Digital Games – new skills and educational tools

Can we include certain digital games in the sphere of educational activities? What skills can we develop when we use ‘serious’ digital games?

It is now a fact of life that children and young people spend a significant portion of their free time engrossed in digital environments and playing various types of digital games. Parents and educators usually view these choices in negative terms, and may even consider them dangerous. However, this sort of reaction fails to take into account both the huge range of games and environments that are now available, and the role these games can play in the educational process. They also overlook the potential of some games to provide a bridge between school and home, and between knowledge acquisition at school and in less structured contexts.

A number of research projects conducted in the EU have shown that while children are increasingly turning to so-called ‘serious’ games, only 10% of these games currently feature in school curricula. The research also reveals that the under-exploitation of these games’ educational potential is largely due to teachers being unwilling to engage with them, which stems in turn from a lack of teacher awareness of what they can offer.

Of course, in the early 21st century, interactive digital environments and games are all around us and provide younger people with a primary means of perceiving the world and social relations. This event, which forms part of the “Talks and Thoughts” series, will be dedicated to the new skills and educational potential of video games, and will strive both for a better understanding of these so-called ‘serious’ games and to initiate a discussion on this fascinating subject.

This discussion forms part of the “Greek thought in dialogue: Experiential learning programs” project, which is itself part of the “Academy of Plato: the State and the Citizen” Action implemented within the framework of the Education and Lifelong Learning Program co-funded by the EU (European Social Fund) and national funds.