Games in the Classroom

Dr. Peggy Benton, Lucas Foundation Fellow & Professor at San Francisco State, talks about the potential of games in the classroom

simSchool: When did you first become aware of the potential for games/simulations for learning and what was it that piqued your interest?

PB: I was not the typical learner in school. I didn’t find much in school that was relevant. As Albert Einstein said, “I have been educated all my life except for the intervals in school.” I managed to do well, but found it an enormous waste of time and not meaningful.

My daughter was the same way. I remember her not wanting to do a ditto sheet she was supposed to fill-in. I told her that she had to do it because it was what she was supposed to do. She did it, but didn’t turn it in. When I watched my daughter use educational games and saw how actively engaged she was, how quickly she learned, and how much she learned, it was so much more than her typical classroom experience. When playing a game or simulation, she took a role and acted as if the scenario was real, responding and doing more and more. She clearly understands the scenario as a situation, jumps into it as reality-based, role-plays, and moves toward a goal.

In the 70’s I was a rehabilitation therapist working with adults with traumatic brain injuries. They needed to rebuild huge repertoires of skills. They needed much more practice, informative feedback, and careful sequencing of cognitive and motor tasks than anyone could provide. They needed more motivation to become successful at tasks worthy of adult respect. I began to research and develop automated learning systems and found that in the 80’s microcomputers could provide a learning environment for games and simulations that we could adapt for their needs. Along with colleagues, we used commercial games or authored our own simulations not only to retrain skills but also to document and track success. Seeing the results we were getting opened my eyes to the power of computer -delivered games and simulations for learning.

Another event that led me to be interested in games was my own reaction to school work. When I was working on my dissertation there were long periods of research and writing with very few positives, and I did not know whether I was going to get it done. Just facing it became difficult. What I started to do was play a game for the first ten minutes. My brain was a little more turned on and I felt better about working, more engaged. My mind was more active. I am not sure why it happened, but this experience made me more interested in the idea of gaming.