In elementary school, when the teacher wants to teach her students the seven continents, she goes about doing this by teaching them a song. Or when the teacher wants to teach the students the numbers one to four, the class would get to play four corners. As the students get older, the Spanish teacher wants to teach the students vocabulary. In order to do this creatively yet ensure the maximum amount of learning, the teacher sets up a game of Bingo. In the Bingo game the teacher will read the vocabulary word out in English while the students would mark the word on the Bingo board in Spanish. As seen in the examples above, games have long been a part of our learning system from the time we were children.
In the past years, there has been a gradual shift from physical or board games to video games. The word video game comes with several idiosyncrasies. It generally comes with negative connotations. Nevertheless, Bogost believes video games have the power to enhance the procedure of learning. Dr. Ian Bogost is a designer as well as a media philosopher. He completed his undergraduate years at University of Southern California while he did his Ph. D at UCLA. He has written several books regarding the topic of video games. Bogost currently resides in Atlanta, Georgia.
Today, one of the main reasons why the playing of video games is discouraged is because, at the end of the day, it is a game. Games or play are considered a “children’s activity” (The Rhetoric of Video Games, 120). On the contrary, Bogost believes it is important to allow these because he believes video games present a small picture of what the real world is like. He gives the example of his son playing the game Animal Crossing. His son soon realizes a dilemma while playing. “The more material possessions he took on, the more space he needed, and the more debt he had to assume to provide that space” (The Rhetoric of Video Games, 117). Such games hone into the social dynamics of the real world. “The game simplifies the real world in order to draw attention to relevant aspects of that world” (119).
Video games allow children to get exposure to the “real world” that may not get otherwise. They put a child in a certain situation, and he or she must figure out how to overcome it. This reminded me of the example of children going to arcades like Chuck E’ Cheese. In order to play the games, the child must insert the number of tokens indicated. If a parent gives the child ten tokens, it is up to the child what he or she wants to do with them. He or she can use all the tokens in one game or use them for different games. Children have to learn to make decisions in certain constraints, which in this case are both time and the number of coins. The exposure to constraints prepares him or her for the real world, as there may be multiple constraints in various aspects of life. Playing such games can be thought of as a type of literacy. This “kind of literacy…helps us make or critique the systems we live in” (The Rhetoric of Video Games, 136).
Bogost also believes video games open an array of different topics, which may possibly awaken an interest of something to do in the future. Shaffer argues, “games can model how professions work, offering an incomplete, yet embodied experience of real-world jobs” (The Rhetoric of Video Games, 130). There are many games that provide exposure to the different careers that are open for the children to fill. One example is the game Take Back Illinois, which provides exposure to the public health aspect of society. While the game Spore zooms into the more scientific field as it introduces the idea of evolution and natural selection to children. Such video games can create a penchant towards a particular aspect, which can then be fulfilled in the future in the real world.
Playing video games is not only a children-only procedure. It is important that the parents play a role in this as they have had in the yesteryears when they would read to their children or play outside with them. Parents can help their children think critically and guide them. Not only parents, but teachers or professors should do the same. They, too, should ensure that their curriculum goes hand in hand with such tools as it can enhance the entire classroom experience.
Teachers can learn to help students address real-world issues by playing and critiquing the video games they play. And educators can also help students imagine and design games based on their own opinions of the world. When games are used in this fashion, they can become part of a whole range of subjects (The Rhetoric of Video Games, 120).
Bjork and Schwartz bring up a similar point in “Writing in the Wild”. They talk about the stereotype of the traditional classroom setting. We continue to believe that “teaching still “happens” in the classroom” (Writing in the Wild, 223). However, both “Writing for the Wild” and The Rhetoric of Video Games talk about breaking those conventional ideas, as it is necessary to bend with the time that is lived in.
One of the hardest things faced by all people regardless of what the subject maybe is to relate to a person from another generation. Today, as Lanham said, we live in an economy of attention. We have so much information surrounding us. “The World Wide Web is now document of billions of pages long. And as if digital overload weren’t enough, printed books still pour from the presses: over 160, 000 new U.S. titles and editions in 2002” (Economies of Attention, 7). Clearly, information is not the issue. The greatest need today is the need for attention. It is important to adjust to the time we live in. Therefore, Bogost believes using video games can enhance the learning procedure whether that is at school or at home. By presenting information to children in a form that is engaging to them, it can grab their attention and allow them to critically “make arguments, to persuade, and to express ideas” (The Rhetoric of Video Games, 137).
Overall, I agree with Bogost, but to a certain extent. I am not a video game expert. Yet I agree it is important to challenge the traditional classroom settings, as we do not live in the early 1900s anymore. I believe it is important to make the classrooms multimedia. Learning about the locomotion of amoebas is completely different than being able to observe it in the classroom right after it is discussed. Similarly, hands-on tools like video games can enhance an experience on a variety of other topics. Nevertheless, I feel it is also important to limit one’s exposure. With video games, kids generally lock themselves up in a room for hours. This is not healthy for a child. It is important that children play outside and become familiar with their external surroundings. I feel there is a gray are between where video games are productive and where they can become addictive hence the rise of the “gamers” society. Therefore, I believe playing videogames should be done in limit.
While reading this article it made me think of the book, Lord of the Flies, written by William Golding. In the article, Bogost talks about the possibility of space and how children first establish rules before starting to play. A very similar incident happens in this book. A plane crashes and a group of young boys land on an uninhabited island. They attempt to make rules and run a structured society. They elect a leader, Ralph, and run their own small government. After a while, everything ends up as chaos. Some of the boys on the island become selfish and begin to only look out for themselves. Thus the book depicts the worst of human nature as it eventually transforms into “survival of the fittest”.