"Almost everything in life is like a game...we are always trying to 'game the system,'" said Dr. Bert Kimura at the beginning of our last synchronous class session. That is so true. We are born with instincts to compete, to win, and to extract the best deal (that's me). It seems more pronounced in males. That's why our culture spends so much time and money on sports of all kinds, from little league to kupuna league, and from being a pint-sized pitcher to being a devoted fan of professional sports.
I personally have difficulty jumping on the bandwagon of game-based learning in education, but it seems like another reality that can be carefully exploited for good. A teacher should not use a game merely to stuff a lesson into a form of a game. If it is carefully designed and integrated into teaching with clear objectives, keeping it challenging and rewarding, I can see that it will enhance learning. (http://serc.carleton.edu/introgeo/games/index.html)
My reservations about games, especially video games, comes from personal experience of having raised three children. We bought them a video game console when they were 8, 10, and 12. They all enjoyed gaming but our two daughters loved reading books more and still love reading. Our son on the other hand, immediately fell in love with the visual stimulation of gaming. He is a decent student (a Regent Scholar at Manoa), but once he expressed to me his regret of not having spent enough time reading as a child. Reading teaches love of words, love of learning, patience, the quiet soul-searching, the forbearance, and so many intangibles that can easily be pushed aside next to the shiny, noisy, heart-throbbing, engaging video games. Especially for boys. My fear is that game-based learning could push aside the more important task of teaching our students to read, to spend time communing with black words on white pages, to build all the character that they will need to become adults of tomorrow.
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