Schell on Games and Educations

Mobile games that educate the children! Is this simply a novel idea, which might pass; no, we believe there is an educational shifting taking place. There is a need for games. Games used as tools. Transformative learning environments were kids play and learn. Play built on curricula learning outcomes with instance feedback on progress and achievements. Schell writes  in Art of Game Design (p 472) on games and education: 

Some hold the position that education is serious, but games are not; therefore games have no place in education. But an examination of our educational system shows that it is a game! Students (players) are given a series of assignments (goals) that must be handed in (accomplished) by certain due dates (time limits). They receive grades (scores) as feedback repeatedly as assignments (challenges) get harder and harder, until the end of the course when they are faced with a final exam (boss monster), which they can only pass (defeat) if they have mastered all the skills in the course (game). Students (players) who perform particularly well are listed on the honor roll (leader board).

So, why doesn’t education feel more like a game? ...Traditional educational methods often feature a real lack of surprises, a lack of projection, a lack of pleasures, a lack of community, and a bad interest curve. When Marshall McLuhan said “Anyone who thinks education and entertain- ment are different doesn’t know much about either,” this is what he was talking about. It’s not that learning isn’t fun, it is just that many educational experiences are poorly designed.

So why haven’t educational videogames found more of a home in the classroom? There seem to be several reasons:

• Time constraints. Playing games can take a long time, and a variable amount of time — many meaningful, educational games are just too long of an experience for a classroom setting.
• Variable pacing. One thing games are good at is letting players proceed at their own pace. In a school setting, the instructor usually has to keep everyone mov- ing along at a single pace.
• 1965. People born before 1965 did not grow up playing videogames; therefore games do not come naturally to them and seem kind of foreign. At the time of this printing, the educational system is primarily run by people born before 1965.
• Good educational games are hard to make. To create something that delivers a complete, verifiable, assessable lesson, while still engaging students is very hard. And an average semester class contains two or three dozen different lessons that must be covered

Despite these challenges, games can be excellent tools for education, but they work best as tools and not complete educational systems. A wise educator uses the right tool for the right job.