July 27, 2008
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Rebecca P. Butler, Ph.D., Associate Professor of School Library Media, Department of Educational Technology, Research, and Assessment, Northern Illinois University
Rebecca Butler is an associate professor of school library media at Northern Illinois University who teaches master’s degree and doctoral students to become School Library Specialists. In recent years, she and her colleagues at NIU have been interested in the use of games, simulations, and virtual worlds in K–12 classrooms and library media centers. Dr. Butler has also observed a shift in attitude among her students regarding the use of games—“gaming” (not the gambling kind)—in learning settings. She’s not the only one, as the National Science Foundation, the Federation of American Scientists, and the Entertainment Software Association saw fit to sponsor a Summit on Educational Games: Harnessing the power of video games for learning in October 2005. One of the reasons the Summit participants gave for urging the United States and its considerable funding sources to focus on digital games for learning was a very practical one: “Many video games require players to master skills in demand by today’s employers—strategic and analytical thinking, problem solving, planning and execution, decision making, and adaptation to rapid change.” At the same time, the Summit participants called for more research into the effectiveness of gaming on learners’ educational progress, which would bolster the argument for funding from U.S. government and scientific sources. It shouldn’t be hard to find subjects to study…in one library district in Ann Arbor, MI, a video game tournament that began in 2004 has grown from one game of Mario Kart for a few teenagers to 15 different games and 30 events a year for elementary school students, 20-something and older adults, even parents and their entire families—more than 700 players and 10,000 match scores. Are the kids gamers? Absolutely! But, are the media librarians and teachers gamers? Very possibly! Technos spoke with Dr. Butler in June.
T: What is the difference among the technologies of games, simulations, and virtual worlds?
R.P.B.: In my opinion, as representing the library side, I see them as part of the whole “gaming” environment. The virtual worlds—whether it’s Second Life or others, or video games that can be accessed on the Web, or games played on the hardware hooked up to your TV—are all part of the whole gaming environment.
How did you become interested in games for educational purposes?
For me, the reason I started to work on this is because I felt that there had to be a place for games in the library. The library is the collection of materials that support the school, and I was seeing that there were more and more games that are educational. In the past, we would see games like “Oregon Trail,” “Where in the World Is Carmen San Diego?,” different SIMS groups, “Math Blaster,” and others—definitely educational games that had been used somewhat in the school setting. But kids are really more into games these days—boys more than girls, but girls are gaining ground with games—and it’s more and more the thing to do for all kids. If this is the way they’re looking at the world and the way they’re learning, then I think we need to adapt the gaming environment to our schools. A key part of that is to be able to put games in the school library or media center. For the librarian/media specialist, then, the issue becomes how to select the appropriate educational games that can be utilized by faculty and students. Once the selections have been made, how can the media librarians then demonstrate to teachers and students how to use these games properly? We’re not just plugging kids into computers all day long—we’re using games as another way to learn.
Kids don’t just walk into the media library, sit down at a computer, and start playing games.
No. It’s definitely part of the librarian/media specialist’s job to work with the teachers to understand what media support the curriculum needs. He or she needs to be able to identify which game or video or software will help a particular student, whether that students has special needs or learns in a unique way that the game can help with. The main thing for the school librarian or media specialist is to support the curriculum and the work that the teachers are doing with the students. After that, a secondary thing is to also demonstrate to students and faculty that the library or media center is a fun place to be. I don’t believe, however, that the school library should be a place just to play video games. On the other hand, I do see that there may come a day when students could access a set of educational games that could be used as a reward for finishing their work.
Sneak in some more education while they’re having fun—stealth education!
Right. I would see it as something that kids consider entertaining but teachers know there is also educational value in the games that are included in the media center. I’m encouraging my current media library specialist students to think of included a gaming collection to support faculty and student curricula. They might consider establishing a computer or a set of computers devoted to educational games. It’s the wave of the future, and a lot of kids are using them constantly, so we might as well emphasize the good things that games can do.
To think that the school library is only filled with books is really out of date.
You’re right. A good school library or media center is ideally the center of the school, and it houses things for everybody—anybody can go to the media center and find information in whatever format they need to learn best, including games.
What are the criteria that media specialists should use to select educational games for their school libraries?
Well, one way is to pay attention to reviews of media in professional periodicals. I would argue that perhaps no review is completely unbiased, but if a review is written by a teacher or professor or another knowledgeable professional, you’ll get a pretty good idea of what the item in question is all about. I recommend the School Library Journal, which publishes wonderful reviews of educational media, written by librarians; these are not paid advertisements. Tech Trends, published by the Association for Educational Communications & Technology (AECT), is another good publication that publishes some reviews. VOYA—Voice of Youth Advocates—published by the American Library Association, often publishes reviews and, like Tech Trends and School Library Journal, other articles about educational media.
Once you’ve read the reviews, you need to look at the description of the product to determine its appropriateness for your school library. Let’s say you’re looking to purchase video games for an elementary school media center. You’d want to be sure that the students could understand the game; it would have to be age appropriate in content and also appropriate to the reading levels of those students who are being considered for the game. Another question that should be answered, from an educator’s standpoint, is: Is there assessment built into the game? Assessment is needed both for the teacher to keep track of student progress and for the student to get immediate feedback on his or her performance. A good media specialist is paying attention to what his or her clientele need from a game—or any other medium.
Another criterion is the graphics, the visual and audio elements—does the game instruct in the target subject area, and does it have the action, the bells and whistles, if you will, to engage the student and make the experience enjoyable? Another thing to keep in mind is the length of the game; some students may not have long attention spans, so for those kids it can’t go on forever.
Regarding feedback: Kids are naturally competitive, so they want to know how they’re doing in the game.
Exactly. The teacher assesses their learning while using the game, but the students pay attention to their scores or what levels they can achieve. Sometimes, they’re competing with others and sometimes with themselves.
That wouldn’t feel so much like a test. They can play the game without the stress of taking a test.
Sure. And in many of these games, it’s built in that, if the student misses an answer, a hint is given to steer him or her to the correct answer. It’s more fun than a formal test, and for all we know, this may help with test anxiety.
Is gaming a trend among kids these days? It seems that it could be a huge market in the near future, if you get the formula right.
Oh, I think so, too. I think it’s booming. And this is probably the time to get in on the educational gaming market—some schools are really getting into using games in their curricula. The librarians that I talk to tell me that they can’t keep the video game magazines in their media centers, because the kids take them home with them! I think, as adults, we have to change our mindsets because the kids growing up now are okay with it. So education will change when those kids are adults and become teachers.
Teachers will see how their students can become engaged with the gaming environments and how those technologies can facilitate learning. But, how do those teachers discuss this topic with people who don’t agree, maybe parents or school board members who don’t like the idea of having video games in school?
I think if we can introduce the “non-believers” to appropriate educational games—the games we know fit the criteria for instructional use—and convince those people that school media specialists are trained professionals who know what works for students and are capable of choosing good products, we’ll go a long way toward setting the stage for acceptance.
To me, if you’re not sure about the effectiveness of educational games and virtual worlds to help kids learn, then you really should spend more time with your kids and pay attention to what engages their attention. Our kids aren’t afraid of technology, the way a lot of us adults are. I think we’re raising some very tech-savvy people. As we’re teaching our children to use different media to learn, we also have to teach them how to evaluate these media so that they understand what they ought to use and what they ought not to use. Educators can’t always be the gatekeepers. Parents need to help their kids learn what’s appropriate and what isn’t for them.
In the K–12 setting, when do you think is the optimal time to introduce educational video games?
I would think that the elementary grades, possibly third or fourth grade—perhaps even first or second, depending on the game—would be a good time to introduce games into the classroom and library. I don’t think games should become a huge part of the instructional activities; I think they should be just one more way of learning for students, one more way of understanding that learning is fun, too. When I teach librarians now, I encourage them to remember that they aren’t just supporting the school’s curricula but are also demonstrating that the library can be a fun place for students to spend time in.
It would be nice to be able to include some entertaining games, too—hopefully inoffensive ones, although I suppose everyone can be offended by something! I really hope to see the concept of intellectual freedom going toward gaming in the schools, keeping in mind that educational games can really bolster instructional activities and be enjoyable. Why shouldn’t school be fun for kids, after all?
From your perspective as a college professor, have you observed differences in the way that your college students react to the use of video games in the classroom?
It’s changing. I started first talking about games in the school library to my master’s and doctoral students, about three years ago, because I felt that a lot of different media eventually showed up in learning environments and we needed to be aware of them. At that time, I had people become upset at the mere mention of games in schools—they said they’d never allow such a thing in their classrooms or libraries! But now, not only do some of my older adult students have children who are gamers, they themselves are also gamers, and they’re much more able to accept that there could be a place for games in learning settings.
I still wonder that, even in a purely entertainment-oriented game, couldn’t there be intrinsic educational value? I think, for instance, that many games actually teach literacy—reading literacy—because the game user reads the directions in order to play the game, might read game magazines, and she or he can get online to communicate with other players. There are a lot of benefits to gaming that may not be readily apparent. I would think that many gamers are very literate people.
Are you aware of research that’s been done that shows any academic benefits to using games in learning settings?
It’s a relatively new area, but more and more is being done. Kurt Squire, at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is one who is looking at this theory and writing about it. It’s starting to evolve. A doctoral student here at NIU, Jason Underwood, is a young man who is a gamer himself and who is very interested in this topic. [See “Gaming in the Library,” below.]
There was a Summit on Educational Games: Harnessing the power of video games for learning in Washington, D.C., in October of 2005 sponsored by the Federation of American Scientists, the Entertainment Software Association, and the National Science Foundation. It convened nearly 100 experts who discussed four main issues and then devised their recommendations. Just having the summit was a signal that this is a growing field, one that holds great potential for educators, educational publishers, and learners of all ages.
Game away!
Email Dr. Butler at: rbutler@niu.edu.
Gaming in the Library
A useful list of articles, Web sites, and blogs about using games in the school media library, compiled by Professors Rebecca Butler and Jason Underwood
The Educational Potential of Electronic Games: From Games-To-Teach to Games-To-Learn
How to Choose and Use Appropriate Computer Games in the Classroom
Simulation-style video game targets education