Serious Games: The Challenge

Abstract

Together with the globalization and the new global economy can the digitalization - the meeting of a variety of mediums (word, consonance, and image) on one bearer - be considered as an important recent social development (Castells, 1997). Playing videogames seems to be an important component of this digitalization. Moreover, the last decades games are increasingly considered as heaving a powerful potential to facilitate learning (Gee, 2003; Squire, 2003; Prensky, 2001; Shaffer; 2007; Steinkeuhler, 2006) and there exist a growing effort to design serious games that teach academic content (Dede & Barab, 2009; Rosenbaum, Klopfer, & Perry, 2007; Squire & Jan, 2007; etc.). Scholars are discussing a variety of motives that plead in the advantage of using games in education. It would increase motivation, creativity, the connection with living environment of students and pupils, fun while learning, independent learning, collaborative inquiry learning, etc. On the other hand, arguments which tackle these positive motives are plenty: the evocation of aggression, playing is not the same as learning, difficulty of controlling learning results, containment of wrong information, games being too expensive, etc. This paper doesn't investigate the scientific propriety of these arguments but examines whether these arguments are held in the perception of pupils of Flemish secondary education, students of a Flemish Education College, and students of a Flemish Engineering College. Moreover, it examines whether gender and gaming experience influences these perceptions. Investigating the perceptions held by the targeted public and the mediating role of gender and gaming experience, can provide insight in the way games can be implemented in education. © 2012 Springer-Verlag.