I'm Prensky-d Out...

Once again, Marc Prensky’s defensive, rebellious attitude towards educators and the education system alike stand in the way of conveying his point. The boiled down point- students learn how to think from video games- is hidden behind layers of defensive, angry ranting that instantly turns off a reader, most especially a reader associated in any way with the educational community that Prensky so disparages of.

Once you’ve dug through the layers of angsty adolescent defensiveness, however, you arrive on some interesting content. The levels in which Prensky dissects game-based learning are unique; separating learning into the “question” words is an approach to education that I haven’t seen before, and was surprised to realize that I hadn’t. It seems so simple. When approaching content, the questions that students will (hopefully) ask are “how?” “what?” “why?” “where?” and when/whether?” If, as educators, we could find a way to both lead students to ask and then also answer these questions, it would provide a thorough horizontal understanding of content.

Though Prensky’s article was enlightening and interesting (if a bit offensive, with all the sweeping slights to the educational community at large), The article by James Paul Gee really caught my attention. Gee went beyond just trying to sell the world on game-based learning and delved into the possible pros of game-based learning. The concept of task-based learning or allowing students to pursue answers or attempt to complete tasks at their own pace using predetermined tools given to them is a fascinating one, and one that is central to the idea of game-based learning. This task-based learning gives students what James Paul Gee calls “agency” in their learning, or what I would refer to as “ownership.” Gee’s concept of “distributed knowledge” participates well in this framework of task-based learning in group work- teaching students valuable lessons about delegation, learning from peers, and cooperation.

The final question that Gee leaves us with best characterized the game-based learning debate: “How can we make learning in and out of school, with or without using games, more game-line in the sense of using the sorts of learning principles that young people see in good games every day?” This is an intriguing question. Despite Prensky’s ravings to the contrary, I believe most educators (especially those of my generation) understand and appreciate the capabilities of games as learning tools. But the idea of relying entirely on game-based learning in the classroom (or revolutionizing the education system with Marc Prensky’s expensive learning games) is not practical. Gee leaves us with an intriguing and practical question- how can we learn from these games and adapt our teaching and learning styles to best fit the students we’re trying to serve?