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A review by rachelhelps
What Video Games Have to Teach Us about Learning and Literacy by James Paul Gee
4.0
This book is about how video games use teaching techniques that make learning easy and fun. They have to - otherwise they won't sell. We can learn good teaching techniques from video games - introducing material in a context that isn't boring, introducing material as it is needed or used (think tutorials), encouraging problem-solving, and much more! Good video games encourage users to interact with their virtual worlds and not just blindly blast to their goal. While kids who play video games don't learn the same things they are learning in school, they are learning methods of exploration that, if they were transferred to a school setting, would make learning easier and more fun.
Reading this book was really fun. It made me want to play video games (they'll help me teach better!), and helped me think of video games as less of a "waste of time" (though for me, they are still a leisure). The author looked at specific games (like Deus Ex and Pikmin) and explained how they use good teaching/learning principles. Every teenager who wants to convince their parents that video games are awesome should read this book.
Some other reviewers complain that the book is dry, but I heartily disagree. Yes, the information presented is backed by actual research (hooray!), but it's presented with engaging examples and I wish more of my textbooks were written like this. I especially like how Gee explains his sources at the end of each chapter - instead of meaningless citations we get miniaturized annotations.
Reading this book was really fun. It made me want to play video games (they'll help me teach better!), and helped me think of video games as less of a "waste of time" (though for me, they are still a leisure). The author looked at specific games (like Deus Ex and Pikmin) and explained how they use good teaching/learning principles. Every teenager who wants to convince their parents that video games are awesome should read this book.
Some other reviewers complain that the book is dry, but I heartily disagree. Yes, the information presented is backed by actual research (hooray!), but it's presented with engaging examples and I wish more of my textbooks were written like this. I especially like how Gee explains his sources at the end of each chapter - instead of meaningless citations we get miniaturized annotations.