One highlight of my Grade 3 life was dying from dysentery at the hands of a video game. I was ahead on schoolwork, and allowed to use the classroom computer to pioneer a family across America in the game .
It was odd that I played this in a Canadian school — rather than exploring something like the .
But with , it’s clear the game made its mark.
When we look at educational video games, many struggle to make a similar impact. The reason is a mix of challenges for teachers and difficulties in game design.
Educational gaming market
Educational games are a big industry, pulling in an .
While Canada’s market is a bit smaller (), educational games and companies continue to pop up. Now after a , we can expect more educational games to appear in classrooms.
But more doesn’t mean better.
While the number of , according to a 2019 , “the gap between the edtech products teachers use and what they say is effective is real and cuts across subjects.”
The change in landscape
From earliest days, games for learning were typically small endeavours built from passion or interest, like Grade 4 teacher .
Early games like The Oregon Trail and Crosscountry Canada were products of the time when designers and technology were exploring what was possible. The newness of games garnered attention in and out of the classroom. However, as the industry grew, educational initiatives struggled to keep up.
Games like and possess graphics, gameplay and budgets that no educational game can rival.
Hands-on experiential learning
Leaving the classroom can be a , but video games offer . However, games will never have perfect representation and the extent to which they align with curricular goals will vary.
But commercial or educational games can offer immersive, powerful tools for learning. Many parents will be familiar with .
Or they may be familiar with Assassin’s Creed, which has attempted to (albeit with some valid critiques ).
Such critiques point to the value of these games having .
Teachers and gaming
Without an educator to critically engage students about moments designed in the game, or correct and challenge any inaccuracies, the learning can be misinformed or lost.
Yet, there is a need to make sure teachers know how to implement the game and ask questions around it.
Despite , school systems are slow to adapt to . Teacher education and professional development
Putting games in the classroom doesn’t require mastery. It requires teachers’ ability to connect the game to curricula and students’ lives.
Teaching students or killing time?
When facilitating games, a teacher should be able to discuss the games students play at home, identify where a student is interested and struggling in a game, draw connections to the themes in the story, and recognize how students are asked to play (what you click on, how you move).
All of this can produce powerful moments of .
Good facilitation weaves the lesson and game together for . But currently, in many cases, games are used like other time killers such as .
A needed change in design
Most educational games are designed to be the teacher rather than working with them, .
Yet successful and popular games are all about choice. Games like and offer a lot of agency to make decisions that directly impact their play.
Similar to playing in a sandbox, these games . They have meaningful choice, and choice is engaging.
But this agency is concerning when your product is supposed to have someone understand “X concept,” and this leads some developers to make the .
This is why so many educational games , , or arguably not educational at all.
Beyond simple instruction
Educational games suffer because both the game and teacher want to be the instructor.
However, some developers and organizations are trying to improve the world of learning games. Organizations like have some games in their collection that can go beyond simple models of instruction.
offers interesting products designed alongside teachers. Montréal-based company attempts to .
But for gaming to genuinely be part of learning, we need to help teachers effectively integrate the barrage of educational games into their classrooms.
Serious intervention needed
Some larger commercial game companies are jumping into this process (while making market inroads with young users). .
But anecdotally, I know passionate teachers have been doing this on their own.
When done well, games offer powerful moments for students, like my pixelated death in Grade 3. We can understand games as serious tools for grounding knowledge — and serious tools require serious intervention in both design, and in learning how to facilitate them.
Scott DeJong receives funding from Fonds de recherche du Québec.
