Lifelong Learning through Video Games

As the saying goes, you're never too old to learn something new. In today's fast-paced, rapidly changing world, lifelong learning has never been more important. However, for older adults, the idea of returning to the classroom or picking up a new skill can be daunting. That's where video games come in - they can provide a fun and engaging way to learn and grow, no matter what your age is.

Games have always been about learning

From the very beginning, the history of video games has strong ties to education. In fact, one of the first well-known games was an educational game called "The Oregon Trail," and it was created in 1971 by a student history teacher, Don Rawitsch together with two friends. The game was designed to teach students about the challenges and experiences of pioneers who traveled westward on the Oregon Trail in the 19th century. It was a tremendous accomplishment on its own, but it was even more impressive considering that Pong, the well-known arcade game that is commonly cited as the first commercially successful video game [1], was only released in 1972. In other words, game developers were developing educational games even before the game industry was established.

It shouldn’t come too much of a surprise then that scholarship on video games suggests that at their core, all games are about learning. Game scholar and educational theorist James Paul Gee [2] perhaps illustrates it best: In his seminal work “What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy”, he outlined no less than 36 effective learning principles that are commonly applied by the design of video games. They are immersive and interactive experiences that encourage active engagement and problem-solving, and as such, they are designed in a way that is similar to how educators envision well-designed classrooms.

While providing educational content in a highly immersive, engaging and interactive way can be quite labor-intensive for even the best classroom teachers to offer, these features are naturally ingrained in the proverbial DNA of video games. In fact, learning is such an important part of the experience that games offer, that influential game designer Chris Crawford referred to it as “the fundamental motivation for all game playing” [3].

What can games teach?

If the design of games is so closely knit to learning principles and so good at motivating people to learn, what kinds of content can you learn from them? Before diving into a list of topics, it is important to recognize that there are different forms of learning and that games can tie into some better than others.

For instance, there is a distinction between rote memorization of knowledge, the process of memorizing information through repetition and even more repetition, and 21st century learning skills [4], a set of abilities that are considered crucial for success in the modern world. Before the advent of the Internet, rote memorization was highly important as we relied a lot on memory for factual information. However, in 2022, we can consult the Internet for factual information, making other cognitive skills such as critical thinking, problem-solving, and creativity are highly valued.

To understand games as learning platforms, this distinction is extremely relevant. Games are great at making repetitive exercises at least somewhat fun. Trivia games, for example, can be a fun and engaging way to learn new information, practice retaining prior information, and to challenge ourselves and others in a social game-play setting.

However, most of the information gained from trivia is information that could also be learned from reading or non-interactive media. Games are interactive media, and because of this, they really shine in their potential for deep engagement and adaptability. Many games offer complicated spatial puzzles and interactive challenges, and excelling at such games is not just a matter of knowing the right answer or being able to follow simple steps. It requires players to effectively discover the relevant information or procedure to solve the challenge themselves. Simply put, through playing such games players can get better at learning to learn.

A natural fit for lifelong learning

Regardless of whether you are looking to work on your rote memorization, 21th century learning skills or if you just want to engage with a topic you would like to learn more about, games have a lot to offer. In particular, these are four topics with well-known games that have been lauded for their educational merits:

·      Science and Technology: Games like Kerbal Space Program [5] or PC Building Simulator provide a great opportunity to learn about science and technology in a fun and interactive way. These games allow you to experiment with different concepts and see the outcomes of your efforts, which can help to make learning more engaging and memorable.

·      History: Games like the Civilization series allow players to learn about different historical periods and civilizations by allowing them to interact with and control them. Civilization [6] often includes information about key historical figures and events, but it also helps players to understand the context and causes of different conflicts and developments. They are not just about understanding history but also about exploring the fragility of history, and how easy it could have been different.

·      Geography: Games like GeoGuessr, or even the timeless classic Where in the World is Carmen San Diego allow players to learn about different locations around the world. While the Carmen San Diego series embeds trivia-like content in an entertaining detective plot, GeoGuessr [7] went viral during the pandemic as its top players have demonstrated incredible skill in identifying where a picture that they have never seen before was taken on the face of the earth.

·      Economics and Management: Entertainment games like Cities Skylines or the classic Capitalism II can help players to learn about basic economic concepts such as supply and demand, saving and investing, and budgeting. Business games have become such a popular training method for management skills, that they warrant their own taxonomy [8].

While these are just some examples of games that can help practice and “level-up” employable skill sets, there are many more topics to learn from games, and that is without including the impact of multiplayer games. Any game that has you interact with others online offers the potential to teach about other cultures, perspectives, languages and so on. With the right mindset, even a game like Pokémon Go can be transformed into a valuable local history and language learning experience. There are many examples but here [9] is an example of how the game can be used to teach about geographical landmarks, and here [10] is another where it is used for language learning.

Retire from Work, Not Learning

This article only offers a glance at the tip of the enormous iceberg that the field of game-based learning has become, so perhaps the most important message in this article is to adopt an open mind and a willingness to learn whenever you play games. Try to find games that align with your interests and goals, and see what you can learn from them.

For example, if you're interested in learning about history and working on your creativity and problem-solving, a game like the aforementioned Civilization may be an excellent fit. If you're looking to practice your memory and general knowledge, a trivia game - we recommend You Don’t Know Jack or Trivia Murder Party - may be a better choice. Video games might certainly not be a substitute for formal education, professional training or a great teacher, the video game classroom offers an extremely valuable supplement to traditional learning methods.