Effectiveness of Video Games as a Means of Education - Literature review Example

Introduction Long ago, children were limited to schoolbooks and lectures from teachers to enhance their learning. With the development of television, education became far-reaching and somehow enjoyable. The likes of Sesame Street, National Geographic and Nickelodeon allowed viewers to have a moving visual representation of learning they used to get only from pictures in their textbooks, teacher’s drawings on the board and, at times, magazines. This medium of knowledge acquisition has recently become overshadowed by another method. It appears that further advancement in technology has provided a new dimension to learning through the most popular form of entertainment via the cyber world – video games. Probably due to the common complaint of parents and teachers about the negative effects of video games on the young, several studies have been performed to assess the real influence of video games. Contrary to popular belief, researchers have found out that video games serve as another medium of learning. Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPG), Virtual Worlds and similar video games promote values like teamwork, critical thinking, responsibility and friendship among others. This new leisure activity on cyber world has brought people situated in different countries playing against or with each other simultaneously, enabling the learning to be extensive and not limited to one group or nationality. This essay will attempt to present several researches done on the effectiveness of video games as a means of education. It will also present a number of issues and controversies surrounding the topic of learning through video games. Finally, through its conclusion, this essay will try to answer the question of whether learning can be achieved through video games based on the studies presented. Literature Review Virtual Worlds Unlike the video games from long ago where player A and/or player B rescues a princess or shoots falling creatures or incoming spaceships to top their own score(s), the gamer of today’s generation collaborates with several, even thousands, of other players not to have the highest score or find the fastest way to the princess’ tower but to live in a community each player has helped create. There are no moves one finds himself repeating each time his lives run out. There are no stages one has to move up to while trying to maximize the number of lives he has. Instead, virtual worlds give an individual a chance to decide and create a virtual life for himself in a village while interacting with other players who have also built lives for themselves in the same village as well. It should be noted, too, that while earlier video games entailed both players in one game to be next to each other, players in virtual worlds are literally scattered all over the world and playing in different time zones. The concept of virtual worlds as strong learning spaces is founded on four technologies. (Odrejka, C., 2008) The Internet and the World Wide Web made it possible for people to communicate online. However, there came a need to experience what could only be presented in text or picture form on the Web. Virtual reality was developed in response to this need. Software developers and technicians focused on giving web users a way to be inside the program. There was no collaboration, though, and the desire to enable players to work together within a program brought about MMORPGs. These brought numerous individuals online in real time to play in a single space, regardless of distance or time zones. Games like EverQuest and World of Warcraft surfaced bringing fantasy worlds similar to Lord of the Rings within reach of gamers. Everything was structured though where gamers were limited to just the variables offered in these games. Eventually, designers came up with “atomistic construction”, the principle behind the virtual world, Second Life. This virtual world provides “powerful tools for creating three dimensional objects and for scripting the behavior of those objects within the game world.” (Delwiche, A., 2006) Unlike the fantasy world of EverQuest, etc., residents of Second Life can make objects and structures or guide another on the process of production. Here, “residents constantly come into contact with people who may inspire them with their avatar design, possessions, businesses, or other skills.” (Odrejka, C., 2008) Virtual worlds like that found in Second Life offer the gamer an opportunity to alter the real world according to his preferences. In Education Unleashed: Participatory Culture, Education and Innovation in Second Life by Cory Ondrejka (2008), the author shares that: “The resulting culture of participation infused with pervasive learning makes virtual worlds dynamic learning environments…The community and technology is here today for virtual worlds to become a basic building block of education for nearly every age group in most developed nations. Whether backed by established educators or not, this transformation is already happening as amateurs discover ways that virtual worlds can help them learn, communicate, and work.” Ondrejka adds that participants in Second Life have fun learning and applying new skills. (p. 245) This learning is further motivated by the shared knowledge among participants who come from all ages and nationalities. This feature of learning is what makes it more enjoyable than the typical classroom setup. From the results of his two MMO-based courses, Aaron Delwiche (2006) shares “students had clearly mastered the course material.” (p. 167) However, he recommends that before educators use MMO in the classrooms, instructors should first warn the students about potential addiction (p. 167), evaluate MMOs before choosing one to be used (p. 168) and learning objectives should be defined (p.168). He also advises that at times traditional means of instructions are sufficient, too, and that MMOs are not a universal solution to learning. Another research has not only suggested the existence of learning in Second Life but also learning from the virtual world itself. In his research, David Bell (2009) proposes that it is only when people have understood the culture used in three-dimensional multiuser virtual environments (3-D MUVEs) can people comprehend how learning can exist in virtual worlds like Second Life. “There is a need to go carefully, and to design and implement learning that is embedded in the emerging cultures of use in 3-D MUVEs.”(p. 515) Bell states that in Second Life one can see “reflections of the way creativity is used to provide a sense of grounding, of place making, or comfort and familiarity.” (p. 520) Creative expression is encouraged in this virtual world. Another culture Bell focused on is the market economy found in Second Life. As residents learn to create and sell their skills, services and objects they had made, participants get trained “to work harder while still enjoying it”. (Yee, N., 2006) This can make them very efficient workers in real life. Griefing or “a behavior in the virtual world intended to disrupt the experience of others” (p. 522) is another aspect of Second Life Bell explored in his paper. Bell argues that although people may see this as rude behavior, manifestations of griefing such as graffiti or vandalism on the properties of Second Life residents also “provoke residents to rethink not only their architectural choices, but also the depth of their surrender to and reliance on systems which they may barely understand.” (p. 523) Lastly, Bell explains that the line between the lives led by the virtual worlds’ online residents and their real lives should be explored, too. He reiterates that “it is important to explore and come to understand the ways in which virtual lives and real lives are blended, what kinds of “bleed-through” between “real life” and Second Life take place, how residents conceptualize and manage the toggling between worlds, and what the implications of this experience are for things like learning.” (p. 524) MMORPGs Massively Multi-Player Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs) are virtual games with themes based on Dungeons & Dragons or Lord of the Rings. They “are currently the dominant form of online game, with at least fifteen million players worldwide.” (Woodcock, B., 2006) It is different from virtual worlds such as Second Life because MMORPGs are games, with the conflict, rules, and quantifiable outcome all keyed to the leveling progression defined by Salen and Zimmerman’s definition of a game. (Ondrejka, C., 2007) MMORPGs require collaboration and critical thinking, the same principles educators and instructional designers seek in rich learning environments. (Dickey, M.D., 2006) In her analysis, Dickey presents that “there are elements in the design of MMORPGs which foster intrinsic motivation while requiring players to think, plan, and act critically and strategically.” (p. 269) The aspects of character development and narrative environment in MMORPGs promote individualism and teamwork which are lacking in previously released video games. This is not to say however that MMORPGs are perfect avenues for learning. In their research, Martin Oliver and Dianne Carr (2009) describe MMORPGs as a venue where “players form teams and guilds, undertake group missions, meet in banks and auction houses, chat, congregate in virtual cities and engage in different modes of play, which involve various forms of collaboration and competition.” Their research primarily focused on the virtual fantasy game World of Warcraft (WoW) as since “it contained rules, goals and particular forms of progression” (p. 446) its program was more specified. They concluded that “learning could be described in three broad areas: ludic, social and material.” (p. 456) Olive and Carr (2009) noted that “unless games are designed specifically as curriculum resources, or else considerable support is provided for post-play reflection, relating experiences of play to formal education is problematic.” (p. 455) The skills, knowledge and practices of game play entailed in MMORPGs are different from those employed in the formal classroom. It was also observed that people were able to “manage competing demands on their time, balancing play (and the learning required to play) with other commitments.” (p. 456) Finally, the researchers concluded that although multi-user virtual environments may be avenues for learning, in designing a curriculum using such medium, educators must know the possible problems that may arise for their students. Participatory Culture According to Jenkins, et. al. (2006), participatory culture is one characterized by “low barriers to artistic expression and civic engagement, strong support for creating and sharing one’s creations, and some type of informal mentorship whereby what is known by the most experienced is passed along to novices.” (p.3) In other words, this culture is where participants actively take part in the community. This kind of environment is very much evident in video games (Virtual Worlds and MMORPGs) which easily fall under one form of participatory culture – collaborative problem-solving, which is defined as “working together in teams, formal and informal, to complete tasks and develop new knowledge.” (p. 3) Jenkins explains further that participatory culture is emerging in the 21st century where media is starting to form part of learning. In order for students in this generation to acquire the literacy skills needed to be active participants in the emerging participatory culture, Jenkins suggest that schools start looking into ways of systematically incorporating the core principles of participatory culture in both in-school and out-of-school activities. (p.57) Although his research does not explicitly say that learning can be derived from video games, he does imply that exposure to such activities prepare the individual in meeting the challenges of participatory culture. In another research by Kylie Peppler and Yasmin Kafai (2007) on video game making, they share that this activity “can provide a rich context for learning programming, how to collaborate with others, becoming a member of an affinity group, developing sustained engagement and more.” (p. 375) Peppler and Kafai focused their study on three issues faced in participatory culture – participation, transparency and ethics. They share that participation was very evident in game-making activities. As for the transparency issue, the researchers recommended that students be exposed to interface design rather than just use of digital technologies. Observation on the ethics problem gave rise to the researchers’ conclusion that game-making activities will teach individuals “to develop ownership of media and a sense of appreciation of what goes into creating them”. (p. 374). In cases of modification, this will encourage the new creator to reference the media’s old one. Conclusion Researchers have argued that video games enhance computer literacy, visual attention and reaction time while still others suggest that video-game teach players to become problem solvers. (Delwiche, A., 2006) Despite issues on effectiveness and practicality, research has indeed shown that video games do enhance learning, both in it and from it. May they be in the form of a virtual world such as Second Life or a fantasy realm such as World of Warcraft, the studies presented in this paper show that video games are effective platforms of learning. Video games teach individuals skills like how to analyze, solve problems, create, trade, think on one’s feet and work together. These are practical skills needed by an individual to survive in today’s competitive world. Aside from these, video games teach educators avenues they might consider taking in order to make their classrooms more dynamic and enjoyable spaces for learning. Video games can also instruct educators on how to prepare their students for the 21st century which can be characterized by participatory culture. All in all, video games have been shown to be an effective platform of learning not only for students but for educators as well. l References: Bell, D. (2009). Learning from Second Life. British Journal of Educational Technology. 40 (3). pp. 515-525. Oxford, UK: Blackwell Publishing. doi. 10.1111/j.1467-8535.2009.00943.x Delwiche, A. (2006). Massively Multiplayer online games (MMOs) in the new media classroom. Educational Technology & Society. 9 (3), pp. 160-172. Dickey, M.D. (2006). Game design and learning: a conjectural analysis of how massively multiple online role-playing games (MMORPGs) foster intrinsic motivation. Education Tech. Research and Dev. 55. (pp. 253-273). Springer Science and Business Media B.V. doi. 10.1007/s11423-006-9004-7 Jenkins, H., et. al. (2006). Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century. Chicago: The MacArthur Foundation. Odrejka, C. (2008). Education Unleashed: Participatory Culture, Education, and Innovation in Second Life. In K. Salen’s The Ecology of Games Connecting Youth, Games, and Learning, pp. 229-252. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press. doi:10.1162/dmal. 9780262693646.229 Oliver, M. and Carr., D. (2009). Learning in virtual worlds: Using communities of practice to explain how people learn from play. British Journal of Educational Technology. 40 (3). pp. 444-457. Oxford, UK: Blackwell Publishing. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8535.2009.00948.x Peppler, K. and Kafai, J., (2007). What Videogame Making Can Teach Us About Literacy and Learning: Alternative Pathways into Participatory Culture. Situated Play, Proceedings of DiGRA 2007Conference. (pp. 369-376) Rennecker, J. (2008) Using Synthetic Worlds for Work and Learning - A New Medium, A New Interaction Order? Communications of the Association for Information Systems. 22 (19). pp. 351-370. Atlanta, GA: The Association for Information Systems. Woodcock, B. (2006). MMORPG Chart. Retrieved on May 1, 2010 from http://www.mmorpgchart.com/ Yee, N. (2006). The labour of fun: how video games blur the boundaries of work and play. Games and Culture, 1, pp. 68–71. Read More