"Your brain's important, but not all that important," said Dr. James Paul Gee, a professor at Arizona State University and a leading authority on literacy and the potential of educational games, during a talk at the Learning and Brain conference last week.
By that he means the following: What we'd assumed about the importance of brain functions -- following rules and logic and calculating -- are no longer relevant. There's been a revolution in the learning sciences and the new theories say that human beings learn from experiences -- that our brains can store every experience we've had, and that's what informs our learning process.
Following that logic, he says, the best kind of learning comes as a result of well-designed experiences.
Gee, who spoke at the Learning and the Brain Conference last week, used this theory to launch into research-validated reasons why video games are good for learning. Here are 10 truths, according to Gee. Video games:
FEED THE LEARNING PROCESS. The best learning experiences have the following values: motivation, clear goals, interpreted outcomes, and immediate and copious feedback. Video games have all these components. Kids play video games for fun with the goal of progressing to the next level and eventually conquering the opponent, whether that's another player or the computer. What's more, the social aspect -- sharing tactics, experiences, and explanations -- helps cement what they've learned.
OBVIATE TESTING. The current assessment system forces teachers to teach to the test. Video games hold out a different way of thinking about assessments: namely, that we don't need it. Compare a student who's taken 12 weeks of algebra classes to one who's played the video game Halo on the most challenging setting. The algebra student must take a test to assess what he knows on the day of the test. The Halo player has mastered the skills needed to get to the final level -- and that's his ultimate goal. No need for a test in that context. "Learning and assessment are exactly the same thing," Gee said. "If you design learning so you can't get out of one level until you complete the last one, there's no need for a test. There would be no Bell Curve. It's unethical to test a student based on one day's knowledge. We have to change the attitude about testing on a government level."
BUILD ON EXPERIENCE. With every new game, the knowledge and expertise picked up in previous games can be applied to a new experience, a fundamental part of learning.
REDEFINE TEACHERS AS LEARNING DESIGNERS. Game designers create well-designed experiences and social interactions. Teachers are designers of learning, and can create experiences tailored to suit their outcome. If we "re-professionalize" teachers as designers, they can create their own scripts for what they want students to learn. This type of learning is based on good teaching, not curriculum per se.
TEACH LANGUAGE THROUGH EXPERIENCE. The biggest problem with using scholastic language is that it's not used outside of school. "The language you learn at school is not the one you use at home," Gee said. The best way of learning language is not from a book or a dictionary, but from applying it to an experience. For example, kids can decode even the most cryptic game manual after they play the game because they're experiencing every image, action, and dialogue that's described.
ENTICE KIDS TO LOVE CHALLENGES. The video game industry is making a killing selling toys and games that are difficult to master. "They're selling stuff to kids that are complex and hard. And because it's outside of school, it's virtually addictive."
MOTIVATE LEARNING. If a student is not motivated to learn, there will be no learning. It's hard to motivate students to learn something like algebra without context, without motivation and the gratification that comes with mastering a video game.
TEACH PROBLEM-SOLVING. When it comes to problem-solving, research shows that if you teach and test facts and formulas, students learn facts and formulas. This doesn't correlate to solving problems. But if you teach through problem-solving, students learn problem-solving skills, plus they learn the facts -- for free.
ENCOURAGE RISK-TAKING. If the cost of failure is high, as it is in schools, then students are discouraged to explore and take risks. If the cost of failure is made lower, such as in video games in which the player "dies" and starts over again, students are motivated to explore all their options. They rethink goals over and over again, and try out new tactics if something's not working. That type of learning -- risk taking -- can't happen if the cost of failure is too high.
PROVIDE VALID LEARNING MODEL FOR SCHOOLS. "We should use the learning principles built into good video games in and out of schools, even if we are not using games. The learning principles can be built into many different curricula," Gee wrote in Learning Theory, Video Games, and Popular Culture, published in The International Handbook of Children, Media and Culture.
"Your brain's important, but not all that important," said Dr. James Paul Gee, a professor at Arizona State University and a leading authority on literacy and the potential of educational games, durin...
"Your brain's important, but not all that important," said Dr. James Paul Gee, a professor at Arizona State University and a leading authority on literacy and the potential of educational games, durin...
I believe that computer and video games have the potential to make significant learning impact. But I also believe that this potential is currently not being realized -- at least not at a meaningful scale.
Last year, major video game publishing companies donated vast quantities of games and game systems to DonateGames to help raise funds for children with rare diseases.
One of the most powerful ways you can encourage your children to become successful, happy and contributing people is to teach them good decision-making, and then allow them to make their own decisions.
The single biggest misconception about games is that they're an escapist waste of time. But more than a decade's worth of scientific research shows that gaming is actually one of the most productive ways we can spend time.
We can't pry our kids' fingers off their electronic devices by fiat, but we can channel their desires for communication and companionship into more productive endeavors.
We can use technology to bring lessons to students on the devices they use, showing up with an activity that's engaging and cool -- outside the classroom.
I'm absolutely certain that video games can be a good tool for teaching.
But every time we get a "game"that tries to be educational, the kids don't like it as much.
It's a work in progress I guess.
Francois_Bergeron: I'm absolutely certain that video games can be a good
I recommend reading Harvard's review of 2 Million Minutes. The movie is comparing extremely different results for the exact same education level between the three countries. To be an engineer in India or China is to be "treated like a rock star". That goal motivates everyone involved, from parents to students. If your goal is to be treated like a rock star in America, you aren't going to be motivated into the hard sciences - more likely the arts or sports. The disjoint between practical goals and dreams, in America, leads to an education system that isn't focused on any one subject.
American students are bombarded with images of filthy rich entertainers. Or politicians. Or CEOs. None of which need to "kick ass" at math or science in order to be filthy rich. Basic algebra is all you'll ever need to know in order to do the most complicated of accounting books.
And then there's Americans like me, who did learn to kick ass at math and science. For me it's because I love the beauty of the subject itself, though. Which began when I watched Carl Sagan's Cosmos series at the age of 8... entertainment!
I watched carl sagan too and loved it, but I was older. When i watched it as a kid, i hated it.
But yer right.
In Finland, teachers are well paid and chosen among the best that country has to offer. In the US, the opposite is true.
Ouch.. I know... Let me have it..
Francois_Bergeron: I watched carl sagan too and loved it, but I
Are you implying that education based video games would be silly? It has nothing to do with entertainment...entertainment would be a side-effect of a learning based video game. You don't like to do things that are boring unless you have to I would imagine. By definition that is what boring is...So there should be no problem with a child having fun while learning at a faster rate than sitting in a classroom for an hour and a half waiting for the bell to ring so they can talk to their friends. Imagine what America would be like if kids couldn't wait to go to school and still came home with a good education.
GeorgioSutton: Are you implying that education based video games would be
no doubt. But it's also addictive and antisocial.
I've seen kids addicted to this silliness sleep until 3pm and give up on school so they could keep playing.
Francois_Bergeron: no doubt. But it's also addictive and antisocial. I've seen
May you should ask those kids why they dislike reality. Our kids go to the school system and see how they leave their rights and liberty at the door. They have a no zero tolerance policy, yet they are in a enviorment that teachs acceptance among all. They live in a state of Duality and sadly the parents can do nothing. Our education systems need to be fixed so that all children are involved. If your child loves games. Let him play games to prove his intelligence.
I don't think they are anti-social. They just don't leave the house to play in the dirt in our modern time.
CNN has a article on how games can "also capable of building players' confidence and helping them see the world from multiple viewpoints, games can be powerful learning tools."
This article is definitely bringing up great points that should be taken into consideration in our current education system which is lagging other developed countries.
gracielaflores: This article is definitely bringing up great points that should
This isn't about video games being good for kids brains, it's about how kids brains work. Guess what, teachers ALREADY KNOW THIS.
1) "motivation, clear goals, interpreted outcomes, and immediate and copious feedback". State standards?
2) "The Halo player has mastered the skills needed to get to the final level..." Sorry, but the final level IS a test.
3) "BUILD ON EXPERIENCE" Basic teaching tenet.
4) "If we "re-professionalize" teachers as designers..." How? By programming all of the students?
5) "kids can decode even the most cryptic game manual after they play the game..." I disagree. They can decode because they want to.
6) "ENTICE KIDS TO LOVE CHALLENGES" Duh, but what do you do when kids don't love the challenge of reading?
7) "If a student is not motivated to learn, there will be no learning". Yes, but how can a teacher change this?
8) "if you teach through problem-solving, students learn problem-solving skills...". How long do you think it would take you to problem solve your way through learning physics, or algebra?
9) "If the cost of failure is made lower...students are motivated to explore all their options" What is the cost of failing in school? Oh, right...nothing...
10) "We should use the learning principles built into good video games..." No, we should use the principles of how students learn and use that as a model for teaching.
onenewmexican: This isn't about video games being good for kids brains,
As a teaching artist who visits lots of classrooms, I agree that lots of teachers know this. Lots of others do not. Nor do many parents, administrators , legilslators. editorial writers, bloggers, or commentators.
Kids learn if we can design experiences from which they can derive meaning. It sounds like you do. What do you teach, and how do you do it? How do you catch students' interests? Where are the intrinsic motivations in your life? Why do you do it? Why should anyone else be interested in it? What's its value?
I ask these questions because you struck so deeply to the core of what I think this post was truly about. Its about understanding, and asking the next question. What are your own models for facilitating the experience of learners? I'd like to hear your thoughts.
Lynn_Brown: As a teaching artist who visits lots of classrooms, I
Everybody learns in different ways. Watching that first spark of interest in a previously bland and bored child is a fabulous thing. But it happens in different ways and at different times for each individual. That's why so many kids cop out. The training isn't tailor made.
Francois_Bergeron: Everybody learns in different ways. Watching that first spark of
The PBS video that this came from its more than worth the watch. Absolutely amazing to think of how our country would be right now if this had been introduced into the system years ago. Though I fear the conservatives will never let it happen.
VashS5: The PBS video that this came from its more than
Just would like to tell everyone that i have a wonderfully gifted son who is gifted academically despite having profound problems coping with written expression....however a couple of years ago he had an idea which became so vivid in his mind he wrote it down as best he could to present to his headteacher..he attends a mainstream comp of 3000+ pupils. His idea was that all subjects should be taught along the lines of a computer game strategy..he had all the reasoning to back it up and certainly saw it as an answer to the boring and uninspiring way the curriculum is taught today....he even had the idea that it would make education more viable to be taught at home for kids like him who have problems with crowds and bullying...after reading the above article I am even more proud of my boy ..and i am going to show it to him right now..Thanks for posting the article
phlippa: Just would like to tell everyone that i have a
As a 39 year old who has been playing video games for over 30 years (started with Pong), I am waiting for the massive paradigm shift in gaming that I hope is the "next level".
Games marketed to me have changed very little, other than the technical achievements. "Mature" means more sex and violence, but as an adult that's not what I'm looking for in "mature content". Playing out the hero/villain role in a story for the umpteenth time doesn't teach me anything new.
I am waiting for the games that will plunge me into an environment that teaches the subjects that I never had time to learn (well). Take physics, for example. If I Google "learn physics software" right now, the top hits are little more than electronic textbooks with some helpful videos (and even then, high school level physics only). A game would have me building things that the character then gets to use to further the game.
aganunitsi: As a 39 year old who has been playing video
I homeschool my son. He would be THRILLED to learn this way. Is there anything out there doing it? So far, the educational games he has played are largely drill and kill. He learned more playing Civilization III (at 6 years old) than any of the computer-based ed games we have tried.
gbeb: I homeschool my son. He would be THRILLED to learn
Though a little off-point (since we are talking about teaching methodology here) - I miss the old educational games from the early to mid-eighties.
Anyone ever play "Robot Odyssey"? Because of that game I still know more about electronic circuits than most people and I barely ever studied them at school.
DrSnuggles: Though a little off-point (since we are talking about teaching
When my youngest was four, and before we'd really officially started reading, he learned the words "Load" and "Save" all on his own, and a few others. I'm sure his older brother helped a little bit. And I never never see them being more supportive of one another than when they are playing cooperative videogames, particularly those that require problem solving.
onionboy: When my youngest was four, and before we'd really officially
He couldn't figure why he "had to keep starting over levels". His brother showed him how to always look for "Load" when he turned a game on and "Save" before he turned it off. I don't know how long he stared before it sank in, but it was pretty funny to see.
onionboy: He couldn't figure why he "had to keep starting over
As an educator, I can agree with a lot of the brain research but your connecting it to video games is absurd. I've seen first hand what video games and technology does to the forming brain of a child. All it does is train the brain to react like Pavlov's dogs or rats in a maze. They completely kill imagination and creativity in thinking; children no longer want to read, they just want the visual stimulation of video games. When a child stops reading, they stop using the parts of the brain that forms images or "imaginings" and they can no longer think sideways. They become linear thinkers instead of lateral thinkers. They cannot connect past experiences with the present to create new ones. Technology is wonderful in children whose brains and thinking patterns have already formed, but in my experience, the best way to use computers in the classroom is to teach word processing skills that can be used as a tool to express their own thinking.
luvs2cook: As an educator, I can agree with a lot of
Wow...my son grew up with games and gaming, and I resisted it for quite awhile. He is now in college, and studies Computer Science and Philosophy, with side interests in systems analysis, anime, advertising, cultural studies, film and Francis Bacon. I'm an artist and a teacher, and he out lateralizes me every step of the way. No contest.
Which anecdotal evidence is more correct? I don't know. Both. Neither. Folks are different, they are wired differently, they behave differently. Is it the gaming that is responsible? I suggest there is no telling.
I don't tout it, because my range of experience with it is so narrow. But neither do I condemn it. But it is here, and must be dealt with, both broadly as well as personally.
My son started to find himself at about 16. Good luck.
Lynn_Brown: Wow...my son grew up with games and gaming, and I
Any gamer could have told them this, for a lot less time and research money! The good doctor should have spoken to gamer families like mine (and those of our friends). He would see it in action, and we would have invited him to dinner for free :)
WolfWytch: Any gamer could have told them this, for a lot
From the days of NASA's Apollo to today's Flight simulators even F1 simulators etc. I don't believe the science or business logic and or application to 'learning' is new, only how Microsoft, SONY and their ilk will now publicly harness a validated scientific rebuttal to twenty years of legacy studies/ assumptions to the contrary.
Mattjoe3: From the days of NASA's Apollo to today's Flight simulators
But every time we get a "game"that tries to be educational, the kids don't like it as much.
It's a work in progress I guess.
The rest of the world, far superior to us in math and science, certainly do not.
Watch the movie 2 million minutes and see how the rest of the world kick @ss on our spoiled students.
It is a matter of ouput from the child, and not a matter of input from the system.
American students are bombarded with images of filthy rich entertainers. Or politicians. Or CEOs. None of which need to "kick ass" at math or science in order to be filthy rich. Basic algebra is all you'll ever need to know in order to do the most complicated of accounting books.
And then there's Americans like me, who did learn to kick ass at math and science. For me it's because I love the beauty of the subject itself, though. Which began when I watched Carl Sagan's Cosmos series at the age of 8... entertainment!
http://www.hepg.org/her/booknote/338
But yer right.
In Finland, teachers are well paid and chosen among the best that country has to offer. In the US, the opposite is true.
Ouch.. I know... Let me have it..
I've seen kids addicted to this silliness sleep until 3pm and give up on school so they could keep playing.
I don't think they are anti-social. They just don't leave the house to play in the dirt in our modern time.
CNN has a article on how games can "also capable of building players' confidence and helping them see the world from multiple viewpoints, games can be powerful learning tools."
http://articles.cnn.com/2011-01-31/tech/video.games.smarter.steinberg_1_video-games-interactive-simulations-digital-world?_s=PM:TECH
1) "motivation, clear goals, interpreted outcomes, and immediate and copious feedback". State standards?
2) "The Halo player has mastered the skills needed to get to the final level..." Sorry, but the final level IS a test.
3) "BUILD ON EXPERIENCE" Basic teaching tenet.
4) "If we "re-professionalize" teachers as designers..." How? By programming all of the students?
5) "kids can decode even the most cryptic game manual after they play the game..." I disagree. They can decode because they want to.
6) "ENTICE KIDS TO LOVE CHALLENGES" Duh, but what do you do when kids don't love the challenge of reading?
7) "If a student is not motivated to learn, there will be no learning". Yes, but how can a teacher change this?
8) "if you teach through problem-solving, students learn problem-solving skills...". How long do you think it would take you to problem solve your way through learning physics, or algebra?
9) "If the cost of failure is made lower...students are motivated to explore all their options" What is the cost of failing in school? Oh, right...nothing...
10) "We should use the learning principles built into good video games..." No, we should use the principles of how students learn and use that as a model for teaching.
Kids learn if we can design experiences from which they can derive meaning. It sounds like you do. What do you teach, and how do you do it? How do you catch students' interests? Where are the intrinsic motivations in your life? Why do you do it? Why should anyone else be interested in it? What's its value?
I ask these questions because you struck so deeply to the core of what I think this post was truly about. Its about understanding, and asking the next question. What are your own models for facilitating the experience of learners? I'd like to hear your thoughts.
Games marketed to me have changed very little, other than the technical achievements. "Mature" means more sex and violence, but as an adult that's not what I'm looking for in "mature content". Playing out the hero/villain role in a story for the umpteenth time doesn't teach me anything new.
I am waiting for the games that will plunge me into an environment that teaches the subjects that I never had time to learn (well). Take physics, for example. If I Google "learn physics software" right now, the top hits are little more than electronic textbooks with some helpful videos (and even then, high school level physics only). A game would have me building things that the character then gets to use to further the game.
Anyone ever play "Robot Odyssey"? Because of that game I still know more about electronic circuits than most people and I barely ever studied them at school.
Which anecdotal evidence is more correct? I don't know. Both. Neither. Folks are different, they are wired differently, they behave differently. Is it the gaming that is responsible? I suggest there is no telling.
I don't tout it, because my range of experience with it is so narrow. But neither do I condemn it. But it is here, and must be dealt with, both broadly as well as personally.
My son started to find himself at about 16. Good luck.