Gamification

I haven't thought much about video games in a while, until today in class when we talked about video games in relation to learning.  I was never much of a video game player myself, though there were a few that fixated me to the point of staring at a computer screen for hours, days, sometimes weeks at a time.  One such series of games was the Her Interactive Nancy Drew Mystery Series.  By the time I got the first game, I had already read the entire Nancy Drew series and was needing something to fulfill my craving for mystery.  Although now I don't consider Nancy Drew to be the most ideal female role model for girls, I do think that it is incredibly important to have video games with female protagonists.  I know one of the main reasons I loved the Nancy Drew games, aside from the fact that I relished mysteries, was that I felt empowered when playing the game, and not just when I solved a mystery, but actually even more so in the process of solving one.  This feeling of empowerment I attribute largely to the fact that I got to be Nancy, a girl detective.

Of course, the Nancy Drew games foster many skills in its players that other similar video games do - critical thinking and problem-solving, for instance.  The game requires its players to search for hard to find clues and make inferences and connections between them.  The game also throws lots of obstacles in Nancy's way that challenge players to think in obscure ways to determine how to go about finding the next clue to solve the mystery.  The tricky clue placement and barriers along the way not only foster  resilience and perseverance, but also a sense of self-confidence in its players.  The game assumes that "Nancy" is quick enough and smart enough to catch on, setting high expectations for its players by its level of difficulty.  In the role of Nancy, who is or becomes a role model for many of the girls who play this game, players begin to develop high expectations for themselves.

Furthermore, the game encourages risk-taking.  Each Nancy Drew game takes place in a different location, each of which involves exploring unfamiliar and dangerous situations.  Additionally, players have the opportunity to interact with other cultures.  There is one particular mystery, one that I have never played, only read about, that takes place in Japan and teaches players about origami, traditional Japanese tea ceremonies, and even how to write Japanese characters.  Several other mysteries take place in historically different time periods, allowing players to learn historical facts in a fun learning atmosphere.  They are learning sometimes without even realizing they are learning.

For all of these reasons, I imagine the Nancy Drew computer game series to be a productive learning tool for students, particularly female students.  As I mentioned, I do not think the traditional Nancy Drew character is the most ideal female role model, for reasons I won't get into right now.  However, I do think it is extremely important to expose girls to video games with smart, capable, and determined female protagonists whose perspective they get to play from.  According to testimony, several girls and women reflecting on what the Nancy Drew mystery games mean to them expressed that through the game they felt like they could be themselves.  Any game that allows one to develop and explore his or her identity is of value to me and my teaching.