Low Five Education
Research Based Advice for Teaching Video Games in Classrooms
Think of video games as a tool. A way to switch things up and excite your students, but not your sole method of instruction and not something void of support or structure. I’m obviously convinced that video games would be an awesome addition to the classroom, but realistically it's never going to be as easy as booting up some games and letting kids play. Physical education is an incredibly important class for students where they often get to play fun games, but a teacher still needs a plan and doesn’t just simply roll a ball out and supervise. Although there are some smaller examples, the idea of video games as instruction is still in its infancy at best. Studies have been done on the effectiveness of teaching through games and results are positive, but inconclusive. This is due to different games being studied, the games being taught in different ways, and success being measured in different, non uniform ways. Almost all studies have called for further work to be done in understanding video game effectiveness and justify the positive results as a reason for educators to continue being curious. So really just like any other form of education we need to keep tweaking and working on our methods before things are optimized. To do that teachers need to communicate what has been tried and most importantly what did and didn’t work. Through my research for this project, here are x things that I’ve learned to be very important in order to properly implement video game instruction within the classroom.
Games Need to be Fun
Seems obvious right? People are more gravitated to a difficult task or new understanding when they are excited or enjoying themselves. A big reason this project has focused mainly on games that are made for entertainment is because they, by definition of needing to be fun to be bought, are more likely to be enjoyable. There are some decent education focused games, especially for younger players, but many educational games are simply not as fun and your students might look at them as a chore vs. actually enjoying them. The right choice of game should be something that is enjoyable or has a good deal of learning or content that is associated with the game. As it turns out, that isn’t too hard to find given the ocean of games to choose from and their growing complexity. A game could even be used as a motivator or spark of inspiration. I often use my experience with Age of Empires as an example of a game that did teach me some things, but the stronger memories and outcomes are centered around how excited they made me about learning in social studies class and doing my own learning outside of class because of the game. What is fun is subjective, but just like an English teacher looking for a good book to hook their class, do your research, look into what is being played and enjoyed.
You Need to Teach the Game
A mistake I made as a busy teacher once was having my students play an iCivics game when teaching about the 2020 election, but I only played it for a few minutes myself. Students may be extremely fluent with technology, but games come with their own systems, issues and roadblocks that a teacher will need to assist with. There are also plenty of students who don’t game at all and will especially need added support, so to be kind that lesson wasn’t one of my best. Once again it's important to view video games as a tool. An art teacher who can’t manage a potter wheel or a kiln is going to have a rough time teaching a ceramics unit and a shop teacher who doesn’t know their tools is a liability, not an asset. Video games can be very complex so this may seem daunting, but a teacher needs to be fluent, not perfect. Getting kids up and running through the initial phase of learning is key to them being able to take any meaningful learning from the experience. I play plenty of strategy games myself in my free time, but the first hour or so is usually the hardest due to being so unfamiliar and learning so many new things at once. Like other gamers, I often find myself seeking out YouTube videos and game forums to assist me with some basic starting skills and then I’m ready to go. A teacher would need to anticipate the potential roadblocks, be familiar with the game, and prepare to serve as a guide to student learning.
You’re Teaching Through the Game
Similarly to knowing the game and teaching how to play the game, you also need an actual plan on teaching through the game. The idea is to have fun while teaching something meaningful to the students. It might sound obvious but you’re still teaching, so when designing your lessons still keep best practice and structure in mind. Have learning outcomes displayed to students and structure play time to allow for follow up discussions or writing. If the game is more narrative focused, think of it as class assigned reading. You might take some days off from playing to take more time with specific moments or themes from the story. If you’re playing a city builder you might plan a day within the week where students explore and analyze real cities for inspiration. The game will give them a new interest and lens of which to observe the real life cities, which in turn will feed into their creativity and imagination when building their own city within the following days. In studies done on the effectiveness of video games in the classroom, strong teaching or guidance was always an incredibly important caveat. Players will pick up things naturally on their own, but the teacher really highlights and strengthens the learning concepts that can be pulled from games. This is especially important when picking games made for entertainment. They might not seem or naturally appear academic, but there is strong merit that they can be with the right guidance.
Allow for Some Unstructured Time
Yes I just told you to make sure you have a plan with learning outcomes and teacher supported structure, but part of having a plan is allowing for some unstructured time, especially in city building or simulation games. There are a few reasons for this. The biggest is that students have the ability to learn from their mistakes and have fun exploring or experimenting within the game. Sometimes you just have to know what happens if you implement a new law, and sometimes there are just little details within a game that fascinate you and you have to figure out how to master it. School can get a bit over structured and over observed at times. I would recommend providing times where students can play the games within class socially or on their own in order to work on whatever that pleases them. As a teacher you could encourage students to observe one anothers works as well, leading to a more communal feeling. Maybe in that time students will end up sharing and encouraging ideas with one another like they do on the forums dedicated to the games. Your students could also use this time to explore resources provided by the teacher or found online to better specific issues within the cities they’re building. As an occasional summer school teacher I’ve been able to take off my social studies hat and teach more project based sessions. One thing that is so much better in summer school is that the atmosphere is lighter and kids have more fun as they fail and learn. Sure I could teach you how to make the perfect structure that protects a falling egg from breaking, but it’s way more fun and rewarding to try it on your own, fail, assess what changes need to be made, and try again.
Imperfections Allow for Meaningful Conversations
Video game systems and stories are not perfect. Not only is that okay, it can actually be a good thing. Schools are supposed to help guide students into critical thinkers and observing, analyzing, and critiquing something are very much a part of that. From a gameplay perspective, particularly city building and simulation games, they have to be flawed to be entertaining. This style of games is often called god games because you do not work with a team within the parameters or realistic boundaries, instead you create and delete roads and other structures as you see fit. They carry realistic representations or other near life qualities, but they come with obvious flaws. This isn’t a reason to not play the games, but it will give you a resource for critical analysis. Have your students look for the flaws. Have them analyze what is and is not realistic. Textbooks often carry inaccuracies or issues around context or interpretation. The problem there is that they position themselves as an authority on matters. Video games can be scrutinized and don’t claim to be the authoritative text. For narrative flaws, once again think of teaching through a novel for english or social studies. Why is what this character is saying wrong? What should they have done? Is this realistic? Are there perspectives missing? Teach all these questioning and analysis skills through a medium students are engaged with and excited by. Don’t fear the flaws, lean into them.
Choose Your Game Carefully and Communicate
Books get banned and sometimes inaccurate narratives stick around far longer than they should. Parents, administrators, and some of your fellow teachers won’t be on board with your plan to use video games due to perceived issues and stereotypes. Some concerns will be valid. Video games can be addicting and like other class resources like movies or books, you need to make sure that you are aligned with your community's morals. It would be awesome if you didn’t run into any resistance when trying something new, but to expect none would be naive at best. Get a head of this. Carefully select what games you would want to play with your class. Research some of the learning principals this game will help you teach. Most importantly, do your best to communicate with the families you’re teaching. Getting administrators on board is obviously huge, but the families will help support or tear down your efforts faster than you can imagine. They are both your best resource and potentially your biggest obstacle. Communicating with them and hearing their concerns will go a long way in building both comfort and trust.