Video Games and
Learning
Important Facts




Studies continually show that violence and videogames
have NO correlation
The gaming industry is one of the largest media
industries in the world. Revenue generated last year
from the game industry was approximately $12 Billion
dollars.
Unlike other industries, the game industry is universally
appealing. The movie industry is motivated 60% female
to 40% male. The game industry is 50% male and 50%
female.
You must educate yourself about video games before
you think about implementing it for your class.
ESRB: Entertainment Software Ratings Board


The ESRB is the movie equivalent of the MPAA.
Publishers of games carrying an ESRB rating are legally
bound to follow the industry-adopted Principles and
Guidelines for Responsible Advertising Practices
along with numerous requirements addressing how
ratings information must be displayed on game
packaging and in advertising, as well as restrictions on
where ads for M-rated games may appear. The ESRB's
Advertising Review Council (ARC) diligently monitors for
compliance, and in the event that a game publisher is
found to have inappropriately labeled or advertised a
product, the ESRB is empowered to compel corrective
actions and impose a wide range of sanctions, including
monetary fines where and when appropriate.
Ratings





E: Everyone (G) – cartoon violence, mild fantasy violence,
comic mischief
Everyone 10+ (PG) – mild violence, brief language, alcohol
and gambling simulations
T: Teen 13+ (PG-13) – violence, crude humor, fantasy
violence, mild lyrics, brief strong language, partial nudity
M: Mature 17+ (R) – Intense violence, blood and gore, nudity,
mature sexual themes, strong language
AO: Adults only 18+ (NC-17) – The AO rating has never been
on a large scale distribution. No retailers (Wal*Mart, Game
Stop, Best Buy) will carry these games.
Pros






Games are interactive and problem solving
oriented.
Customizable
Focus on a variety of subjects
Help form identity
Excellent use of Manipulation and
Distributed knowledge
Often real life parallels
Cons




Video Games are expensive
PC’s must be constantly upgraded to upkeep with new
technology
Parents tend to be ignorant to the ESRB.
ESRB reports, “According to a survey by Peter D. Hart
Research Associates in March 2006, 83% of parents with
children who play video games are aware of the rating system
and nearly three-quarters (74%) say they “check the ESRB
rating” for age appropriateness “every time” or “most of the
time” when buying computer and video games for their
children. Only half of parents check the content descriptors,
which are found on the back of game packaging and indicate
elements in a game that may have triggered a particular
rating and/or may be of interest or concern.
General things to look for









Offers meaning interaction such as dialogue with NPCs. As a teacher you
want meaningful interaction because it offers additional opportunities to
think.
Has a complex storyline with characters users care about. Storylines provide
users with a reason for the gaming action to occur.
Offers puzzles requiring effort to solve
Stimulates complex processes requiring adjustment of variables by users to
obtain desired results or adjusting variable leads to different results.
Requires knowledge of game elements beyond mouse prompts, number
entry (e.g., combining elements to create new tools, understanding
complex jargon)
Requires gathering of information to complete/requires synthesis of
knowledge in order to complete pr successfully engage elements in the
game.
Environment effectively replicates real world or a consistent imaginary
world.
NPC’s display AI characteristics
Offers replay ability with varying results.
How to find out about video games that are
appropriate for your subject



Research! There are tons of online databases
(Wilson Web / Ebsco Host that have lists of
games that appropriate by subject.
Check online game sites.
Ask your students. They know what is current.
Check out what they are into. They might
surprise you.
Science




Simulation games : aka Co-design
The Sims, Harvest Moon, Animal Crossing, Sim Life,
Spore
Cognitive research suggests that for humans, perception
and action are deeply interconnected. For example,
when a person is changing the eco system or water a
garden / crop rotation during the season – this causes
humans to feel as if their bodies and minds have
stretched into a new space (Clark, 2003, 7).
What allows a learner to feel that his or her body and
mind have extended into the world being studied or
investigated into the world of biology and physics? Part
of what does this is “smart tools” that is tools and
technologies that allow the learner to manipulate that
world in a fine-grained way.
Math / Physics




Simulation/Tycoon : aka Economic / problem solving
Sim City, Sim Tower, Civilization, Roller Coaster Tycoon, Myst
(series)
Given human creativity, if learners face problems early on that
are too free-form or too complex, they often form creative
hypotheses about how to solve these problems. The problems
learners face early on are crucial and should be well-designed
to lead them to hypotheses that work well, not just on these
problems, but as aspects of the solutions of later harder
problems as well.
Work on connectionism and distributed parallel processing in
cognitive science. The fruitful patterns or generalizations in
any domain are the ones that are best recognized by those
who already know how to look at the domain. Know how
complex variables at play in the domain relate and inter-relate
to each other.
English





Adventure / Role Playing Games (RPG’s) : aka Story
driven
Mother 3, Final Fantasy (series), Grim Fandango, God of
War, The Legend of Zelda (Fitzgerald)
Mother 3 is the first and only game to win the Pulitzer
Prize
Games often parallel Greek mythology, Victorian Era
Storyline is related to narrative, which is a key
component of advanced games and simulations. When
users immerse themselves in a story line, opportunities
for increased thought and narrative processing will take
place. Narrative study has been extended successfully to
gaming environments and is considered a key means of
understanding interactions with complex games (Ryan,
2003, 95).
History



Historical Action Games
Rome, Civilization (series), Republic: The
Revolution, Medal of Honor (series),
Morrowind/Oblivion (series), Rise of Nations
Motivation for humans lies in challenges that feel
challenging, but doable and in gaining continual
feedback that lets them know what progress
they are making. Learners should be able to
adjust the difficulty level while being encourage
to stay at the outer edge of, but inside their
level of competence.
Other Subject Areas



Spanish: Ico, Life Line – displays voice
communication and the importance of language.
Physical Education: Eye Toy (series), Wii Sports,
Dance Dance Revolution, Samba de Amgio – all
require physical motion to play and everyone
game on this list offers a calorie burning mode
Music: Guitar Hero, Beatmania, Amplitude, Drum
Hero, Mad Maestro, Karaoke Revolution – GH /
BM / DH shows the complexities of riffs, cords.
MM – shows the work in coordinating an
orchestra. KR has you sing and measures pitch
of your voice to align with songs.
Resources
http://www.esrb.com
 http://www.gamespot.com
 http://www.ign.com
 http://www.scholastic.com
Gee, Paul. (2003) Good Video Games as Learning
Machines, Learning by Design. pp. 1-31
Rice, John. (2007) Assessing Higher Order
Thinking in Video Games, Jl. Of Technology
Education. Pp. 87-100
