Can video games help kids learn?
Can video games help kids learn?
Can video games help kids learn?
By Emily Boudreau
June 29, 2021
Summary
Why are some games more "Fun" than others?
"What's really motivating about a good learning game is the learning," says Louisa Rosenheck, researcher at MIT's Education Arcade Lab and an adjunct lecturer at HGSE. "Humans like to learn, and we like to get better at things." But, she observes, many games used in classrooms or that are deemed "Educational" tend to focus on content and procedural skills, and don't necessarily encourage learning that sparks intrinsic motivation and genuine engagement.
With this in mind, Rosenheck and a team of other researchers at the Education Arcade Lab developed a series of design principles that inform the development of what they term "Resonant games" - games that are open ended, exploratory, allow learners to make connections to bigger systems and concepts, and promote deeper learning overall.
Importantly, games with structures that promote these features avoid the trend of "Gamification" - a superficial way of spicing up a learning task with extraneous elements like points, badges, and leaderboards.
These features are often separate from the learning experience, serving to "Trick" kids into learning.
Providing feedback to a player so they can form their own understanding of the game's systems.
Many adults tend to truncate or limit game time, but it's important to understand that fun and learning can often be one and the same.
Reference
Boudreau, E. (2023, June 29). Find fun. Harvard Graduate School of Education. https://www.gse.harvard.edu/ideas/usable-knowledge/21/06/find-fun