International E-Journal of Advances in Education

Öz

Knowledge institutions are often distracted by themselves
and unable to understand what happens in the world of cultural consumption. the
videogame, for example, is quite different from all other media forms, owning
its peculiar language, the gameplay: an interactive, experiential participation
which guarantees a form of involvement that no other medium has. If every
medium carries an educational potential, the use of video-games as a learning
tool still remains largely undefined. To implement video game within the
educational system may look like a radical revolution. We should try different
solutions: the so called “gamification” approach, using videogame dynamics
within our common educational framework or “Simulation Based Learning” using virtual
worlds in which teachers and students can simulate experiences by their own
rules. Experience based Learning provided by video games may become the
ultimate form of contextual education. It is able to simulate a real-life
experience, improving both student engagement and learning. We have to look at
the games as a tool, whose value in education depends on how they are used as
part a comprehensive strategy. The traditional methods of education are focused
on the acquisition of skills in the individual subjects, often neglecting
crucial components for success, such as communication and collaboration. I try
to define an optimal, real-life solution that decreases the centrality of the
written medium, currently at the base of the educational system, merging and
integrating it with new tools and techniques, adding to the traditional
literacy processes a renewed techno-literacy, necessary for students to
communicate and learn.