Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Video Games Are the Future of Education

nabeelqu.co

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

161–170 of 392 posts

Re: Video Games Are the Future of Education

#161

Post by tekkk »

Wowfunhappy wrote: post #145
burntoutfire wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For most people, poker will probably more likely lead into a gambling addiction (or at least a habit of regularly flushing money down the train at the tables) than an inquiry into probability and statistics. Most people are probably just not inquisitive enough to dig into the maths behind poker.

I think you need a teacher to put the game in context. Let's put aside for a moment the optics of a school teacher having their class play Poker (even though obviously they wouldn't be using money). I can imagine a lesson plan going something like: 1. Have kids play some individual games with each other. 2. Stop the games, and go over some of the actual math concepts behind Poker. At this point, the kids are engaged…

While I think the intention and idea is good, you should not teach kids how to play poker. Rather, use a board game with cards and simulate somewhat similar environment but with no inclination towards real gambling whatsoever.

Sure, if the "kids" at hand are university students, you could use poker. But I find it extremely dangerous to teach kids poker theory, who as theorized by the Dunning-Kruger effect might start believing themselves to be really good at it, and then proceed to spend a lot of time and money on a pursuit that might not lead them to happiness. You can teach statistics without making any new gambling addicts in this world.

I know the majority of the students wouldn't be affected and the effect could be even positive, but for some the drive to gamble is so strong that they really go off if that predisposition is nurtured. Although perhaps they are ticking time bombs either way, so no amount of protection will save them. But yeah, you got to be careful teaching kids positive feedback loops on things that might have serious drawbacks.

Re: Video Games Are the Future of Education

#162

Post by manofstick »

jay_kyburz wrote: post #122

I'm a game developer who just finished a few months of home schooling 2 kids, and I agree that games are the future of Education, but not for the same reason as the author. 1. I think we'll eventually have software manage the progress of our children as they learn. It will present new ideas when they are ready for them, and test that old ideas stay fresh in memory. Software can do a better job than a teacher can, bec…

> It was never fun to grind through killing 100 Goblins, but you did it so that you could get the magic sword at the end.

I think you're taking exactly the wrong lesson from that. It wasn't fun to grind through the goblins, but it wasn't challenging either. You did it because you could turn your brain off. I opine that if it did require thinking then the world would now be overrun with goblins...

Re: Video Games Are the Future of Education

#164

Post by disqard »

jay_kyburz wrote: post #122

I'm a game developer who just finished a few months of home schooling 2 kids, and I agree that games are the future of Education, but not for the same reason as the author. 1. I think we'll eventually have software manage the progress of our children as they learn. It will present new ideas when they are ready for them, and test that old ideas stay fresh in memory. Software can do a better job than a teacher can, bec…

Check out the PLATO system [0]. It was built in the '60s and was a connected, online learning environment which would tailor its content delivery based on the student's learning rate.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PLATO_(computer_system)

Re: Video Games Are the Future of Education

#165

Post by ksdale »

c3534l wrote: post #155
shafyy wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We also tried to make educational games and came to a similar conclusion. The truth is, kids (or adults) don't want to play "educational" games. They just want to play fun games. And, let's be honest, games that try to teach you math or science are just not as fun as Fortnite or Minecraft. Now, you can make the case that some games are educational by mistake. Like Minecraft, Age of Empires, Sim City or Kerbal Space P…

I would think Maxis actually tells you the best way to be a success. Maxis doesn't say their games are educational and players don't feel like they're trying to be. But they were, and Maxis wanted them to be. I've heard Will Wright talk about giving his kids things like microscopes as "toys" that let them play and explore which causes them to sort of learn against their best intentions. If I were to get into the educ…

I think the indirect approach is very underrated. Our kids have all learned to read ahead of “schedule” because they wanted to understand what was happening in their games, and they’re all also coming along very quickly at arithmetic because of needing to manage the economy of whatever game they’re playing.

As a kid, I picked up a familiarity with history and geography that was miles ahead of my peers due to games like Total War and Close Combat, which aren’t sold as educational at all.

I think people innately want to learn whatever they need to know to accomplish their goals, and it’s way easier to give people goals and tools than it is to teach them about tools in the abstract.

Re: Video Games Are the Future of Education

#166

Post by speeder »

c3534l wrote: post #155
shafyy wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We also tried to make educational games and came to a similar conclusion. The truth is, kids (or adults) don't want to play "educational" games. They just want to play fun games. And, let's be honest, games that try to teach you math or science are just not as fun as Fortnite or Minecraft. Now, you can make the case that some games are educational by mistake. Like Minecraft, Age of Empires, Sim City or Kerbal Space P…

I would think Maxis actually tells you the best way to be a success. Maxis doesn't say their games are educational and players don't feel like they're trying to be. But they were, and Maxis wanted them to be. I've heard Will Wright talk about giving his kids things like microscopes as "toys" that let them play and explore which causes them to sort of learn against their best intentions. If I were to get into the educ…

This was the approach of my company ("games" that are secretly educational).

Even Maxis itself actually failed, they went bankrupt and EA bought them and ditched their educational games (what remained of Maxis started to just pump out The Sims series one after the other).

But unless you are aiming at a really, really wide market, and is either lucky or get exposure help, you won't go far.

I noticed for example "Kingdom Come: Deliverance" has a LOT of information about medieval era in the Holy Roman Empire, still they aimed to be a "AAA" game, and the information is tucked inside the in-game manual.

Re: Video Games Are the Future of Education

#167

Post by thathndude »

There’s an app (not sure if iOS only) called Homer, that aims to teach reading. It’s more education than game. But one of my kids LOVES it. She taught herself how to read (with the app’s teaching) at 4. My other kid (6) has no interest in reading and finds the app boring compared to true games.

Point being, it’s a tough nut to crack, but I’ve seen the potential!

Re: Video Games Are the Future of Education

#168

Post by 100-xyz »

Our platform lets users make animations in minutes. With no effort from our side, the platform has been mentioned in a few educational blogs and there has been decent interest from language learners. Its not in the same vein as the article, but it does make learning easier. Here is an example animation created by a user https://toonclip.com/player?key1=d8cb0a4b6b

Creating while using stuff you are learning seems to have a strong "ownership" feel.

Re: Video Games Are the Future of Education

#169

Post by disqard »

ducaale wrote: post #150

> It is currently too hard to make video games. Making it easier to create video games will massively increase the supply of good video games and cause a gradual revolution in education. I don't think it is that hard to make a video game considering the many tools that exist to simplify video game creation. What is hard is making a video game that is also fun to play. Some of the tools which let you write a video gam…

Self-plug for BlockStudio [0], a visual programming language using an extended Graphical Rewrite Rules paradigm for authoring games, stories, animations, etc.

It's free, and children (ages 8 through 13) have made thousands of games on there. A hand-curated selection is at [1]

[0] https://www.blockstudio.app

[1] https://www.blockstudio.app/bsp/dynamic_gallery/hof

Re: Video Games Are the Future of Education

#170

Post by jay_kyburz »

manofstick wrote: post #162
jay_kyburz wrote: post #122

I'm a game developer who just finished a few months of home schooling 2 kids, and I agree that games are the future of Education, but not for the same reason as the author. 1. I think we'll eventually have software manage the progress of our children as they learn. It will present new ideas when they are ready for them, and test that old ideas stay fresh in memory. Software can do a better job than a teacher can, bec…

> It was never fun to grind through killing 100 Goblins, but you did it so that you could get the magic sword at the end. I think you're taking exactly the wrong lesson from that. It wasn't fun to grind through the goblins, but it wasn't challenging either. You did it because you could turn your brain off. I opine that if it did require thinking then the world would now be overrun with goblins...

A lot of my kids math and reading is not hard either. He just needs to do a lot of it, over and over. He is 8 so he is learning a lot of times tables and spelling.
Post reply on HN