Video Games and Learning (Overlapping concepts)

johnmartin's picture

I ran into one of these videos last Spring. Hosted by The Escapist, it's apparently now a series of videos that makes the theory behind a variety of video game related topics very accessible. Although I use the phrase "theory behind" the talent behind it really does a great job of making it all very very easy to understand, and does so in an exceptionally entertaining manner.

Why post this? Well, as with many of my posts, I see a strong connection between what's going on here, and what an be going on in education. As much of the effectiveness of teaching and learning has to do with the representation of the content, this series might offer insight into how to represent difficult concepts to (other) learners. I could see these as being good examples to unpack and discuss before doing Digital Media Assignments as easily as I could see them useful for teachers and professional instructional designers.

There's plenty of learning to go around. Video Games can be a great medium for teaching and learning. The Extra Credits series has pretty good handle on what makes good games (and the good learning within them) good. Check out this one on Video Games and Bad Writing! (apologies if it makes you watch a commercial first; trust me, it's worth waiting out the commercial).