Seeing the topic of 'video games in learning' was very surprising to me. When I think of video games, I think of violence, aggression, and wild driving, not learning valuable skills that can be applied to classrooms. However, after reading the article titled, "Are Video Games Good for Learning," and questioning some of my friends on their gaming choices, my mind is a little bit more opened to the idea of video games helping students achieve their goals in the classroom.
The article provided readers with the explanation that video games are good for learning for two reasons: good commercial games are built on sound learning principles that are supported by research in the learning sciences, and video game technologies hold our great promise for moving beyond entertainment to building new learning systems for serious purposes in and out of school (Gee & Mogridge, 2006). While reading, I was trying to compare the facts of features of games with high learning potential and the features of a good game to one game that my friends are recently fixated on called BitLife. This is a text-based life simulator that uses realism to live another life, so, you constantly make choices to continue through your life such as what career you want, where you want to live, etc. This game does have some of the features mentioned in the reading that are essential for students to learn outside of class such as the distributed intelligence via the creation of smart tool, and open-endedness. The player is guided by the knowledge that is built into the game and what other characters are doing and are able to utilize trial-and-error to go on with their lives and make the right choices. The players also set their own standards of accomplishment so they can be heroes, doctors, lawyers, etc., and they can even project their own goals onto their characters. Additionally, they get a sense of motivation through how they build their life, the role of failure through aspects such as if they do not press 'study' they do not pass school and do not get the career they strive for, and they can customize, create strong identities, there are pleasant levels of frustration and a cycle of expertise.
Nonetheless, despite the game having these features, players are not learning anything deeper about the choices they are making. My opinion after this comparison is that, while there are video games that can be utilized in teaching students' essential skills, I do not think that they are being played as much as the violent and aggressive games that we are all familiar with. And while BitLife has some of the important features of a good game and some features of a game with learning potential, as do most games, I do not believe the players are taking life skills from it. They are just playing these games and leaving the skills and motivations that they get in the game rather than bringing them into the classroom and real-world scenarios. One big recurring question from the article was that of can students bring 'this' skill into their classroom abilities? My hypothesis about this is that students enjoy the challenge from the game because they chose to play it. They never choose to be in their math or science class, so they lack the same motivation that they use when playing the game. This is why I think they do not absorb the skills from their games and apply them to real life.
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