Video Games : Why Kids Play and What They Learn

This paper provides an overview of the relationship children and youth have with video games, giving special attention to concepts of “fun” and “learning.” Video games are introduced as a new media, and rationale is given for studying the relationship kids have with them. Motivation and learning are discussed in relation to video games, and the question is asked “Can an experience (like playing video games) be both fun and educative?” Imagine a ten year old girl who comes home from school each day and devotes two to three hours to her favorite activity. If this activity is playing music, we might say the child has a passion. But if the child is playing video games, would we be more likely to call it an obsession? Is it only our perception that changes, or is there a fundamental problem with how children relate to video games? Video games are a relatively new media and, similar to television, they have attracted both negative and positive attention from scholars. While some scholars see video games as harbingers of educational utopia, saying “the young people of today understand instinctively that their games are their very best teachers” (Prensky, 2003, p. 3), others worry that we are Amusing ourselves to Death (Postman, 1985). These conflicting views of video games may be due to the ways children relate to the games. This paper explores the relationship children and youth have to video games. In this exploration, video games are first introduced as a new media, and a rationale is given for studying the relationship kids have with them. Second, the appeal of video games is discussed including what it means to play and the motivational power of video games. A discussion of if and what children learn from video games follows. Finally, the relationship between fun and learning is explored. What is the Rationale for Studying how Kids Relate to Video Games? Kids and Video Games is a New Phenomenon Video games have been in existence for only forty years. Thus, research into their effects on players is a fairly new field. Video games have the potential to affect a great number of people as their sales have begun to exceed those of movies. Video games combine film, graphics, sound, and text to communicate narratives and goals to the player. By communicating to the player in this manner, video games are drawing from previous forms of media, including symbols, spoken language, early writing, manuscripts, print, and video (Bruce, 2003). They can be considered one of the newest forms of media in the sense that they have the potential to communicate to a wide audience in a novel way. As the advent of the printing press and television journalism had the potential to change culture, so may video games for the next generation. While video games incorporate previous media, they also differ from traditional media, largely due to the forced interactivity incorporated into video games. Video games contain frequent pauses in the form of directives to the player; find this object, battle this opponent, solve this puzzle. This interactivity offers both an element of choice (the player has a role in the development of the storyline) and paradoxically, influences the storyline, as the player is forced to respond in certain predetermined ways in order to succeed and advance the storyline. Thus, these choices introduce sporting elements to the media which includes reaction times, strategy, and competition which are generally not found in traditional media. Video games also differ from other media in their ability to adjust to the player's learning ability by relying on the computer's artificial intelligence. This means that players have the opportunity to experience more successes than they might have if they were playing a board game against someone who is more advanced. For some players, this may keep them engaged longer as they receive feedback that they are continually making progress. These types of feedback and reinforcements may have a profound influence on why some children spend such a great amount of time with this media. Investigating the ways in which children interact with video games may have the potential to provide insight into how these children are accustomed to processing information differently than children of the TV or print generation. Kids and Video Games are a Diverse Phenomena While the stereotype of video games as simulated fantasy violence rings true for some games, the category of video games is composed of an increasing diversity of genres. By understanding the diversity of video gaming experiences, the stereotypes of children who play video games may be avoided. Plus, different genres of video games appeal to and emphasize different capabilities. One of the oldest types of video game is the arcade or platform game. These games emphasize quick reflexes and hand-eye coordination as players hop from cloud to cloud and blast monsters. The storylines in these games, in general, are rather simple and can be considered in the fantasy realm. Sports games, such as Madden NFL or the Tony Hawk series of skateboarding games, simulate the competitive action of real sporting events. Role playing games, patterned after the popular Dungeons and Dragons series, are characterized by players selecting to play as one of various humanoid characters or fantasy professions and engaging in quests, gaining skills and power as they progress. Puzzle games rarely have a storyline. Rather, players must use logical deduction to find patterns. Examples of puzzle games are chess and Sudoku. Another prominent genre is the first-person shooter (e.g. Halo, Doom ). In first-person shooter, play progresses from a first-person point-of-view, and players shoot at humanoid enemy combatants. Many of today's games contain elements of a variety of genres. Kids and Video Games are a Growing Phenomenon The variety of video game genres speaks to their popularity with an increasingly diverse audience. Playing video games is an especially prominent leisure activity of children and young adults. The popularity of video games among children indicates that a large number of children have a shared cultural experience that the older generation may have difficulty relating to. A survey of Australian children found that 64% had played electronic or computer games (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2006) while a study of children in the United Kingdom found that 85% of the children polled played computer games at least once every two weeks (Sanford et al. 2006, as cited in de Freitas, 2006). Compare this to 72% of teachers who never play computer games in their leisure time, and we can see a generation gap (Sanford et al., 2006, as cited in de Freitas, 2006). Despite not playing games as a leisure activity, there is evidence that 36% of primary school teachers and 27% of secondary school teachers are already using games in the classroom (Sandford et al., 2006, as cited in de Freitas, 2006). Perhaps these teachers have experienced the pedagogical value of using games in the classroom. Perhaps they feel obliged to relate to students' culture by appealing to their sense of fun. What is it that Draws Kids to Video Games? Video games are fun. Although this premise can, and will, be challenged, for now let us assume that if video games were not fun, they would not be the leisure activity industry whose earnings surpass those of motion pictures. The question for teachers is why are they fun; so fun that some children persist for such stretches of time that even the consoles themselves plead with them to take a break. This question can be, in part, answered by viewing video games as play, reinforcement, social interaction, fantasy, and cognitive exercise.