Can Video Games Teach?

Everyone loves games, especially when they are video games.  Well what if our school education was based on video games?  Will Richardson’s article “School as Video Game” explains just this type of school.  His resources were an article in the New York Times Magazine called “Learning by Playing: Video Games in the Classroom” by Sara Corbett and a video linked with the New York Times Magazine (supplied very good information).  The one year old middle school is called Quest to Learn.  It was created by Katie Salen and is funded by the Gates Foundation.  Al Doyle one of the game design teachers said, “Schools change very slowly… and technology changes ever so fast,” explaining why the school is based around so much technology.  Salen believes that bringing a laptop into schools is not teaching kids to use technology; it takes much more than that.  Recording films, podcasts and videos, along with blogging, and playing video games are actives often included in Quest to Learn.  The video games are a way to teach the students lessons while keeping the students interested.  In the short video about Quest to Learn many students said they loved this way of teaching.  The parents agreed and said their kid was totally engaged while learning every subject.  Not only do the students play the games, they also invent their own and edit the pre-made games.  While the curriculum is based on games, the teaching does follow New York state standards.  Another very important fact mentioned was that “1-1 classroom computing isn’t the best scenario; 1-4 requires kids to work together and collaborate.”  The students attending Quest to Learn constantly work together when designing and solving games, teaching them team work.

I am not sold on the ‘school based on games’ idea.  I think group collaboration is important but designing games is not the only way to obtain that skill.  If a school is based too much on technology then kids will lose the core basics.  Now, for a high school, I definitely think a school like Quest to Learn would be a bad idea.  High school is so complex it would be too hard to base every class around games.  High school is about discovering what you want to do with your life, and what career will you head towards.  If you wanted to be a video game designer, then Quest for Life would be a great idea; but not everyone chooses that career path.  What about the people who want to be journalists, photographers, scientists, or professional athletes?  Games are not going to be the best choice for every class; I don’t even see how kids in Quest for Learn are learning writing or science by playing games.  Elementary schools could be a good choice to employ the video game learning style, but then again maybe not.  It would be good idea because little kids love playing games and it would keep them engaged.  It would be a bad idea because elementary school is where students are taught the basic learning skills; and I am not sure all those skills can be taught in games.  I also don’t understand why Quest to Learn is teaching their students to invent a video game.  When would this ability be used in life if you were not a game designer?

Obviously there are certain positive and negative aspects about this new learning style.  I have never played the video games so I have no understanding what they are like; therefore, I cannot fully state that the games are not teaching students what they need to know.  The style in Quest to Learn is very complex and still needs more research, as confirmed in the video; but when more research is done, what will they conclude?  Will this style become popular in every school?  What will be the consequences if video games run every class room?