Reflections on a Quotation from Prensky

What attracts and “glues” kids to today’s video and computer games is neither the violence, or even the surface subject matter, but rather the learning the games provide. Kids, like and all humans, love to learn when it isn’t forced on them. Modern computer and video games provide learning opportunities every second, or fraction thereof.    (Prensky, 2003)

      Before I even address this quote, I should probably provide a disclaimer that I'm a gamer.  I've been playing computer games since the 80's on my father's old (and to me, beloved) TRS-80, and have played different games as the offerings evolved from single-player games, to 6-player online groups to full-fledged Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games.  In short, I like to think that I’m fairly familiar with video games.    

   Firstly, I disagree with Prensky’s assertion that video games “provide learning opportunities every second, or fraction thereof.”  Games have cycles, or rounds, and learning just doesn’t happen all the time.  For example, in an MMORPG, it’s common for a player to go out and gather resources.  There’s usually no learning going on here, it’s repetitive, and players do it in order to have resources they can use to advance their character: to make in-game money, or to improve their crafting skills.  At high levels, players repeat dungeons over and over.  Again, there’s no learning going on, the players are hoping to find special gear that will make their characters stronger.

Second, I’ll disagree that kids play video games for the learning experiences.  It’s true that a lot of learning that goes on while playing games – first the rules, what skills/moves a player can use, what combinations will (and will not) work depending on the various challenges.   However, if I refer back to those non-learning activities of the previous paragraph: gathering resources can be relaxing.  Doing dungeons often happens with a group of friends, and they’re exciting.  In addition, many players also talk to each other in real time as they play, using Skype-like programs, so that it becomes a social activity as well.  In the end, I believe that kids (and adults) play games because they are fun.  

    Dave Guymon wrote a blog post in February of 2014 in which he talked about the 5 elements that make games fun.  Here is his list:

1. Goals are achievable without being too easy

2. All participants have a similar chance of winning.

3. The risk of failure is present, but not overwhelming. 

4. Positive feedback occurs during the process.

5. There exists negative feedback as well.

   I agree with all of these points.  Another word I’d use for the first point is the following: Challenge.  When things are too easy, it gets boring, and we disconnect.  Whereas when we need to push ourselves, we engage more.  We can even relate this back to Krashen’s input hypothesis of i+1, where students improve their skills by listening to language which is just slightly beyond their current level, thereby challenging them. * 

     I think we can take Guymon’s list, and apply it directly to the classroom, either to gamify activities or create game-based learning to create a more realistic combination of Prensky’s enthusiasm for games and learning.   In fact, I think Guymon’s ideas lend themselves beautifully to creating an engaging classroom environment:

• the learning goals should be “achievable without being too easy” 
• every member of the class should have a “similar chance of [succeeding]”
• students can fail, but it shouldn’t be “overwhelming”
• there should be “positive feedback,” during the process
• there should be “negative feedback:” feedback that lets a student know that what s/he is doing isn’t working or isn’t correct

To return to Prensky, I do think that games can be useful in the classroom, and that games can give us some ideas of how we can engage our students more.  I’m just not sure that Prensky completely understands video games or that his ideas of why kids like them are on target.    

* I remembered this from grad school.  Wikipedia also has a nice explanation here.