With my eldest son being very interested in video games, and computer games to a lesser extent, I have lots of experience seeing all the learning that happens when they are playing. And there is tons of learning happening! Not to mention all the fun!

Here's a quick list of some of the things they might learn / pursue through their interest in video games - reading, music, art, logic, map reading, compass skills, computer programming, data management, mythology, communication skills, writing, internet acronyms, typing, negotiation skills, how auctions work, math and so on ... in fact, right now my son is starting to learn Japanese as a result of his interest in video games.

I've witnessed so much learning happening that I was motivated to share my experiences and gave a presentation about it at the 2004 Live and Learn Unschooling Conference in Boston.  You can read it here: Everything I Need to Know I Learned From Video Games presentation (in pdf format). 

I also used the presentation as a basis for an article, which, although it doesn't go into quite as much detail, isn't as long as the presentation.  You can read it here: Everything I Need to Know I Learned From Video Games article.  This article first appeared in Life Learning magazine.

And here are some email conversations I have participated in on the subject (it comes up pretty regularly - remember, other people's questions / comments are in italics) and then some links to other interesting gaming articles around the internet.

<< when he is playing his game boy, or thumbing through his huge stack of Yu-gi-yo cards, I wonder when he will ever learn anything! >>

I truly, truly wish you could see all the amazing things that I am positive he is learning. And he's enjoying himself!

I also wish that you could be with him and play with him and watch him, just enjoying his company and his excitement. It would really help you to see all the learning that is happening. Part of the journey to unschooling, or learning to see differently, is let go of ALL your preconceived, "schoolish" notions about learning and really just be with your kids while they are doing what they enjoy. I think that's the biggest first step. You need to be able to see all the learning that happens every day, with any activity. And you will see it - if you can toss the schoolish glasses and be open to it.

You will get to a point where seeing him enjoying his gameboy and cards makes you smile. You will be able to see what he's doing as just as valuable as a trip to the aquarium ... even more so if he's not really interested sea creatures. :-)

<<Thanks so much to all of you who replied to my recent "worry". I think you all had wonderful points to make and it just reassures me that I am on the right path.>>

I'm glad you are feeling more comfortable with letting your son play his video games.

And don't forget to spend time with him while he's playing. Watching him play, playing multi-player games with him, and researching game help with him are great ways to spend time together. And I bet he'd enjoy watching you attempt one of his games on your own with him giving you advice and tips along the way. You'll get a first-hand look at what he enjoys about the games and a better appreciation for what he's learning. As well as being able to understand what he's talking about and truly connecting with him when he runs into the room to happily exclaim he just did such-and-such.   :-)

I think he'll love that, and you'll feel much more a part of the whole video game deal.

Someone on our email list was looking for tips and stories about kids and teens and following their dreams.

I know this is a bit late but, one tip is to not limit their time following their interests (or even express disdain at their interests). My 11yo son really enjoys his video games, and computer games to a lesser extent. I don't limit his time and it is amazing how much he is learning and where this interest has taken him. From the obvious reading component (the game itself, game guides, magazines etc), to the math and logic skills often involved in the game itself, regular discussions on plot and character development (if I'm not there he'll run to find me to tell me things that have happened and connections he's made), learning from the game content itself (tons of mythology in many of the games my son enjoys), it just goes on and on. I can add more to the list if you need.

One cool story is from the South Carolina Live & Learn Unschooling conference (2003). When Jim Weiss was telling his first story, the one about one of the labours of Hercules my son told me what his favourite of the 12 labours was (as well as some of the others) - I didn't know he knew anything about them! He continued to tell me the differences between the things Jim mentioned in his stories and what he had learned from his games (I find the game developers take a lot of effort to make game content true and to make all sorts of connections / interplay) and what he has read following up on his interest in mythology (directly developed from the games). It was cool that Jim even mentioned how there were many different versions of the stories and how he did a lot of research to come up with his version.

And related, we were camping a couple weeks ago with my kids and nieces and I brought along a book "The Magical Worlds of Harry Potter" that I had just bought. I thought an opportunity may come up and I knew they all liked Harry Potter. After dinner one night I brought it out and started reading excerpts (the books is set up as questions and answers). Well, the mythology my son knew and told us all related to what we were reading was phenomenal!! He would often finish the sentence I was reading. And he would connect it back to some of the games he enjoys playing. And he would connect the games to each other. Even though the games themselves weren't related, they were all drawing on the same mythological stories as their basis, or maybe just for naming their characters and moves etc. He was so excited and kept explaining stuff to everyone (you have to understand that he is typically a boy of FEW words). We were all so enjoying ourselves I brought the book in the tent with us and we continued until everyone else had fallen asleep.

Oh, oh!! One more along these lines. After we had been unschooling for a few months (he would have been 10) and he had been playing video games full tilt (no homework and school to get in his way LOL!), I was lying in bed with him one night as he was going to sleep and out-of-the-blue he said "I have always thought of myself as a video game guy. But I only seem to like one kind of video game, those based back in time with swords and spells and battles. Maybe I'm a guy who likes those old times and I am just using video games to learn about it!" I said "yeah, maybe you're right", and then laid back and marveled at his insight until I finally fell asleep.

They will learn so much if you allow them the freedom to pursue their interests, even if you don't think they are worthwhile, they are worthwhile to the person pursuing them!

<<The apple site has two REALLY interesting articles today on news in music and art in video games.>>

Thanks, they were really cool!

My eldest son (11) really enjoys video games and art and music are important components for him. He really notices the artistic details of the games - a couple weeks ago he pointed out to me how beautiful the water surface was in the new Crystal Chronicles game. He surfs the internet finding his fave screenshots and fan art, changing the wallpaper on the computer desktop often. He has a sketchbook in which he has some beautiful sketches of characters and that he adds to as they strike his fancy.

As for music, he has his favourite music from various games and levels/battles, and he has been known to plug in audio from one game, and choosing his fave track/level for background music while plugging in video and playing another game. He'll regularly call me over to listen to his fave music and discuss it, explaining to me how the music matches the mood of the level or how it changes subtly as say, the battle progresses.

Even when he's not playing he'll often pick game music to have on in the background, either through his console or through various websites with game tracks that you can play.

He's replaying Golden Sun 1 & 2 right now and I recognized the music instantly! It's almost like a comfy glove even for me. I've been humming it for a couple days now. :-)

Here are some other articles I have come across about video games:

High Score Education : Games, not school, are teaching kids to think. This is a very interesting article by James Paul Gee, a reading professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and of author the book 'What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy'.

Does Easy Do It? Children, Games, and Learning by Seymour Papert is a great article that discusses learning and video games.

If you give a kid a Nintendo ... is a really great article by Mary Gold.

The Many Benefits of Video Games is the video games section at Sandra Dodd's website (and she has links to those two interesting articles about music and art in video games).