Gamers and Education

I recently had the opportunity to watch Jane McGonial discuss gamers and game-play as they relate to solving world problems on TED.com.  Her main point was that in order to solve real-world problems, we need to play more games online, maybe 21 billion hours a week.  Many people do not feel as good in real life as they do in games.  People cooperate and collaborate in games when they would not do that in real life.  People feel overcome and frustrated when they are faced with tough tasks in everyday life, whereas in games, they gladly accept the challenge.  People believe they can accomplish the task in games, because it matches their skill level with the task.  These thoughts can have a direct impact on how games are designed and used in education.  If I could somehow harness the power of gamers to focus on learning math skills, or any other educational skill, then student would be more than willing to accept the challenge.  I have to try to match the skill level of the gamer, or rather the student, with what needs to be learned.

McGonial goes on to state that because of the positive feedback in games, it enhances the confidence of the gamer.  The average young person will spend 10,000 hours playing games before they are 21, according to McGonial.  Young people are learning about games at the same rate they are spending hours in school.  As an educator, I have to take notice of this and decide how to teach the curriculum so that students will want to learn.  There is an entire generation of people who spend at least an hour a day playing online games. The game industry keeps producing games, especially now that smartphones are popular, but educators seems to be stuck using teaching concepts that are no longer effective for this new generation of students.

McGonial also discussed four concepts that gamers use, maybe subconsciously, to complete a game.  One is urgent optimism, where gamers always believe an epic win is possible.  The second is social fabric, where playing a game with another person builds trust and stronger personal ties.  Third is blissful productivity, where gamers would rather engage in a task that may be difficult instead of doing nothing.  And the fourth is epic meaning, where gamers love to be attached to missions and stories.  All four of these concepts should be used to engage students in learning in our schools today.  I believe, after watching this video, that today’s student needs and deserves an educational experience that matches what they receive in the games they play.  It might be the best way to solve the real-world problems we face today.