What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy. Second Edition: Revised and Updated Edition

This book should be loved by anyone with a strong interest in videogame theory or educational theory, as it impressively doesn't simplify either area to fit the demands of the other.

I also applaud the organization of the book, as each section centers around a few key concepts of educational theory which are repeated in the appendix giving everyone who has read the book an easy way to recall the '36 learning principles'.


Teachers and Administrators should read this book.   November 9, 2003
M. Chmiel (Arlington, VA)
34 out of 35 found this review helpful

As a science teacher, I have asked myself (as Gee points out...many teachers and parents do) why it is that the same students who sit listlessly in my classroom will go home and spend upwards of 8 hours engaged in frusterating video-game play.
Gee effectively answers this question and makes a strong case in favor of video games being more akin to agents of learning (like recreational reading) as opposed to mindless entertainment (like really dumb movies).
Videogames are an interesting window through which we can study issues such as learning theory, motivation, and development of expertise. Fellow game players will recognize themselves in Gee's descriptions of what makes games so compelling, and nonplayers will be surprised by how far games have come since PacMan. I recomend this book to parents, administrators, and anyone else interested in education.



a compelling new perspective on videogames   August 22, 2004
Casey (Midwest)
10 out of 10 found this review helpful

This book offers a perspective on videogaming that is novel and thought-provoking. I am a (young) baby-boomer, and therefore a digital immigrant, according to Gee. Videogames were not a part of my youth, and my opinions have been shaped by the popular critiques of such games for their violence and misogyny. Frankly, I had the impression that videogames were at best, mindnumbing entertainment, and at worst, yet another reflection of the general malaise of our self-absorbed, thrill-seeking society. Accordingly, I was intrigued by the title of the book, which claims that videogaming might offer some useful insights into learning and literacy.

I must admit, I was skeptical at first, but I quickly became convinced by Gee's arguments about the deep nature of learning supported by videogaming. His arguments are supported by extensive examples of actual games that, believe it or not, Gee has played himself. Gee is a linguist, and he uses some concepts that are unfamiliar to a general audience, but I can assure potential readers that he explains these concepts in a clear and accessible manner. (I was even able to describe a "semiotic domain" to a friend after reading this book.)

One reason for my interest in the book is that I design e-learning curricula for professional training and higher education. Gee's book has suggested to me many ways in which we might improve the delivery of e-learning, making it less like "school" and more like a compelling, "real-world" experience. I have even started playing videogames myself, and I can attest to credibility of Gee's analyses (particularly the part about how difficult these games can be!). I strongly recommend this book to other baby-boomers, educators, and anyone who wants a fresh perspective on this unfairly maligned aspect of popular culture.



Information from entertainment   August 12, 2004
Jack Sindoni (San Juan Capistrano)
8 out of 8 found this review helpful

Video game sales exceed the movie industry's annual box office draw, now by a significant margin. The popularity and sophistication of today's video games demonstrate an important modern phenomenon. This is the admixture of information and entertainment. Many people-particularly young people-now get their "news" from non traditional sources-often associated with entertainment. Players of video games elicit information about their world from video games. War games, action adventures, sports games, even role playing games actually (even if sometimes inadvertently or as an unintended result) teach.

As the author of this book points out, they have to. Otherwise, players would not learn to play quickly enough or well enough to become proficient enough to enjoy the game. Furthermore, players must learn unobtrusively. They have to learn without it seeming a chore-and they certainly are not going to read or spend a lot of practice time. Given how important sequels are in the video game industry, failure to learn and to enjoy a first game results in lost sales for many games.

What Gee is really getting at is "just in time learning" and "learning in place." When you juxtapose the sorry state of our public school system with the importance of video games as a milieu for learning, gaining experience, and obtaining information, you see this is a serious subject.

It is imperative for people interested in these things to read this book. This book is well written. The author has a feel for the subject because he has a passion for gaming and a sincere interest in "gamers"-who, to him, are "students."

I have read a number of Gee's other works-aimed at academics, and I am very happy to see that this book is accessible to a popular audience.



Presenting thirty-six learning principles   June 10, 2003
Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA)
16 out of 20 found this review helpful

What Video Games Have To Teach Us About Learning And Literacy by James Paul Gee (Tashia Morgridge Professor of Reading, Department of Curriculum and Instruction, School of Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison) is a controversial yet thought-provoking look at interactive games and what can be learned from them. Persuasively presenting thirty-six learning principles that are built into good interactive video games, and contemplatively studying everything from issues of forming identity, to the acquisition of problem-solving skills, to learning non-verbal cues, What Video Games Have To Teach Us About Learning And Literacy sheds considerable light in a most extraordinary way on this rapidly evolving and increasingly pervasive aspect of American popular culture in the twenty-first century.