Gaming and Education: The journey is the goal, not the ending

As a gamer, it feels wonderful to see that the field of education is finally dipping its toes into the world of gaming as a way of education, but I am also scared of how educators will use games in their classrooms.

This is a great video that explains why video games are so captivating to such a large audience. It is because it taps on the part of our brain that was curious, wants to know more, and says "Have a crack at me." To add to their points, you can't treat video games like homework or tests. Imagine you're watching someone playing a game, they show the player the tutorial, have given the player all the mechanics that are important at the time, and then they give the player a chance to actually use the mechanics.

And they lose. They die at the first chance of using the mechanics of the game to pass this first obstacle! But, the game suddenly stops and says "Sorry, I guess you're not right for the game if you didn't get it on the first time," and then shuts off. That's no game! A game still lets fail, or else there's no consequence and in turn no reason to try, but it lets you pick up the pieces of your failure and try again. Homework and tests don't work like that. No teacher has ever explained to me "If you fail, come tomorrow and do the test over again for another try!" The problem lies where I feel like educators will bring in that type of thinking to a video game, and then will be puzzled when the kids are not enjoying the game. A player at the start of a game is ignorant and weak, but by the end, they are strong and all-knowing. That is because they were allowed to fail multiple times, but also explore different options of what they can do to beat the obstacle that has been stopping them. Teachers need to tap into the curiosity of students by looking at progression through exploration and failure rather than just keeping with the same ol' "You failed once, that means you'll never get it."

Video Source: Extra Credits