Games in Education 1

Games in Education 1

At Gen Con Trade Day this summer, I was on a panel that discussed games in education. Milton Griepp, the CEO over at ICV2.com, convened and moderated. A bunch of teachers and librarians in the audience received credit from their schools for attending, which I take to indicate that schools recognize at least some of the value of gaming.

One comment that another panelist made stuck with me. He said, “Of course, you can’t play Dungeons and Dragons with your students. Play Apples to Apples, or Diplomacy, or something without devils and pagan gods.” He meant that the administration and the parents in a school system are not going to tolerate D&D in school. I respectfully offered a different opinion, namely, that you can play D&D with your students if you have the right school and the right situation. We skipped on to other topics, but I have been thinking about the topic of “the right school and the right situation.” What better night than the night before school starts to blog about it?

As it happens, I have played D&D with a lot of students. What made my school "the right school and the right situation"? I thought I’d throw a few ideas up here.

[Just as I’m about to post this, I’m noticing that Gears has a blog up with some ideas that are in direct contradiction to mine. That should make for some interesting discussion! Gears – and anyone else who disagrees – please understand that I mean no disrespect at all. These are no more than my thoughts and opinions, and, of course, different schools may have some very different cultures.]

1. I don't think it's a good idea to play D&D during class time. Some teachers want to know about using D&D or other games to teach math (probabilities seem a perfect fit), or history, or English. It sounds like a dream combo: play games that use probabilities to teach probabilities, for example.

You know what? I disagree. One problem is that it’s inefficient. This is the same reason that “constructivist” teaching or “discovery” teaching as a primary tool is broken. There’s too much wasted time. Class time is too precious for anything but a sizzling-hot skill-and-content JoltVaultMochaDew of learning yumminess. Would you use a graphing calculator to teach D&D to someone? Then why use character sheets and dice to teach math? (If your answer is “Because D&D is fun and motivational,” well, that’s another discussion that I’d love to have, but no room here!)

Another point to consider is that if you teach with D&D during class time, you’ll tick off the girls who prefer Mutants and Masterminds. Honestly, in my opinion, it shows a lack of respect for your students to force them all to conform to your personal tastes in edutainment. It's a big struggle for some kids to force themselves to concentrate on your subject. And now on top of that they have to learn some game system that they might not like? Not to mention the administration and parents find this a much harder buy than point #2.

2. I'd make it an after school club. This has numerous advantages. Only the people who want to play will be there. You have a lot more time than during any free period or lunch period. Rather than resent you, parents and administration often thank you for providing an extra activity for the kids. The way I see it, I love my students and I love D&D, so playing after school with them is beyond a no-brainer.

3. Communication is key. With everyone. Obviously, I get permission from the parents and administration first. The culture of every school is different, but unless the kids are older (juniors and seniors in high school), then I call all the parents myself. Just call them, say hi, ask if they know when to pick the kids up or when to expect the kids home. I always give out my cell number.

4. I invite parents, administrators and other teachers. Depending on the culture of the school, another adult presence might be mandatory. But regardless of that, I invite everyone. For some people, D&D still rings alarm bells and brings visions of Tom Hanks throwing himself off a roof after his bad 80s haircut made him roll a critical fail. Of course that’s silly. But you know what – it’s not silly. People are entitled to their emotions, and to have a successful club, there has to be trust. The best way to do that is to open your table, invite everyone, and show them how awesome it can be.

One idea I've worked with here is taking the game to the FLGS for the night. It builds community in a way like no other. When I was teaching in Manhattan, we had some awesome game nights at Neutral Ground.

5. I think it's a bad idea to modify the rules to make D&D educational. The game is already educational enough.

Consider soccer. Nearly every school in the US has a soccer team. No one feels the need to run out on the field in the middle of the game, blow the whistle, and quiz the students on the acceleration of the ball or the history of the World Cup. Soccer is educational enough. It teaches kids teamwork, competition, goal-setting, and physical conditioning.

The same goes for D&D. It teaches teamwork, competition, goal-setting, and, well, maybe not physical conditioning. But in 4th grade, I learned ratios from doing 1e MM-style dragon subduals, I learned what sardonyx and durance vile were. My friend, back in high school in 1991, won a vocabulary contest with the word “quaff” because our characters were always quaffing potions. The game is educational all by itself.

Ideas 6 and beyond will have to wait until next time. I’d love to hear what people think and get ideas from other people, so responses are appreciated. Now I have to get to bed. After all, tonight’s a school night!