Games for education? Possible, but tough to pull off

There’s a new article up on Reuters that asks whether games can augment learning in schools, and while the answer might seem like an obvious “Yes!” to gamers, there seems to be a lot more at stake here than just saying yes and moving on.

For one thing, there’s the stigma behind video games coming from multiple sides. On the one hand, the stigma against video games says that “kids can’t learn from games.” Convincing people that video games can have educational value is one thing educators have to consider when trying to push this to school boards.

On the other hand, if a game made for educational purposes doesn’t carry the same sense of gravitas towards certain types of kids, then point of making video games for educational purposes grows moot, as kids get bored with the games given to them in school compared to the ones they have at home.

That’s one of the problems with educational entertainment. It has to be educational while playing to an audience, and if it cannot do so, then it’s either the game isn’t a game, or the educational value is missing from it. That’s the problem facing the idea of games as educators nowadays, and we certainly hope they can sustain enough momentum to make it work.

How about you? Would you apply yourself more in school if games were made available for educational purposes in school? Would a homebrew-creation class suit your needs? What types of games do you think would make you want to apply yourself in school? In short, if you’re a student, what compromises would you be willing to see in games to make educational games a reality for schools?

There’s a new article up on Reuters that asks whether games can augment learning in schools, and while the answer might seem like an obvious “Yes!” to gamers, there seems to be a lot more at stake here than just saying yes and moving on.

For one thing, there’s the stigma behind video games coming from multiple sides. On the one hand, the stigma against video games says that “kids can’t learn from games.” Convincing people that video games can have educational value is one thing educators have to consider when trying to push this to school boards.

On the other hand, if a game made for educational purposes doesn’t carry the same sense of gravitas towards certain types of kids, then point of making video games for educational purposes grows moot, as kids get bored with the games given to them in school compared to the ones they have at home.

That’s one of the problems with educational entertainment. It has to be educational while playing to an audience, and if it cannot do so, then it’s either the game isn’t a game, or the educational value is missing from it. That’s the problem facing the idea of games as educators nowadays, and we certainly hope they can sustain enough momentum to make it work.

How about you? Would you apply yourself more in school if games were made available for educational purposes in school? Would a homebrew-creation class suit your needs? What types of games do you think would make you want to apply yourself in school? In short, if you’re a student, what compromises would you be willing to see in games to make educational games a reality for schools?