Poll: Should games be taught at schools?

[Anthropaphagi]

Dear gods, don't give US Universities an excuse to charge students for electives that include things like the history of gaming or gaming appreciation, etc. I can all too easily see this.

When I was a pre-med student, in the US (I'm a Yank, but I live/study in the UK) one of my options was 'The History of Mtv'. WTF? I was ABSOLUTELY NOT going to pay for that kind of nonsense.

I think programming may be useful, but that's about it.

 

[Firetaffer]

I have worded it badly, I am saying that we should learn how games are made, how much work company's like VALVe put into their games so we can fully appreciate it.

 

[Revolutionary]

the people have spoken.

 

[Lizardon]

They already do. My bother took game design 101 or something like that as an elective in Year 10. He said it was stupid and they weren't being taught anything useful and eventully dropped it. If your suggesting that it should be taught as part of the main curriculum, then I have to disagree. But I have no problems with it being part of elective course.

 

[Ymbirtt]

I have worded it badly, I am saying that we should learn how games are made, how much work company's like VALVe put into their games so we can fully appreciate it.

Ahhh, I see, so taught in the same way that English is taught? Thing is, I don't think there are enough games out there that are quite worth studying just yet. Yes, Half Life is a very deep game which has some great storytelling and some good messages, but there are really only a handful of games like that, compared with the hundreds of books which you could make an essay of in English. Maybe as a bit of a side note in English, in the same way that I had to talk about a film in my English course, but there just aren't enough games out there to study today to make a proper subject of it.

 

[Kiju]

Um...I don't think you're quite getting through to me. The way you make it sound, is just like taking a video-game design course in college, or something like that, which is already being done, so...yeah.

 

[linwolf]

No, I already believe it's mostly a waste of time to study movies.
Programming is fine, but only as a optional course.

 

[Deadlock Radium]

Personally I say no, unless you have an arts class like game design. Games don't have a long enough history to be accepted as a class and for anyone to teach

That and the fact that games are subjective, you can't force people to play [Insert game here] just because it's a part of class, as said, it's subjective.
If I get kids, I will never force my game taste on them, they have to find out what games they like themselves.

 

[Ravek]

Game playing is not something worth teaching in school.
Game design is even more worthless.

Computer science, however, should be taught in schools, along maths, physics, biology and chemistry. It's one of the most valuable scientific fields we have, and is at the forefront of our technological advance.

 

[Captain Pancake]

It's a bit too specific to be taught in schools, and they already run courses at universities and colleges for such things.

 

[Phoenixlight]

No, school isn't supposed to be fun, let's keep it that way.

 

[Doctor VonSexMachine]

In university or collage, sure. But high school should be for the basics of art and programing, should the student choose to take those electives. We made some very rudimentary games in programing class and studied art theory in art classes...but I can't see them fitting in the basics and then moving on to the complex world of game design.

Any attempt to do so seems like a desperate ploy to make programing relevant. It is a useful skill, even if you don't go into computers. I've used my C programing skills over several years for my Chemical Engineering course work. (Newtons method, etc)

 

[Lem0nade Inlay]

I agree. You'd get a whole flood of people who played CoD and would just screw around in classes thinking that they were gonna make the best game ever in a day.

 

[ShadowsofHope]

We got Game Developer classes at my High School, so yeah.

I am particularly jealous of you at the present moment, sir.

OT: Playing them? .. I wish.

Studying their impact on all populations, culture, and artistic interactivity through storytelling and design? Hell yes, though some of that is covered if you've ever had a "Visual Communications" course in High School, as well.

 

[Danzaivar]

At school you learn the essentials, at college/uni you can learn the specifics that interest you or specifics for your future career.

The only people who need to know how to make games are the people who will be making games. It fits perfectly as a college level course.

 

[SonicWaffle]

I have worded it badly, I am saying that we should learn how games are made, how much work company's like VALVe put into their games so we can fully appreciate it.

Ahhh, I see, so taught in the same way that English is taught? Thing is, I don't think there are enough games out there that are quite worth studying just yet. Yes, Half Life is a very deep game which has some great storytelling and some good messages, but there are really only a handful of games like that, compared with the hundreds of books which you could make an essay of in English. Maybe as a bit of a side note in English, in the same way that I had to talk about a film in my English course, but there just aren't enough games out there to study today to make a proper subject of it.

I think studying games the way we study literature is a very bad idea. I love games, and I don't want them to be ruined for me the same way a lot of books were ruined for me. Having to re-read the same book endlessly because others in the class were too slow, having to dissect every sentence and look for what the author was really trying to say (and being fully aware that most of the time, what the author was really trying to say is right there on the damn page!) and ascribing deeper meanings that were never there, basically making up shite that the examiner wants to hear rather than appreciating the story as a whole.

I love reading. I have a massive collection of books, more than half my belongings consists of books. Thanks to school/college English literature courses there are books (goods books, mind you) that I hate with a fiery passion. Studying something with that much intensity destroys the experience - Of Mice And Men, Silence Of The Lambs, The Tempest; all good books, all of which I'd rather stab myself in the eyes than read again. I'd hate for that to happen to video games for some poor kid, who can never play Halo again because his idiot teacher made him write an essay on how the placement of a plasma rifle in level 3 is an expression of the game designer's inner angst, or whatever silly wank they come up with.

[/rant]

 

[mkg]

I like how you say "Movies are, and so are books." Like it's news to anyone you study books in school, lol. You usually watch a movie that corresponds with the subject matter, not study the way the film is made. Unless it is a cinema class I suppose. Also, I don't know about you, but I went to public high school meaning there could be anywhere from 25-35 kids in a class. Besides the fact that no game usually has anything to do with anything you might learn about during your formal education, do you really think schools could get the funding for the systems, training for teachers, and be able to present a single player game (I assume single player for a deeper experience) to over 30 teenagers? If it was a small group about 3-d modeling, I could maybe see that, but what high schooler is using anything more robust than Borland C++? I mean get real man.

 

[LitleWaffle]

Well, many schools already do such a thing so...

I just wish mine did. =(