Summation #5 - Video Games + Good Learning: Collected Essays on Video Games

This book discusses the use of video games and the implementation into a learning environment. It goes into detail about the controversy behind video games and the stereotypes it posses and how to better merge games and education in a symbiotic middle ground. It is compose of multiple essays ranging from the general concepts of using games in education to direct examples of games the already do have specific learning goals and processes.
The article that interested me the most was Chapter 5 Learning about learning from a video game: Rise of Nations. This chapter is a direct recollection of the author as her describes the important of the game Rise of Nations. The idea of Rise of Nations is not a strange idea. It is a game based on different times during our own reality with character based in our reality as well. These characters are based on different races or groups of people throughout history and in the game you wage war against other groups for domination of specific territories. The game is top down based and your characters are moved in units, this type of game is called a real time strategy game(RTS).
The author illustrates that RTS games were hard for him at first. He explains how games may also seem extremely hard to teach and learn for older generations like the baby boomers because it is like learning something new and foreign for the first time. This attributes the delay of games being used directly in the classroom. The author goes on to explain his experiences with the game, explaining the quick reaction times necessary to play. As he uses his mind and moves his characters on screen with his mouse he is able to form a spatial sense between himself, his hand and movements, and the virtual world. This is a vital type of learning which is commonly overlooked in a testing based education received in a normal school system.
The Author goes on to directly show the correlation between skills enhanced and used in games compared to typical education and how best to integrate the two in a harmonious blend. The methods discussed here directly impact the ideas I wish to carry across with my thesis game as well.
Works Cited
Gee, James Paul. Good Video Games + Good Learning: Collected Essays on Video Games, Learning, and Literacy. New York: P. Lang, 2007. Print.