Fun Inc: Tom Chatfield: Why Games are the 21st Century's Most Serious Business | Talks at Google

TL;DR

Games have the potential to transform our attitudes towards failure and success, and offer a safe and concentrated environment for learning.

Transcript

For those who don't know me, I'm Mark. I'm part of the @Google team. I have to admit, I was a little bit hesitant about today's talk. I'm one of these people who thinks of computer gamers as these sort of teenaged troglodytes who heroically contribute to the obesity crisis rather than sort of as deeply social people but I'm here to be proved wro... Read More

Key Insights

• ✊ Games have the power to transform our attitudes towards failure and success.
• 🎮 Rapid feedback and precise control in computer games enhance the learning experience.
• 👾 Games offer clear and cumulative progress, multiple paths, and transparent fairness.
• 👾 Implementing game-like elements in traditional learning and training can improve engagement and outcomes.
• 🐝 Games provide a safe and concentrated environment for honing skills and practicing vital tasks.
• 🥺 Games allow for experimentation and positive failure, leading to improvement and success.
• 👾 Games promote collaboration, peer relationships, and learning from others' methods and strategies.

Questions & Answers

Q: How do games transform our attitude towards failure?

Games reframe failure as a step towards success, allowing us to learn from our mistakes and try again without fear of punishment. Failure becomes a valuable learning experience.

Q: How have games evolved over time?

Games have become more accessible, engaging, and diverse, appealing to a wider range of players. They now offer clear goals, rewards, and multiple paths for progression.

Q: Can games be applied to traditional learning and training?

Yes, games offer a way to transform traditional learning and training methods by providing frequent failures, clear and cumulative progress, feedback, and opportunities for collaboration.

Q: What can we learn from games in terms of learning and structures of learning?

Games teach us the importance of frequent failures, clear and cumulative progress, personal investment, multiple paths, fairness, transparency, and peer relationships in learning and training environments.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• Games tap into our fundamental need for both concentrated experiences and safe learning environments.

• Computer games intensify this by providing rapid feedback and precise control.

• Games have evolved over time to offer clear and cumulative progress, multiple paths, and transparent fairness.