Using Video Games as Tools for Learning and Education

Ask someone which educational resources could make a sociological impact, and video games likely aren’t the first tools that come to mind.

But Marcus T. Wright, undergraduate program and communications manager for the Department of Sociology, hopes to change that perspective with his new book, Paradox of the Learning Game: The Promise and Plight of Video Games and Learning.

“Video games bring about so much imagination, creativity, and problem-solving,” says Wright, who will enroll in the Graduate School of Education’s Higher Education Ed.D. program in the Fall. “They can facilitate all kinds of learning. They’re one of the most important learning technologies we have.”

Wright’s passion for video games started when he was young, but a class during his master’s coursework at Penn revealed how much value they offer beyond pure entertainment. He doesn’t mean games like “Super Mario Brothers,” though. 

Rather, his book analyzes games like one called “Spent,” a free, online game that puts the player in the shoes of someone living in poverty, and “Fair Play,” a free, downloadable game in which the player navigates a college campus as an African-American graduate student.

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