Video Games and Learning

Video games are one venue that have proven to be powerful learning environments, as noted in How Videogames Like Minecraft Actually Help Kids Learn to Read. Some, including John Brown and Douglas Thomas who wrote You Play World of Warcraft? You're Hired! have even argued that video games teach the kinds of skills that are most important for 21st century jobs--while schools lag behind, teaching archaic information that does little to motivate students.

Watch this video, Games and Education Scholar James Paul Gee on Video Games, Learning, and Literacy, to get a sense of what makes video games powerful in terms of teaching and learning.

Then, watch this video, Professor and Game Designer Katie Salen on Games, Learning, and New Media, to learn more about how design principles from video games inform the design of a school called Quest to Learn.