Many video games have always featured educational qualities, from the simple math and spelling lessons of Dora the Explorer to the more profound explorations of existential and nihilistic philosophies in Nier Automata.
However, some video games have recently become more direct with their lessons.
Fortnite recently released an in-game Holocaust Museum, Cooking Mama teaches real-life culinary skills, and then there’s the plethora of simulators that teach flight navigation, PC-building, and even the mechanics of looking after your car.
Schools have also been using video games in classroom settings for years – for example, the way KidsPix was used to teach young students about colour and image manipulation. But will we see a greater use of commercial video games in the future?
Video games can offer invaluable educational support
Dr Joanne Orlando is a Digital Wellbeing researcher and author at the University of Western Sydney; she says video games, if implemented correctly, can be invaluable in a classroom.
“Some video games are highly educational both in terms of how they can enhance the curriculum in schools but educational also in terms of the kinds of skills and knowledge that they help to develop,” she told Education Daily.
“For example, many good games centre around problem-solving, working in teams, finding resources, and using them strategically. These are all great leadership skills that can be developed very well in video games.”
She says they can even tie into the curriculum.
“There are also lots of games that focus on different kinds of areas of the curriculum that can be a little bit tricky to learn,” she told EducationDaily.
“For example, games around physics and science can really help to enhance understanding of the concepts in those areas and how they can work practically.”
Boosting learning engagement
With a large percentage of children playing video games outside the classroom, Dr Orlando says playing games within the classroom “taps into something that they already know and love, and it makes it highly engaging for them”.
Dr Jen Scott Curwood is the Associate Professor of English, Education, and Media Studies at the University of Sydney and says video games have profound psychological and pedagogical benefits – both in and out of the classroom.
“My research, conducted in collaboration with Marcus Carter (University of Sydney) and Christian Ehret (University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill), has shown that video games with a significant narrative focus can enhance student engagement and content learning,” she told EducationDaily.
“In particular, we have identified a new genre of video games that we call young adult video games. These have an adolescent protagonist and explore issues related to that particular phase of life, such as coming of age, navigating relationships, or responding to peer pressure.”
Narrative-driven videogames, she says, emphasise traditional components such as characterisation, themes, and literary techniques, “as opposed to other types of videogames which might be more concerned with, for example, solving puzzles or exploring a new world”.
“When teachers integrate narrative-based videogames into the classroom, they can be instrumental in encouraging youth to explore diverse perspectives as they embody characters and playfully interact with stories, which allows for a deep, empathetic engagement,” Dr Curwood says.
But it’s worth noting that some video games may come with the label of being educational yet may not give a student the full lesson required.
Integrating game-playing into the curriculum
Dr Orlando, however, says there are many psychological benefits for students who struggle to engage in the classroom.
“Students can feel a sense of ownership when a video game is being used in a classroom because they understand video games, they’ve had lots of great experiences with them, they know that these games can be fun to play with their friends, and there’s already a really positive kind of stance that students have regarding games,” she told EducationDaily.
“This is a good thing for teachers to be able to capitalise on, to bring this kind of fun and engagement into learning in the classroom.”
She says implementing video games can be done in a variety of ways.
“One of the things that we need to consider is that games are used not a student babysitter keeping one group of children quiet while a teacher works with another group of children. That approach doesn’t capitalise on using games as a pedagogical resource,” Dr Orlando says.
“Ideally, a teacher would be playing the game with the child with the students/group students, and the conversation and discussion around that game would be highly beneficial for understanding the content of the teacher-student relationship.”
To maximise the education benefits of integrating video games into school life, she says they could be used as a springboard for other activities that take place off the screen.
“A video game isn’t an activity unto itself; rather, it is a springboard or part of a series of connected activities that take place on and off-screen to support learning and understanding of concepts.”
