Although I tend to disagree with many of the statements within this article, the significance of it remains important to understand the opposition to educational video-game instructional design in classrooms and workplace environments. The article does raise a few interesting points examining the meta cognitive application of the "gaming genre" suggesting the philosophy behind games focuses merely on entertainment by nature and thus cannot be fully applied to learning. Once the design of the game becomes learning oriented instead of entertainment, the audience will become bored or uninterested in the topic of discussion, thus defeating the purpose of the game objectives.
http://www.slate.com/id/2169019/
The author ponders the following premises "When does a game stop being a game and turn into an assignment? Can a game still be called a game if it isn't any fun?" (Peters, 2007) His evidence points to the company, Persuasive Games, which has produced the game Food Import Folly design to teach learners about the import inspection process. However, the only aspect of fun for the author during game experience came with the credits screen rolling. Yet, perhaps the most convincing element of the article stems from the author's comment that boring and mundane tasks of an office environment or any other environment of activity will remain the same if animated to stimulate interest, "Animating mindless, boring repetition doesn't make the repetition any less mindless or boring" (Peters, 2007). As a result, the author believes that educational games are destined to fail because of the expectations of entertainment value in mainstream video-games and the philosophical approach of creating virtual realities of the tediousness of life.
The one positive of this article stems from the author points to simulations like Second Life and World of Warcraft as ideas for learning structures that may enhance learning/workplace environments. Sid Meir's Civilization game series also may be effective in teaching history in classrooms and offer a perspective to students learning about culture and infrastructure with American History. I tend to agree that strictly educational games by design do have drawbacks mainly being that they lack the engaging themes of mainstream games to include an arcing storyline, have some final objective to motivate the audience or a character to identify inside the virtual world. The best scenario for the future of video-game application in educational design or office instruction must create a balance between educational premises within an entertaining medium that engages and enhance the learning experience. The key remains having innovative designers working with educators that have a vision for digital instructional design in education.
Peters, Justin (2007). World of Borecraft Never play a video game that's trying to teach you something. Retrieved April 6, 2008, from Slate Web Site: http://www.slate.com/id/2169019/
2 comments:
Hey Ben,
You mention that the author doubts that a game can still be a game when it isn't fun. This reminds me of my former question "should we make games more like schools or make schools more like games." Tough Peter's statment about the future of gaming sounds somewhat pessimistic, we should hear different voices to have a thorough exmaination on the feasibility of implementing gaming in school setting.
Hi Ben,
What an interesting article on the pitfalls of educational games. One thing about the word "boring" is that means something different to so many different people. What one finds boring, others love. I really like this from your post: "The best scenario for the future of video-game application in educational design or office instruction must create a balance between educational premises within an entertaining medium that engages and enhance the learning experience. The key remains having innovative designers working with educators that have a vision for digital instructional design in education."
Balance is key. I came across this in my resaerch this week written by James Paul Gee, a reading professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison 'What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy':
The secret of a videogame as a teaching machine isn't its immersive 3-D graphics, but its underlying architecture. Each level dances around the outer limits of the player's abilities, seeking at every point to be hard enough to be just doable. In cognitive science, this is referred to as the regime of competence principle, which results in a feeling of simultaneous pleasure and frustration--a sensation as familiar to gamers as sore thumbs."
Thanks for sharing this article!
:) Garnette
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