Stars and Avatars
Are video games useful? Do they serve any type of larger purpose other than providing entertainment through a screen? These are complex and multifaceted questions that require complex and multifaceted answers. Prior to answering these questions, I believe it is important for recognize that each gaming experience is different. There are many different types of games, people have different types of reactions to each game specifically, and there are different ways to play games. Just looking at the physical aspect of gaming, there are different consoles, controllers, viewing options, amounts of players that can play certain games, etc. My point here is gaming is a category of entertainment that, unlike watching a movie or playing a sport, requires a mixture of elements and skills that is different from any other form of entertainment.
Is gaming beneficial to a classroom? This is a great question that we have covered from different aspects this semester. One point we talked about was the use of experience points or achievements in games. We discussed the idea that all games require some kind of goal attainment to spur interest in the game. This would be useful in the class because while learning, students would also be motivated by the innate mechanics of a game to continue playing and thus continue learning. In addition to goals and motivation, we also talked about how games inspire social learning, meaning that students would be able to learn material and effectively talk about it after playing a game without the educational subject being boring or particularly ‘nerdy’ because all of the learning and talking about the learning would be in the context of the game. It’s almost as if people would be nerdy without realizing it because the learning has been masked behind the guise of a fun game.
One thing that games in education would require is