Video gaming gets a bad rap. I believe a lot of people feel
as though it’s unproductive and waste of time. Those that play video games,
especially online video games, are stereotyped as being geeks or brainiacs. I
think most of this stems from the older generation of adults who grew up
without video games and see them only as a luxury item or a toy of sorts. That
is the main reason why the subject matter of games and learning is so
interesting. Traditionally, students would rather be playing video games than
doing homework and now there is scholarly research around using video games as
a learning tool? Who’s idea do you think that was, the student’s or the parent’s?
As we have studied games and learning throughout the
semester and dissected a number of articles from various scholars, I cannot
help but feel that this has been the elephant in the room, which perhaps as not
really been addressed. Certainly, many of the authors have argued, in some
cases rather defensively, for the use of gaming in education as well as a call
for revamping the current education system. With these thoughts in mind, I
decided to critique a short piece that discusses the psychology behind those that
play video games. Specifically, our class’s online hypothesis discussion raised
a question that I thought was interesting and, in which, I didn’t really have a
good answer or opinion. In this day and age, video gaming is readily available
to anyone who can access the internet. The truth is some of the stereotypes of
video gamers are true (of course there must be a few instances for a stereotype
to even be born) – there are some people who indulge in video gaming to the
extent that it produces negative side effects, including addiction. The
question I had, therefore, is that even though academia is finding positive
utility for video games as a learning tool, when we implement them with our
learners are we playing with fire?
Mark Griffiths, with the International Gaming Research Unit
at Nottingham Trent University, wrote the article titled, “Online video gaming:
what should educational psychologists know?” that was published in the journal,
Educational Psychology in Practice.
Special thanks to Darren Blackman who pointed out the potential scholarly
critique article from this cycle’s reading! This article provides an overview
of the issues surrounding excessive video game play among young people. In this
piece, Griffiths gives a clear and concise perspective on the differences in
gaming and what the signs of addiction are. He also lists several benefits to
video gaming and offers some advice to parents – who seem to contact him
regularly regarding these issues.
My biggest takeaway from the article is that, just because
someone likes to play video games an excessive amount of time, it does not mean
that that person suffers from an addiction. Really, we need to understand the
psychology behind addictions before we endeavor to make any bold claims. What
is interesting, though, is that some of the advice Griffiths offers are some of
the very same characteristics that are beneficial to learning such as
encouraging kids to play video games in groups of people instead of alone. This
allows the youth learn virtual interpersonal skills and conduct collective
problem solving activities.
The article posits that any type of activity can lead to
addiction. Some people play excessively simply because they can. That does not
rule out the educational benefits that games can provide. Certainly prudence
and moderation are important characteristics to maintain no matter what our
undertaking.