Tag Archives: school reform

At SXSWedu I had the opportunity to hear a talk called “Learning is an Epic Win” by Jane McGonigal, author of Reality is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change The World. A leader in the gaming industry, McGonigal also has taught game design and game theory at the San Francisco Art Institute and UC Berkeley. She believes it is time to take games seriously as a learning platform, and she uses research based on positive psychology to advocate gaming as a way to radically restructure the typical school experience.

The gamification of the culture of young people outside of school has already taken place. McGonigal presented the following facts:

• 99% of boys and 94% of girls under 18 play video games
• 92% of 2-year-olds play video games
• People log 10,000 hours of gaming time by age of 21, roughly equivalent to time spent in school grades 1–12

While many would see this as a cause of concern, McGonigal notes that games foster energy and optimism, along with 10 positive emotions — joy, relief, love, surprise, pride, curiosity, awe and wonder, contentment, creativity, and what she calls “positive stress” related to the enjoyment and challenges of games.