has seen many improvements, additions, embellishments, re-surfacing and streamlining as well as an increase in traffic too voluminous to measure. And so we have arrived at video games for education. While some educators are keen to increase the speed limit to get there faster, others would advise us to approach with caution, as work is very much still in progress. There are many roadblocks which need to be overcome, as well as many incentives to arrive successfully at the desired destination – young people’s engagement in learning. These roadblocks and incentives are detailed very thoroughly in the report by Futurelab (Williamson, 2009) who identifies ‘four big ideas in games and learning’. The four big ideas make the argument for games in learning very compelling. As the Futurelab report is based upon statistics from theUK there is a need for similar statistics to be documented in Australia
Because providing equity of access to cultural forms which promote literacy and learning has been a traditional role of libraries (Boyce, 2006) how might the school library contribute to young people’s equity of access to video games? As an adjunct to this, if school libraries are to be one of the on-ramps by which video games in education are added to the information superhighway, it would be interesting to discover if the playing of video games contributes to a student’s literacy in the traditional spheres of reading and writing; and the impact of playing video games on students with special learning needs. One final consideration is the impact inclusion of video games in the school library would impact on library practices – clearly there would be a need to develop a collection policy around video games, and answer potential parental concerns around the playing of video games. Just as school libraries have always had policies in place to deal with challenges to particular books being included in the collection, policies would need to be extended to include video games. As well, video games might be the subject of more rigorous assessment than books, in terms of violent content, given that video games are a graphic medium.
One recent experience highlights this latter point. Toward the end of last year, students started to bring the game Urban Terror to school on their memory sticks to play in the library at lunchtime. Hordes of 13, 14 and 15 year old boys would skip lunch and rush to the library hoping to secure a computer. It was observed that the social relationships among these students was enhanced by this practice, not to mention their collaborative and team playing skills (and their ability to conceal their activity from supervisory eyes). This practice, far from dying out as was expected, became extremely popular and excited debate among staff about the suitability of the game; issues around licensing arrangements; and possible parental concern. This in turn, raised issues of censorship – who has the right to say which games should be played and which shouldn’t? As the game was being brought to school by the students, one could reasonably assume that it was condoned by some but perhaps not all, parents. In the end it was decided that as the game had a strong component of violence, it was not suitable to be played at school.
In retrospect, rather than banning the game outright, some capital could have been made from this incident. If Urban Terror could have been replaced by something with more 'educational' content, the concerns around violence would have been allayed, with potentially a very positive outcome. For example, it is asserted by its marketeers (Microsoft Game Studios, 2010) that Age of Empires is a real-time strategy game based on historical contexts and geographical settings. Wikipedia offers more information – that the game’s historical information is not always accurate (nor does it purport to be) and that the geographical settings are ‘loosely’ based on real settings.
Contrast this with the current Queensland Studies of Society and Environment criteria for assessment in Year 9 (The “Assessable elements") where extensive knowledge of facts is listed as a criteria for achieving an A standard. Obviously one of the main problems with using video games in education is the potential for confusion over what is true, and what has been invented for the sake of making the game more interesting. EducationQueensland
Another side of the video games debate emerges logically from the above point – what of the game player who doesn’t have access to a teacher or education system which will ‘set the record straight’ about the accuracy of the version of history with which he/she is engaged when playing Age of Empires? Here, another side of the video games in education debate emerges – that of the need for critical literacy skills around video games, especially if they are extensively accessed by youth in a community. The Futurelab report which has prompted these thoughts includes as one of its four ‘big ideas, the need to students to be equipped with media literacy skills to understand the cultural phenomenon of video games.
by Margaret McKay-Lowndes
In the 1990s (answers.com, 2010), we called it the information super highway. Twenty years on, the highway has seen many improvements, additions, embellishments, re-surfacing and streamlining as well as an increase in traffic too voluminous to measure. And so we have arrived at video games for education. While some educators are keen to increase the speed limit to get there faster, others would advise us to approach with caution, as work is very much still in progress. There are many roadblocks which need to be overcome, as well as many incentives to arrive successfully at the desired destination – young people’s engagement in learning. These roadblocks and incentives are detailed very thoroughly in the report by Futurelab (Williamson, 2009) who identifies ‘four big ideas in games and learning’. The four big ideas make the argument for games in learning very compelling. As the Futurelab report is based upon statistics from the
Because providing equity of access to cultural forms which promote literacy and learning has been a traditional role of libraries (Boyce, 2006) how might the school library contribute to young people’s equity of access to video games? As an adjunct to this, if school libraries are to be one of the on-ramps by which video games in education are added to the information superhighway, it would be interesting to discover if the playing of video games contributes to a student’s literacy in the traditional spheres of reading and writing; and the impact of playing video games on students with special learning needs. One final consideration is the impact inclusion of video games in the school library would impact on library practices – clearly there would be a need to develop a collection policy around video games, and answer potential parental concerns around the playing of video games. Just as school libraries have always had policies in place to deal with challenges to particular books being included in the collection, policies would need to be extended to include video games. As well, video games might be the subject of more rigorous assessment than books, in terms of violent content, given that video games are a graphic medium.
One recent experience highlights this latter point. Toward the end of last year, students started to bring the game Urban Terror to school on their memory sticks to play in the library at lunchtime. Hordes of 13, 14 and 15 year old boys would skip lunch and rush to the library hoping to secure a computer. It was observed that the social relationships among these students was enhanced by this practice, not to mention their collaborative and team playing skills (and their ability to conceal their activity from supervisory eyes). This practice, far from dying out as was expected, became extremely popular and excited debate among staff about the suitability of the game; issues around licensing arrangements; and possible parental concern. This in turn, raised issues of censorship – who has the right to say which games should be played and which shouldn’t? As the game was being brought to school by the students, one could reasonably assume that it was condoned by some but perhaps not all, parents. In the end it was decided that as the game had a strong component of violence, it was not suitable to be played at school.
In retrospect, rather than banning the game outright, some capital could have been made from this incident. If Urban Terror could have been replaced by something with more 'educational' content, the concerns around violence would have been allayed, with potentially a very positive outcome. For example, it is asserted by its marketeers (Microsoft Game Studios, 2010) that Age of Empires is a real-time strategy game based on historical contexts and geographical settings. Wikipedia offers more information – that the game’s historical information is not always accurate (nor does it purport to be) and that the geographical settings are ‘loosely’ based on real settings.
Contrast this with the current Queensland Studies of Society and Environment criteria for assessment in Year 9 (The “Assessable elements") where extensive knowledge of facts is listed as a criteria for achieving an A standard. Obviously one of the main problems with using video games in education is the potential for confusion over what is true, and what has been invented for the sake of making the game more interesting. Education
Another side of the video games debate emerges logically from the above point – what of the game player who doesn’t have access to a teacher or education system which will ‘set the record straight’ about the accuracy of the version of history with which he/she is engaged when playing Age of Empires? Here, another side of the video games in education debate emerges – that of the need for critical literacy skills around video games, especially if they are extensively accessed by youth in a community. The Futurelab report which has prompted these thoughts includes as one of its four ‘big ideas, the need to students to be equipped with media literacy skills to understand the cultural phenomenon of video games.
Response to Video Games in Education – Approach with Caution
ReplyDeleteEquity of access to digital technology is an issue that schools need to address and formulate appropriate policy to ensure this occurs. Schools should collect relevant data to ascertain the level of access that students and staff have to technology and use this data to strategically plan for the needs of the relevant stakeholders. In not addressing this issue adequately schools are at risk of setting up some students for failure. The availability of the relevant tools at the necessary time is vital for success in school and must be planned for accordingly. We would not imagine a child not having access to books, paper and pencil when needed and this will become the same for digital technologies.
Using commercially produced video games that have some knowledge component that may be covered by the curriculum seems a safe compromise to begin to introduce video games into the classroom. However to accept that only video games that meet this criteria are the ones to be used could be limiting the value that games could afford students. This is where the knowledge of the teachers is important in deconstructing different game genres, analysing the value that such games afford and reflecting on how they can be applied in practice. To place all video games that do not deal with content which is “school” related in the too hard basket and hence banning them could be limiting the potential of these items.
In order for video games to be effective tools in the classroom I feel that a support system needs to be in place. A main feature of this support should be for students to develop video game and digital media literacies. Squire (2008) defines games literacy as a developed “expertise in designing rewarding experiences for oneself within a gameworld” and “to be able to do things with games”. Educators can facilitate the development of these litercies through allowing students the opportunity to play, study, and design games. Mix this with other digital medias and you are allowing students to develop a specialised skills set which they can pass on as mentors to other students. Students will move from merely being consumers of digital media and video games to also being producers (Squire, 2008). As video games become ever popular and increasingly mainstream scholars are looking for ways to study emerging digital literacies and video games seem to be an avenue for this study (Squire, 2008).
ReplyDeleteVideo games are intertwined in many ways to our culture and they will continue to be a major influence in aspects of our day to day lives. In order for future generations to be equipped with skills that reflect the movement of culture these skills sets need to be emphasis in future educational practices.
Margaret, I agree with your point that there should be some debate about allowing students freedom to choose the video games they play in the library. Providing that parents grant permission and that an inclination towards physical violence is not evidently linked to students who are involved in these games, I do not see any harm in allowing students some freedom of choice.
ReplyDeleteI realize that there is a great deal of fear regarding allowing students to use violent video games, especially with the prevalence of school shootings. There is so much control over what children play today that children are not even allowed to talk about weapons never mind play with pretend ones of any kind. Some recent research suggests violent video games are not as harmful as helpful. Perhaps using some of these games along with good classroom discussions and guidance from school workers would allow these students to experience violence virtually rather then experimenting with it physically. Reflections upon this process could be a valuable experience.
In Adam Thierer’s (2006) paper, “ Fact and Fiction in the debate Over Video Games and Regulation.” he argues that the increased use of video games has coincided with an decrease in violent crimes. He suggests that through video games students have ability to virtually explore violence and consequences and thus may be less likely to do so in a real environment with real consequences.