Education and Gaming

One of the more surprising finds I have made during my research this year are academic references to the use of the computer game ‘SimCity’ in education (see: Kolson 1994; Manocchia 1999). I found this surprising because during my younger years I committed 100s of hours to this game, much to my parents dismay. Could it be that I was in fact engaging in a type of independent learning?

'SimCity 2000' (taken from http://computerkiddoswiki.pbworks.com/w/page/16304824/Simulation%20Sim%20City%202000)

As the average age of gamers continues to steadily increase, the role that games can play in education and society in general is becoming more of issue. See these ‘TED’ talks for some examples:

Despite this, I’m still yet to see this reflected in classrooms, at least no more than when I was in school 15 years ago.

There are a few exceptions of course, for example see here, and here. But for the most part the use of ‘game’ concepts in classrooms appears to be limited to basic simulation programs that just fail to capture the true essence of gaming.

I’d be interested to hear about peoples experiences and thoughts on the use of games and game concepts in the classroom.

Anyway enough of this blogging, time for some gaming... oh, I mean 'independent learning'.

References:

Kolson, K. (1994). The politics of city planning simulations. Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association.

Manocchia, M. (1999). SimCity2000 Software Review. Teaching Sociology. 27. 212-215.