To what extent are popular video games effective educational tools when played outside of a class...
1. Can we learn information and content from video games?
1.1. Games provide "experiential learning" (Thomas), which is more engaging than textbooks
1.1.1. Civilization game series teaches history and politics
1.1.2. Based on my experiences, games are easier to remember! I remember Age of Empires campaigns better than I remember history class about the same things
1.2. BUT the info in games is wrong a lot of the time: “Most games got evolution at least partly wrong. Only 5 [of 22] accurately represented” it (Leith).
1.2.1. If trying to learn from a game, the player wouldn't know what was factual or not. In my opinion, this means it's not effective because people playing would need someone to tell them what's true and what isn't
1.3. **Conclusion**: games have the potential to be a learning tool but the information in them isn't reliable enough to trust. They would work better paired with traditional instruction.
2. Who does and doesn't learn from video games?
2.1. **Disability**: it's hard for people with some disabilities or needs to play some games
2.1.1. Accessibility features are improving but are not present in every game (Shin)
2.1.1.1. AND I think it will be difficult to ever have fully inclusive gaming because it's hard for all developers to meet all people's needs
2.1.2. Modified controllers, variable difficulties, UI changes, closed captions, etc. are examples
2.2. **Gender and its impact on inclusion**: Treatment of women in online games includes harrassment, cheating accusations, and other unwelcoming responses (Zacny). Some women hide their identity in online games
2.2.1. This is about online gaming, so I'm not sure how it would impact other types of games. Does this affect how interested women would be in learning from games even if they're offline?
2.3. **Wrapping Up**: It will always be difficult for gaming to reach and support all players, limiting how useful it is as a learning tool.
3. Can we learn skills and behaviors from video games?
3.1. Burnout Paradise teaches resilience and learning from failure (Thomas)
3.2. AND games might influence how we socialize and communicate. Tampio says Fortnite makes people selfish, cutthroat, and unappreciative of communication
3.2.1. BUT I think communication skills are important to being good at Fortnite and disagree with Tampio that it's negative
3.3. OR video games might teach us violence or make us numb to violence, according to two studies in Tampio.
3.3.1. In my view, this shows that we don't get to pick what we learn from video games, because players would not willingly choose to learn to be more violent in real life