In Thomas and Cola’s continued coverage of the GDC in San Francisco, their second interview is with Jessica Hammer, Ph.D. Candidate at Columbia University. Ms. Hammer’s presentation today was titled Serious Games: A Preparation for Future Learning Approach.
Thomas and Cola caught up with Jessica after her presentation for this interview where they asked for her views on video games as a learning tool for children. I’ve included some excerpts of the interview below, but be sure to listen to podcast: Interview with Jessica Hammer for the full interview (8:23).
Ms. Hammer has worked as a game designer and social software consultant. She saw the potential of video games as a learning tool right away while working on Zoo Media Rescue: an adventure game that teaches kids basic math skills (ed: sorry, I can’t find a link to the game.) Jessica says that games have an underlying structure; a set of rules, ideas and objects that have complex relationships to each other and can model some things from real life.
But game play doesn’t have to be educational in terms of modeling. She observes that the way passionate game players engage with games can be very powerful. They do research, talk with friends, and in some cases bring the scientific method to life in a way that most kids don’t do in other aspects of life. Part of the reason is that in the real world, the stakes for failure are very high. In video games, it is ok to try things over and over until you get it right. People who are engaged in games not only learn what the game itself teaches, but they also learn a lot by the way they engage with the game.
I’ve seen this in my own experience with my 7 year old daughter, Abby. We’ve been playing a game called Viva Pinata on the XBox 360. In this game you are put in charge of building and cultivating a garden as conditions change. As you plant certain seeds and things grow, they attract different types of cute Pinata creatures who may become “residents” of your garden and make it their home. Well, you also attract some not-so-nice creatures to the garden, including one fellow named “Dastardos” who can mess up your garden and make things difficult for you.
We set limits on how much time she can spend playing video games, and in between the times she actually gets to play, she is constantly thinking about new strategies and ideas for her next session. She asks me things like “How can we get rid of Dastardos?” “What kind of seeds do we need to plant to attract a Sparrowmint?” We even did some research on the web together to find out that we could create a jack-o-lantern out of a pumpkin to tame a Sherbat, to hold off Dastardos. It was a fun way to do some “problem solving” and “research” together, and it never felt like work to either of us!
Indeed, as Ms. Hammer said in the interview, “Video games can provide experiences just as rich socially and intellectually as other types of activities.”
Thanks for your time and insights Jessica!