What can schools learn from video games?
138Sometimes the best inspiration comes from unexpected places. And as an educator, one of those unexpected places is video game design.
TRANSCRIPT:
When I was a kid, I used to spend hours playing Tetris. I would zone out everything else and hit a state of hyperfocus. I was fully engaged.
Which has me wondering?
What could schools learn from video game design?
Here are a few ideas.
#1: Intrinsic motivation: Video games are engaging because they are fun. But so is learning. Learning is fun when students get to chase their curiosity or geek on their favorite topics in a Genius Hour Project. Learning is fun when they solve challenging problems, make sense out of the past, conduct their own experiments, or get lost in fictional world.
#2: Incremental Success: The best video games have small victories that people go through. But this also allow users to make mistakes and to move through smaller iterations. Even in creative games like Minecraft, there is a space for iterative improvements.
#3: Find the Balance of Challenge and Skill: Video games often have levels that are slightly harder than your skill level. One of the key lessons in Flow Theory is that people are more likely to hit a state of flow when there is a high challenge and a high perceived skill level. If a task is too easy, people get bored. If a task is too difficult, people get anxious.
#4: Embrace Conflict: Every great game begins with a challenge or a problem or a conflict. Similarly, the best classroom lessons and classroom projects draw students in with a challenge or problem that they find relevant.
#5: Make it Intuitive: With video games, people can easily figure out where to begin, where you’re going, and when you are finished. As educators, we can our assignments more intuitive by incorporating ideas from UX design.
#6: Use Instant Feedback: The best video games provide instant feedback. Players can make adjustments without having to stop to see their progress.
I’m not suggesting we switch completely to game-based learning; though I was pretty good at the Oregon Trail. That is, when I wasn’t dying of dysentery. Student engagement is often about creativity and choice while certain video games focus more on entertainment and programmed choices. Still, there are elements of game design that we might want to consider as we think about instructional design.