Gaming can promote literacy
I’ve blogged in the past about using Pokemon to get a child resistant to reading to start reading. It seems I’m not the only one who thinks gaming can get kids to read.
Often, when you try to encourage a child to read, all they can think about is reading in class, where they might be expected to read out loud but are embarrassed because they don’t read as fluidly as another child. They might associate reading a book with comprehension quizzes that they might not do so well at because they have a hard time reading quickly and deeply enough to actually understand what they’re reading. You could be trying to encourage the child to read a book on their favorite sports figure, and you’ll get more of a reaction from the wall. The child’s experiences with reading in the school setting are a far stronger motivator than reading about how Michael Jordan became a fantastic athlete.
When you sit a child down in front of a game, regardless of how text-heavy it is, the child is motivated to read. If you hand them a TCG game, they want to read the cards to see what each one does. If you hand them a game like Kingdom Hearts (I realize I’m dating myself slightly just a hair here), then some will choose to read the story while others will choose to focus solely on the directions for accomplishing a task in the game.
Either way, the child is reading.
The article focuses on encouraging students to decode symbols, which really is what’s taking place in reading, but I think just seeing characters read a picked-up letter, a book, or a newspaper also reinforce and encourage literacy ideals because the child sees that and can understand that reading allows the character to gain the knowledge they need to move on. Now it’s not just trying to decode the symbols on the page, it’s associating meaning with them, and most children can follow that.
In the attempt to reach tweens and teens, games are likely going to incorporate more and more literacy concepts, both to help the student navigate the game and to keep them engaged in learning how to read and think critically.
