I am not even sure kids today would even get the Pac-man reference above. But for an entire generation one generation ago, Pac-man was one of the first arcade video games (here again, the term “arcade” may also be dating myself) to transition to the home video game market. Fast forward to today and from these humble beginnings video games now represent a $100B worldwide industry.
Jane McGonigal has spent the past decade designing video games and believes the next generation of students needs to spend more time playing video games. Disagree? McGonigal states in her TED TALK that most youth by age 21 will have spent 10,000 hours playing video games. That 10,000-hour figure is significant on two levels. In the US, 10,080 hours is roughly the time spent in class from middle school through high school graduation. In other words, our students will spend just as much time gaming, as they will on every other subject they learn in school combined. Secondly, 10,000 hours is the same amount of time Malcolm Gladwell in his book “Outliers” says is the amount of study practice time needed to become a virtuoso expert in any field (i.e. professional musician, dancer, athlete, etc.).
So what are gamers becoming expert in? Good question.
McGonigal however poses an even better question – what should gamers become expert in?
Even better still, she begins to create the best answer to that question.
Online education is disrupting public education across America by using game design principles such as rapid prototyping, merit badges, point accumulation, instant feedback and level setting to encourage perseverance after failure to educate our future leaders. McGonigal however is engaging these future leaders now to solve our world’s most pressing problems by designing games whose objects are to solve our energy crisis, food crisis, etc. and inviting gamers to play and solve them.
Perhaps the question for parents, teachers and policy makers alike is not whether video games are beneficial, but rather what kinds of video games and gaming principles can help elevate the next generation of world changers?
Watch out Pac-man.
