Games can make the world a better place

Can play and learning be combined? Absolutely. Courses like this are proof of that in the digital age, but the entire history of games tells us this. When we are young, we learn many important lessons from games. Social behaviors, perseverance, the importance of hard work to improve ourselves. All of these things come from the games that we play as children. Some of this changes as we get older and we either begin to feel pressure to win at all costs, or we feel inadequate and choose to stop playing. Play is a critical part of our development. What role does acknowledging progress play in successful gaming and is their transfer to education? Students often feel overwhelmed by the traditional model of learning and assessment. As a teacher, I can't count the number of times that I have heard a student say, "I just don't understand any of this." My typical response to this, of course, is that it's not true, and I proceed to work through the problem bit by bit with the student. When they look at the pieces of the problem, they can always find at least something that they know and can solve. The problem comes when they have to use this knowledge or combine it with other information to solve more complex problems. In games, we usually see this process gradually, learning new skills, practicing them, and then figuring out how to use them to defeat the enemies in front of us. When we are faced with a difficult challenge, we don't say "I can't do any of this." We try different combinations of the skills we have, or we recognize a weakness in the enemy that can be exploited by a skill or tool we don't yet have. We then go out to seek this new skill or tool, so that we can come back and overcome the obstacle. This is learning at its most fundamental level, and gamers do it without question. That is the sense of urgency and optimism that we need to instill in all of our students. What do you think MacGonigal's thought about parallel tracks of education (school/games)? This is a fascinating statistic, and it emphasizes the potential of learning and games. If even a significant portion of the time spent gaming can be channeled toward learning, the potential of students to acquire new skills and knowledge is staggering. In addition, if education can take its lessons from the gaming world, then the amount of time spent learning can more than double. Reflect on Jane's 4 things that games do to make us "virtuosos": Urgent Optimism, Social Fabric, Blissful Productivity, Epic Meaning. Beyond the qualities that make outstanding gamers, these sound like a checklist of qualities that would make the ultimate entrepreneur. When an individual has a vision for something that they want to bring to life, they exhibit these qualities in the same way gamers do. They work on their projects on their own time, often spending as much or more time on them than their "regular" job. They feel that they have the power to change the world, and that drives them to push past any doubt or setbacks, and they often form close-knit groups of like-minded individuals to help them succeed. If these skills can be harnessed by the gaming world, just imagine what they can do if these entrepreneurial spirits were unleashed on real-world problems - and if they were given the freedom to do so in their own ways.