Gross (2007), Digital Games in Education

The purpose of this article was to analyze the gender differences in games and the ways in which popular games can be beneficial in an educational setting.

The author divided this article into five parts in which the relevance of the research was introduced, how video games have changed over time, research on video games in education, approaches that could be used to introduce video games into education, and the problems that might arise in this introduction. It was stated that some games that take place in different eras in history can be useful as they contain information about the time period. The research was not only on computer games but much of what was found applies to computer games. There was little research on video games until the late 1990s. Many viewed video games negatively and it was not considered that they could be used in education. The main increase in research was on the structural aspects of games and the integration of games into schools. Over time many thought that learning occurred when there were opportunities to practice skills. People also realized that people have different backgrounds and so learn in different ways. The gender disparity was analyzed in which boys play more games than girls and the games oriented towards girls are more focused on reality than those played by boys. Although this difference is present both boys and girls were recorded to be confident in operating computers. When implementing video games into schools popular games were used rather than games that are designed for education. Activities started with playing the game and then discussing the game using topics that were previously prepared by the teacher. Some problems faced were that teachers don’t want to use games in their classrooms as they take too much time to effectively integrate and don’t address topics in their entirety. It is also difficult for teachers as there is a lack of confidence for those that are not familiar with video games.

This compares to other materials I’ve read as it focuses on using games in education but it is different in that it promotes the use of popular games rather than those designed for academic purposes.

The keywords for this article are: digital games, game-based learning, instructional design, and videogames.

Some useful articles were:

Egenfeldt-Nielsen, S. (2005). Beyond edutaiment. Unpublished dissertation, University of Copenhagen. Copenhagen, Denmark.

Gee, J. P. (2003). What video games have to teach us about learning and literacy. New York: PalGrave-McMillan.

Loftus, G., & Loftus, E. (1983). Mind at play: The psychology of video games. New York: Basic Books.

McFarlane, A., Sparrowhawk, A., & Heald, Y. (2002). Report on the educational use of games.

McLuhan, M. (1994). Understanding media: The extensions of Man. Cambridge: MIT Press.

Prensky, M. (2001). Digital game based learning, New York: McGraw Hill Press.

Roberts, D. F., Foehr, D. G., Rideout, V. I., & Brodie, M. (1999). Kids and media at the new millennium: A comprehensive national analysis of children’s media use. Menlo Park, CA: A Kaiser Family Foundation Report.

Some questions I have after reading this article are:

Is it more beneficial for students to play popular games rather than scholarly games?

How can video games be effectively incorporated into a classroom?