Literacy Through Gaming: A Testimonial

I am a firm believer that nothing can be achieved without literacy, that literacy is the foundation upon which all good ideas are built, and that we must strive to be literate to most successfully contribute to the world in which we live. Because I am also a 27-year-old “New Millenial” (born after 1981), my concept of literacy is expanded to mediums other than print publications. Today, individuals have the opportunity to explore a variety of visual technologies to enrich their literacy. While reading and understanding information is as vital as ever, evaluating and thinking critically is also necessary to compete in today's fast-paced, globalized market. Gaming has brought a new facet to literacy, and is becoming a widely-recognized and accepted tool for promoting problem-solving and higher-order thinking. Gaming is also engaging students who might otherwise remain disengaged through active learning. I am also an aspiring educator, and I believe that we must attempt multiple methods of teaching in order to make contact with the various ways our students learn. Recently, gaming has directly affected both my literacy and the literacy of those around me. These positive encounters with the technology lead me to believe that gaming isn't just an entertainment luxury, it is an educational tool with rich potential for the development of literacy skills.

I have never been a gamer. Like every other kid I knew, I had a regular Nintendo, but I've just never had the patience for video games. Now, I have a five-year-old daughter, and she's already become more of a gamer than I ever was. About a year ago, she started expressing an interest in games, and since my husband, Nick, already had an XBox, we bought her “Lego Star Wars.” I watched in amazement as she picked up on the controls, how easily she understood the language of the game. It came natural to her. Now, the games are very 3-dimensional, and since I'm used to older, 2-D games, I have a hard time keeping up. Gracie is usually giving me orders so that I can keep up with her on screen. Now, a year later, Gracie has defeated three different versions of “Lego Star Wars,” two versions of “Lego Batman,” “Lego Indiana Jones,” and three different profiles on “My Sims Kingdom,” just to name a few. She's learned words like, “save,” “loading,” “exit,” “next,” because of the visual repetition. We most always read the stories on screen with her, and she often picks up on words all on her own.

For Christmas this year, Gracie asked for a game where she could “dress up a little character and walk around and do whatever she wanted.” We researched such a game and discovered “Animal Crossing: City Folk.” (Santa also brought Gracie a Wii this past Christmas.) This game has been an amazing bonding experience for our entire family. Each of us owns a house in our town, Graceton. The goal of the game is to continue to upgrade your house and town and develop relationships with your neighbors. The game is in real-time, so when it was winter, there was snow on the ground. Since spring is drawing nearer, now the snow has melted away and our town is green and vibrant. There are even new bugs, fish, and flowers emerging. My favorite aspect of the game is that I can drop off gifts at Nick's or Gracie's house, and when they log in to play, they can pick them up. We can also plant flowers around each other's houses or send each other letters. I never imagined myself becoming so involved with a video game, but this one is so surreal, it calls attention to the finer things in life.

Amazingly, the game has even taught Gracie the value of a dollar and the importance of diligence. She didn't want to work to pay off the first mortgage on her house on “Animal Crossing,” so I dropped her off a bag of money so that she could pay it off. The next morning, after she paid off her mortgage, her house had been renovated and was bigger, and she liked that! The next day, she was shaking fruit off the trees and running back and forth to Nook's store to sell them so that she could pay off her next mortgage and get an even bigger house! Gracie learns important lessons from her video games each and every time she plays. What's more important is that we are playing the games with her. If we accept gaming as a tool for literacy, we have to manage all aspects of the technology. I'm very cautious when I purchase games for Gracie. I do a lot of research to determine which games she will best benefit from, and which games promote the values I agree with. And when we crack open a new game, I always sit down with her as she starts playing it. Gracie appreciates this most of all; she wants someone to recognize her achievements as she plays. I think it's very important that we reward children for their gaming accomplishments, especially when they know they've put a lot of brain-power into the puzzles the games offer.

As Gracie's literacy began developing through gaming, Nick had the opportunity to spread the technology to our community. A librarian at the Garnet A. Wilson Public Library in Waverly, Nick was keenly aware of the large population of teens coming to the library, especially for technological resources like Internet use. Assuming that there would be teens in the community who would appreciate gaming at the library, he introduced Game Night. The library invested in a Wii, and Nick donated his old PS2. For nearly a year now, Nick has been hosting the event each Thursday night, and faithfully, twelve to fifteen children, teens and adults show up. One evening, after one of the initial Game Nights, Nick told me about a boy who had come to the event. At some point, he became bored with the games. “Let's go upstairs and look at some books!” he exclaimed. Nick said he thought, “Mission accomplished.” Since, Nick has payed particular attention to the Young Adult selection at the library, beefing it up with graphic novels and anime as well as Honor List books. And everything is getting checked out.

Gaming is not changing the definition of literacy, it is merely offering another tool to achieve it. If we do not utilize this tool, we will be sorely remiss. Every individual has a unique design, a unique way of absorbing information. We must expand literacy media to encapsulate all types of learners and to offer a variety of ways to learn. The New Millenials and even younger generations will inherit the future, which will be filled with a vast array of technologies. New methods of teaching and learning are now required to meet the educational needs of every individual. Gaming absolutely fits the mold for such a new method.