“We
do not learn from experience...we learn from reflecting on
experience.”
– John
Dewey
W
e
can learn a lot from games if we take the time to look beyond the
mere momentary entertainment they offer. Like real life, we often
finish a game, make some cursory judgments about whether we liked it,
and then head home to our daily toils, temporarily restored by some
brief respite
of play. Too
often it seems we stumble through life like this, careening from one
crisis to another on various fronts (home, work, school, friends),
muddling through the tedious daily grind, and finding passing relief
in our hobby interests before succumbing to sleep, all while rarely
taking time to look back at our experiences, reflecting on them to
see what we might learn, what we might change as we move forward.
Games, especially those we play for some educational value (however
shallow), can help teach us to analyze an experience, reflecting on
what we hated and liked, how our choices affected the game, how we
interacted with other players, and what we might do next time to
achieve a more favorable outcome. Reflecting
on the play experience remains a paramount exercise when using games
for learning, in both formal settings and in our own casual gaming.
