Recently I read Ready Player One, by Ernest Cline, I highly recommend it if you have a lot of love for 80’s nostalgia, but what really sort of stood out to me what the technology. The book is set in a dystopian future, where the world has given up on real life, and instead spends all their time in an infinite online universe called the Oasis. The main character is a high school student with the handle Parzival, who takes classes inside the Oasis, where his teachers are able to take him to France to view the Louvre, and the surface of Mars to explore. The teaching nerd in me desperately wished that this was a reality, and that teachers could give their students a completely immersive experience like in the book. Sadly, since the technology doesn’t exist yet, the next best thing we can present as an immersive experience is video games.

Video games in the classroom is probably one of the most divisive arguments when it comes to effective media use. Even more so than film, YouTube, or Social Media, video games sit of the periphery of classroom use; Why is this?

Video game use is not something new, I remember as a kid, trudging down to the computer lab where rows of giant ICON’s sat, and getting to play Math Race, Mathville, or the dreaded Cross Country Canada. The games where low res, stalled more often than not, but as a kid in the 90’s it was the coolest thing ever to be able to play games for class. This year passed I even pulled out the classic Oregon Trail for my American History students and we spent a class seeing just how far we could get before dying of dysentery (I’ve never seen anyone make it yet). Video games have come so much further so why don’t we use them?

Pro’s

There are a variety of arguments for the positives of games in class of course; in her article Windom (2018), cites the idea of games lending themselves to character development, self-awareness, and self-management. Games allow the player to pick, design, and level up their player according to the requirements (Windom, 2018). When a player gets stuck, they need to challenge themselves, play through, and overcome in order to move forward (Windom, 2018). In doing so students learn self-management, to deal with stress, frustrating, and difficulties to be able to channel these emotions into a more positive outcome (Windom, 2018). T

Games can also build social awareness and collaborative traits, though online gaming student can learn to work with others through cooperative multiplayers (Windom, 2018). There is also element of decision making and critical thinking; gameplay involves the player navigating the environment, figuring out the next steps (Windom, 2018).

Con’s

Like any media use in the classroom, there are con’s as well;

· Time; the most obvious con is the time waster. Video games are time consuming it can take hours, or days to complete and doesn’t always lend itself to a quick paced classroom environment.

· Equipment; in a large class, there would not be enough game consoles to go around, nor would the game be made available to everyone.

· Interest; not everyone likes, or is good at video games, it doesn’t have as much of a universal appeal as a video may.

If the Fortnite frenzy is anything to go by, then video games connect to students, they play them, they engage, and they are here to stay. If you’re not sure what I’m referring to when I mention Fortnite read this article http://www.techedupteacher.com/a-teachers-guide-to-surviving-fortnite/ before the school year starts.

While the world of the Oasis outlined in Ready Player One is still years away, it doesn’t mean that we can’t integrate games in class now. Admittedly I still sit on the fence myself, but I think its maybe time to go beyond the Oregon Trail and try something newer.