Video games and the future of education

One line from xXx — that Vin Diesel action flick from a few years ago — sticks with me. It’s in the opening scenes when Diesel (aka Xander Cage) denounces Senator Dick Hotchkiss for wanting to ban video games. According to Hotchkiss, they “diminish the intelligence of our youth.”

And Diesel then continues: “Come on, Dick. It’s the only education we got.”

While video games (obviously) aren’t our only form of education, Diesel has a point here: Games clearly teach us something. Of course, some educate more than others, but the fact is, video games (to the dismay of certain older folks) can encourage critical thinking skills, and their role in classrooms is slowly but surely increasing.

A UK study by Teachers Evaluating Educational Media (TEEM), found that games such as SimCity and Rollercoaster Tycoon teach strategic thinking and planning skills.

Critics say these games drastically simplify urban planning and business management, but still, exposure to the concepts is certainly there. More importantly, the games teach players to think.

This educational power hasn’t been lost on teachers. Tim Rylands, who teaches elementary school in Bristol, England, inspires his nine- to 11-year-olds to write creatively using Myst III: Exile (source: Video Games Can Benefit Classroom Education by Marco Visscher).

His students watch the computer screen while he navigates the game’s immersive environments, and he prompts them by asking which way they would choose to go next, posing questions such as, “What do you come across?” and “What do you experience on your journey?”

Another game, Making History, is a WWII strategy sim for the PC, and is used in more than 150 history curriculums across the US. By making diplomatic decisions as the leader of a nation, the gamer alters the course of history.

As you can imagine, changing the outcome of WWII can result in lots of critical thinking when used correctly in the classroom. A high school teacher from Indiana concluded that students who played the game wrote better reasoned and more critical essays than those who didn’t. Overall, the gamers also learned more about WWII, and they had fun while doing it.

But gamers don’t need research to know that video games broaden horizons, stretch imaginations and offer info on everything from history to mythology. Whether it’s learning about the phoenix while reviving your allies in Final Fantasy or engaging in WWII battles while playing Medal of Honor, video games don’t exist in a vacuum.

They provide context for lots of valuable information, and they educate gamers, whether they realize it or not.

This isn’t to say the info is perfect, because those summon monsters in RPGs don’t always resemble the gods and goddesses they’re based on, and first-person shooters often simplify the complex realities of war.

Still, a market for educational games does exist, and with more people using video games to teach, the biggest question is, where do we go from here?

Some people contend that video games will eventually replace books, but this scenario would be tragic.

While video games will transform the educational landscape forever (and already have), the learning of cold, hard facts is best left for the old-world style of the printed page.

Instead, video games can enrich the classroom experience, offering another dimension to students’ knowledge of subject matter. As evidenced above, this encourages critical thinking, and games, by their very nature, help maintain interest.

It will take time for video games to be embraced by the mainstream educational community (we still have a lot of other things to fix), but don’t be surprised if, someday in the future, your kids or grandkids are playing video games as part of the curriculum.