Video Games and Learning

I once had a professor that said video games are the novels of the 21st century.

According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary, a novel is "an invented prose narrative that is usually long and complex and deals especially with human experience through a usually connected sequence of events."

I am not very familiar with video games, but I once saw a friend play a game called "Assassins Creed." In this game, he was given several objectives and upon reaching each checkpoint, he learned more information and was given new tasks. The "story" of my friend's character was definitely made up, by him and by the creators of the game. It was a long and complex story, it took him a couple of weeks to finally win the game. It dealt with humans: he was a paid assassin living in medieval times who dealt with people, either by saving them or killing them. It dealt with social issues. It was depressing and revealing about human tendencies.

It is a lot like a novel, just different. Many people don't consider games like Assassin's Creed and Grand Theft Auto to be like novels because they lack a central plot, are full of rotten characters, and the protagonist is not an appealing person. At the same time, these people herald novels like The Sun Also Rises, never thinking about the fact that it lacks plot, is full of selfish characters, and has a very unhappy and unfulfilling ending. Like the important novels we love, these games CAN BE an exploration of human's actions and consequences. The developers write the story for you, and you live it through the controlers. Just as readers live it through the text.

Another game I find particularly helpful in education are the war games. Another friend of mine loved "Call of Duty." I wouldn't mind watching him play it: he'd turn off the lights and turn the volume way up, and it was almost like watching a movie. Although, we were much more invested in it than we would be a movie. We participated in the story by pushing the controls. When people read, they feel more connected to the story because they are participating: they use their imagination to create the surroundings from the novel and to decide what people look like. Games draw people's emotions in the same way. When they take an active stance on a story, they are more invested and learn more about the situation. It is like Holly McLaughlin said in the New York Times article, "The Future of Reading." At first she failed at the game because she made leadership decisions that led to the demise of her colony. Playing helped her gain a deeper appreciation for why leaders made certain decisions.
Both novels and video games give people the ability to truly experience emotions of people in different situations. Video games just have a greater capability of reaching out to children.