One highlight of my Grade 3 life was dying from dysentery at the hands of a video game. I was ahead on schoolwork, and allowed to use the classroom computer to pioneer a family across America in the game The Oregon Trail.
The change in landscape From earliest days, games for learning were typically small endeavours built from passion or interest, like Grade 4 teacher Mabel Addis’s 1960s creation of one of the first-ever video games to teach economics to her students. But commercial or educational games can offer immersive, powerful tools for learning. Many parents will be familiar with Minecraft, which has solidified its place in schools with an education edition of the game.
Yet, there is a need to make sure teachers know how to implement the game and ask questions around it. A needed change in design Most educational games are designed to be the teacher rather than working with them, which is why so many focus on storytelling.