My mother was always disdainful of my brother’s love for video games. She always told him that she wanted him to read more or his brain was going to rot. I was an avid reader as a child and she always praised me for reading, but I rarely played video games. My brother did well in school, but he rarely applied himself because he found reading boring or difficult. He was diagnosed with ADHD in the 4th grade. He had already almost been held back for poor reading scores.
I wonder how his learning experience could have been improved if a multi-modal approach to literacy was given to him in his early education. My brother was able to identify similar themes and textual elements in video games that students were expected to be able to comprehend from books. His poor reading and comprehension test scores were not necessarily indicative of his reading capabilities and literacy, but rather the proficiency of his comprehension within a certain medium. ADHD made reading long texts difficult for him, but video games were an easy format for his interaction, because they gave him agency and allowed him to feel a sense of control. As we move towards an increasingly digital and multimedia world, I wonder how education and literacy could benefit from discarding the stigma surrounding digital media in the classroom. How could we engage students more deeply and implicate their agency within the media and stories that they consume through digital formats. I think that Gee’s postulation that video games constitute a form of literacy and learning is imperative to creating a more inclusive, and diverse education.
As a curious youngster, I always thought about how video games could be brought into the classroom. In fifth grade, we had “technology days” were we were allowed to bring in xboxes and consoles and just play for part of the day. We would all take turns teaching each other how to play games. Even the playground bullies respected who’s turn it was, and most of the time they were the best at the games, but they were happy to teach others how to play. It was astonishing how a simple console could bring together a group of 10 and 11 year olds. Even the girls that had never held a controller before enjoyed learning. Even if they didn’t fully understand or continue gaming after elementary, the effect it had on the social structure of the class room changed how we interacted with each other. Seeing how video games and video game development have made their way to the collegiate level, I would not be surprised if it eventually trickled down to primary and secondary education.