Should we design courses like video games?

[Derrick Willard]

Maybe folks have already kicked this around? I'd love some back and forth on incentives/motivators that gamers use and how we might use similar strategies to pull back in some kids we are losing to the virtual world...cross posted at my blog:


So, I've been mulling about this post since watching this TEDTalk by Seth Priebatsch called "The game layer on top of the world." Then, I saw this one by Tom Chatfield, "7 ways games reward the brain."

Of course, once I started picking through my Google Reader account this week, I found that someone else already wrote my post! Check out this enlightening post called "Teach like a video game: Use assessment as learning and motivation," by teacher Ryan McCallum. Wicked cool comments by his students on why they spend so much time gaming...

We worry about "digital natives" being sucked into the virtual world and it competing with our assigned school work, right? What if we, as teachers, did this (design courses like games) with more intention? How can we better exploit motivators built into video games? How do we skillfully create that wanting, liking...engagement, in our students? If we already do, then do we need to make sure we point these motivators out to kids?

[Steve Barrett]

Have you checked out Quest to Learn? It's a public Middle School (eventually 6-12) in NYC that uses systems learning and game design as pedagogical anchors (they even have dedicated game designers on staff who develop curriculum with teachers). I've visited and was blown away by the level of student engagement. Click HERE for their school link. They were also written up in the NY Times Magazine last September. Click HERE to see the story. Don't be fooled by the lead photo in the story, kids do not sit around playing video games all day.

[Derrick Willard]

Thanks, Steve. I'll check it out!

[Sarah Hanawald]

I had some similar thoughts-and asked the students to watch Chatfield's talk.  Unfortunately, our social network (wall.fm) is down right now, so I'll put some of their comments on here later. 

 

My conclusion though, is that it is complicated.  Kids like the constant rewards, but they are sophisticated enough to know that those aren't good for them. 

 

Edited because my social network (wall.fm) came back up.

Here is a student quote from our discussion:

One feature found in video games that is extremely useful in the real world is the idea of rewarding participation. In Halo, after each game played whether you get first or last place every player gets the same amount of game completion points. This is effective because no matter what the player’s skill level is they still receive some points This points system is already used in my Spanish class and I find that I do focus more and try to participate because I know that by doing that I am earning daily points.

One dangerous feature of video games is how addictive they are. When the player gets caught up in the virtual world it is easy to loose track of time. I just recently looked at my Halo play timer, and for a game that came out months ago I have spent 2 days and 8 hours of my life playing in a virtual world. This can be harmful because if students are rewarded in school they might expect rewards in the real world which isn’t going to happen.