A brief review of James Paul Gee’s essayed argument for good video game learning, and how it draws us in.

I have recently been reading some of the work James Paul Gee has written, on children’s education through video game media; I started with Children’s Learning in a Digital World (2008). In his contributed article, Good Videogames, the Human Mind and Good Learning (2005?), Gee writes a startling discussion aon why it is video games can and do teach us, as well as offering us insight into why they’re so addictive.

In framing his argument, Gee describes certain games as being “action and goal-oriented”, citing examples such as Half-Life 2, Full Spectrum Warrior and World of Warcraft. He offers an enticing description of the way these games will teach us the skills and knowledge (game logic) necessary to complete actions within the game, then offer us goals to put those skills towards. As we, the players, accumulate more knowledge within these simulated realities, we grow keener to put these into practise. We find goals, such as an item to craft in WoW. We then ready our skillsets and work towards those goals, learning a little bit about the world as we do. When the goal is seized, we’re both empowered and satisfied by the journey, and the game continues.

I’ve summarised heavily there, but his original article is far more worthwhile the read anyway. What I took from it was a broad confirmation of what so far I’ve only really suspected, and what I’d not found the appropriate language to convey. I also came to realise two conclusions unique to myself – one is that this is why I’m so enthralled by games like World of Warcraft, which manage to layer lots of models of this mechanic into their framework. The other is that this is at the heart of my excitement about academia.

My reading of this article was proof of his argument in itself – a bit blinding, perhaps, for a field which treasures peer review and critique from all angles. Still, I’m finding that learning in itself allows me to gather knowledge, set goals and strive to achieve them, even if I’ve yet to see that put into real practise, such as for a degree paper. Such a conclusion is a distraction from this blog’s key message, but I felt I wanted to share it regardless. I have just found a name to put to my curious new pastime, after all.