Working in Movement

Computer-based video games are a rapidly growing part of the entertainment industry. But it's not just about entertaining the masses and making a fortune ini the process. Like the early television industry before it, some are looking beyond the focus on entertainment toward using games as serious learning tools. Some educators, game designers and industry execs have been talking about it in Los Angeles earlier this week at the Education Arcade, a symposium held before the big show at the Electronic Entertainment Expo.

Is there a role for video games in learning, or more specifically, in the formal educational process? Play Games, Be Better Students on Wired News discusses it with some of the industry's players. Some of the people interviewed for the article are pretty excited about the educational possibilities offered by games. But others are skeptical that the educational system can be open to such a change. And the game industry might not want to sink development costs into a market that it views as limited.

The learning offered by games excites Henry Jenkins, the host of the symposium. He talked about giving his son a computer-based Doonebury election game before the 1996 election:

"My son, predictably enough, disappeared into his room, never to be seen from again," said Jenkins. "When he came out, my wife and I were watching election coverage on CNN. And he said, 'Oh, I get it, Dole is in New York, Kemp is in Illinois ... they're all in high electoral-value states. And he was suddenly explaining to us something that most Americans didn't figure out until after Florida 2000."

But getting educators excited about game potential is another thing. One designer quoted in the article takes a skeptical view of getting games into the classroom, but sees the libraries as a more promising alternative:

In her view, American schools have degenerated from learning environments into production lines for children taught to obey authority figures.

But not all is lost, she said. Instead of relying on schools to teach kids how to use games to learn, libraries equipped with computers and video games may be the place where such learning can happen. Ultimately, she said, new forms of learning are about new ways of thinking. And some game designers are working to help foster that change.

Reading this article got me thinking the potential role of interactivity and computers in learning better self-use, the ultimate goal of movement education. There have been a few video based games that I referred to in earlier posts (Video Experiental Learning, Video Games, Plasticity and Surgery, Toysite and EyeToy). They use crude movement-based games, but seem to be purely entertainment. That's OK. But I wonder if this sort of video feedback of the use of the self, if there aren't ways of adopting it for more playfully serious purposes. Worth thinking about some more.