Computer-based video games are time-wasters that get in the way of true learning, not to mention doing homework, right?

We don't think so. Instead, we believe video games provide rich learning environments that can be used in innovative and engaging lessons, supporting learning and appealing to the learning characteristics of today's learners & and we have been showing teachers how to do it.

Digital learners are different

There seems little doubt that the current generation of students differs markedly from previous ones. Today's students are comfortable with many forms of technology and communicate in ways that were never available either to their predecessors or to most of their teachers (for example, eMail, text messaging, chat rooms, blogs, and so on). This has given the students who have grown up with these digital tools unique experiences that concretely affect how they learn and how they expect to interact with new information in learning environments.

Data from a variety of researchers show that digital learners tend to differ in important ways from their predecessors:

• Digital learners are "on-demand," autonomous learners, proactive in determining needed information and seeking it from the environment in order to meet their own self-determined goals.

• They process information predominately at "twitch speed," determining what is or is not useful in a matter of seconds, versus conventional speed, where information is given, reflected upon, and stored for use at a later date.

• This generation relates to graphics first, versus traditional text-first information acquisition.

• Digital learners tend to learn best through trial and error--random-access versus sequential-direct instruction.

• This generation solves complex problems best within collaborative learning groups, rather than using isolationist problem-solving.

• They are active participants in their learning; they "do" first and ask questions later.

• These learners are undeterred by failure, regarding it as a necessary learning experience that simply leads to a "restart."

In the absence of pedagogical innovation, these students may become instructional casualties of how and what we teach inside the school. Some instructional casualties end up in special education; others simply drop out or refuse to participate by either passively or actively displaying the behaviors that teachers find so confounding. Unfortunately, most teachers are not familiar with new tools and approaches that will positively affect student performance and engagement.

The 'learning' in video games

Video games are rich learning environments in which the student must seek information through the setting and the situation and then draw on other resources, both internal and external to the game. These virtual-reality simulations direct learning through four distinct, yet cyclical, stages: The game requires the students/players to gather information autonomously, analyze that information, make decisions, and evaluate consequences. The evaluation step is vividly supported by the game itself, as missteps can result in a spectacular--and premature--game ending. In this case, the player can restart the game and play more successfully the next time, having learned from his or her mistakes.