Gaming In Classrooms Has Changed Teaching

When many people think about gaming, it is typically seen as a leisure or relaxing activity. In my opinion, from my years in college studying video games, it is important to note that gaming and roleplaying have also taken an active role in engaging students. There are now even many college courses which feature classes with gaming and animation as the main focus. This just shows how impactful the gaming industry has now become. Even in an elementary through high school setting, gaming and its elements have changed the way classes are taught.

In one of my classes I took called “Games and Communication,” we learned how video game communication forms have changed since they first appeared. Video games have become the inspiration for better communication apps. Originally it was Skype that took the world by storm, and now it is Discord that is being used for everything social by many, because of its ability to call, video chat, message, and be able to send videos and photos. Even classrooms have been using it more and more since the COVID-19 pandemic, along with Zoom of course. Because of this boom of Discord usage, communication between people has expanded and grown drastically just from a small app made by people who wanted to connect to their online gaming friends.

One of the more controversial ideas within a classroom setting is how video games should be seen as art. When I took a class called “History of Animation and Games,” I was surprised to know how little the art in video games is thought of as actual art. It makes sense in the context that amongst some, video games are still seen as “lesser”, even when they can be one of the best tools for teaching. Games hire artists and animators to help create the world setting; not only that but many games have inspired artists to become artists. Yet in a classroom setting, it is not yet looked at as art, even where there are beautiful games that are completely hand-drawn masterpieces. Even with this mindset about gaming in classrooms, teachers cannot deny the impact that the industry has had when they are gamifying their own classrooms.

There is also Kahoot, which has become very popular as a trivia game to help students prepare for an upcoming quiz or test. It is also used to help students understand the material better. Not only that, but it has the students wanting to beat each other and get to be in the top five best players, encouraging academic performance through competition. I remember that I had a math class use it to help us quickly figure out problems and equations back in high school. Since it has gained so much popularity, Kahoot has become even more accessible and has more features to attract more users, such as students.

Let’s not forget about our childhood math games in this discussion either. Cool Math Games changed the way students learned how to do math. With many of their games focusing on teaching kids about math, reading, grammar, and science. I remember sitting in my classroom being told that we could play that website as long as we played something that taught us about the topic of the day.

When I wanted to be a teacher, I knew video games were going to be a part of my curriculum. I wanted to show my students that stories can come from any media. I would have had them look over what the storyline was for a game and how that was represented through the game or if it wasn’t. I was lucky enough to be able to take a class that focused on the story of all video games in my Games and Literature class this last fall semester. We had to play video games and write papers and reviews about an aspect of the game that was never thought about before. To say it was my favorite class is an understatement.

Many history and creative writing classes are using games to help teach. In one instance, a teacher may use Assassin’s Creed to show an area where a battle happened and why it failed. Minecraft may be used in a science setting with the education mode turned on. These are just a few of the many ways the gaming industry can affect how school can be taught.

Games have forever changed the way education will and should be taught. Games are able to affect the minds and hearts of children while also giving them the best learning experience possible. I have many memories from my school days focused around learning from games. It’s time to notice that the gaming industry is here to stay in education.