Richard at Futurelab sent me an update of the research they've been working on with publisher Electronic Arts, Teaching With Games. Regular readers may recall earlier coverage of the project, which explores the potential for commercial off-the-shelf games in UK classrooms. This new information focuses on what students want. From the release:
Nearly 90% of those who said they would like to use games at school agreed that it would make lessons more interesting. The perceived benefits of playing computer games were generally positive, regardless of whether or not students were in favour of their use in the classroom. More than two-thirds of respondents thought that games would improve their computer skills and just under half thought that they would help to improve strategic thinking skills such as problem solving. Students also agreed with teachers (who were previously surveyed by Ipsos MORI for Teaching with Games in November 2005) in thinking that games can have negative effects such as reinforcing stereotypical views of people.
Previously here and in the Technology section of the paper, gamesblog has discussed the implications of bringing offline agendas and social norms into virtual worlds. While such a suggestion has received some flack from the more vocal members of the peanut gallery, it's interesting that the assessed group of 11-16 year olds from across England and Wales agree with us. Indeed, the stereotypes which exist in games have kept many teachers from introducing them - and thereby their unique learning potentials - in school lessons.
