ABSTRACT
This is so hot, it’s scorching, although that usually means it’ll be out of date by yesterday and this chapter will resemble your dad wearing a cardigan with patches, dancing to the Spice Girls. Right now, it’s lava. Here’s a quote from Allan Gershenfeld, founder and president of E-Line Media, a publisher of digital games to help kids and parents learn. His bio helpfully informs us that ‘He’s an advocate for games used in the classroom as a learning tool.’ That will become apparent:
Video games, if effectively harnessed, are an ideal platform for learning. And there are a number of reasons why. Unlike film or television or other linear media – even books – games are interactive. They’re participatory. You lean forward, not back. Games let people step into other shoes, make decisions, explore the consequences. In games, the player has agency, which is very, very powerful. Games are participatory. You’re interacting, which is very, very powerful. Games are adaptive. They’re personalised. You can go at your own pace, advance at your own pace. They’re scaffolded for folks who go slower. So in many ways, the platform itself is perfectly set up for effective learning. 1
