Is the video game controller in your kid’s hand the key to unlocking their full potential?

My two boys are playing Fortnite as I write this. Theoretically I should feel badly about this, as fears of learning loss have ignited sit-ins from Berkeley to Rome and incited anxiety over increased screen time. All this while students of all ages logged 100 billion hours watching, and learning, online last year.

It is understandable that after suffering through nearly a year of quarantines and lockdowns many can’t wait to “get back to normal” in many aspects of their lives. But how sure are we that the pre-COVID schools our children were attending 5 days a week and away from our watchful eyes were the best possible way to “do” education?

I don’t mean to infer that our educators are not doing miraculous things during this time. But I do wonder if what’s missing from the debate about learning loss as the driving factor in getting our children back into classrooms is a critical chance to see how the gaming console under your TV holds the potential to transform education through more self-paced, student-driven, mastery-oriented, active learning.

No parent has ever worried about their child becoming zombified as a result of playing too much chess, football, or violin. It’s curious that video games, with a raft of research demonstrating their potential to positively impact on student persistence, learning, and collaboration, still surfaces so much anxiety.