What Can Higher Ed Learn From Video Games?

Just last week, Epic Games bucked Apple in a very public way.  In fact, the gaming company flipped Apple’s iconic YEAR NAME commercial against them.  Epic is tired of Apple charging a 30% premium for gamers to download the Fortnite app.  To move against Apple Computer, especially in such a public way, took an unbelievable amount of confidence.  But, with 350 million registered Fortnite players, Epic decided that trolling was an effective way to make its point.

There is no arguing that the creative folks behind games and gaming consoles are onto something.  Games, as a consumable item for young people, aren’t cheap.  Game consoles can go for several hundred dollars.  Most teens and young adults prioritize having a phone over having a car.  Why?

Thirty years ago, I went to get my driver’s license on the very first day I could.  I drove an old beat-up Chevy with an AM radio, and I was happy about it.  I wanted to be able to see my friends on my terms, whenever I wanted to.  My peers worked on their cars and washed their cars and rode together places.  Technology has made it easier to connect.  It’s nothing to have a face-to-face conversation with anyone in the world - instantly.

This fall, universities are canceling classes due to COVID-19.  It’s just too risky to have students living in dorms together, physically distanced by only a few feet.  Parents are concerned that their children will lose the “college experience”.  Maybe they already have.

If my child was college-aged, I certainly would want them to be independent, make new friends, experience things on their own terms.  I would want her to discover how to tackle the world without her parents hovering over her shoulder, but I also have to acknowledge that COVID-19 is not the only factor that will differentiate her experience from mine.  Her life and the way she interacts with her friends is already vastly separate from what I experienced in my teenage years.

What I know about gaming, which is admittedly very little, is that the whole point is to overcome some sort of challenge, incrementally.  Most games build upon themselves, adding new characters or abilities as the player completes levels of play.  Games like Minecraft allow players to create their own worlds, and in Fortnite, occasionally avatars celebrate their players’ victories with an odd - and now viral - dance.

What does this tell us about what compels people to be engaged with video games?  

Access is easy.  The beginning levels are conquered simply, helping players build confidence.  Challenges become more and more difficult, but rewards - while intangible - are celebrated.  There are prizes to work toward in addition to those that players don’t suspect.  Games give players limited options; players feel some control over their outcome, deepening engagement.  

Today’s games add something that was missing in the days of Pac Man and the Super Mario Brothers:  community. Where arcades once helped attract scores of children, kids are now connecting with other gamers virtually, talking to them online or via personal headsets during games. Those connections could be with kids down the block or halfway across the world.  

If we focus on the positive side of that connection, it’s easy to understand why so many young people are dedicated gamers.   Higher ed could learn something here.

• Make enrolling easy

• Give students little wins in the beginning of their experience at your college

• Make goals achievable and celebrate them

• Throw a surprise in here and there

• Build affinity by building community and fostering events (online or otherwise) that are not necessarily academic

• Find ways for students to connect with one another - especially while learning remotely

• Personalize experiences as much as possible

It’s naive to think colleges will go back to “normal” anytime soon.  The reality is, we will never come back to the place we were before COVID-19.  What we can do, however, is notice how our students engage with each other in ways outside of our walls, and work to incorporate successful tactics into instruction.