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Digital trust is an essential key to the political, economic and social development of a country. This is the reason why the actors of our “digital” island must propose the outlines and conditions. It is also a booming market, with its risks and opportunities. It is also the playground of Industry 4.0, especially the gaming, which is gaining momentum in the corporate world.
The world of video games (gaming) is a parallel world. Yet it is an industry, which is larger (160 billion USD) than that of the cinema (95 billion USD). We hardly talk about it as a niche. He is also almost absent from traditional media and social networks (with the exception of Twitch) and especially from school. Video games are played mainly by young people. It evolves freely between players, between initiates, without specific instruction. However, it is a real buoyant economy, which is, by the way, very profitable and more educational, and which will interest our young professionals much more in the 4.0 era.
Obviously, this last point hurts educators. The bad reputation of video games pursues him. Well no, it’s not just mind-numbing! Many scientific studies tend to confirm this. It is also educational.
A good example: Went. ai is the game invented by the talented Neuchâtelois Lucien Jeanprêtre when he was a student at the San Francisco Art Institute a few years ago. It is a game that can only be played online. It is deterministic and logical, inspired by chess and the game of Go. It is played on a sort of checkerboard. Two kings clash. One of the two can take the throne or fall into the trap. As you play, you can create pawns for yourself. Astonishing! Disturbing. Exciting. The desire to play it is immediate.
We forgot to see how educational most video games are. It is as if this “Educational third place” escaped the world of adults and educators.
But it is above all a game of strategy. You learn by doing. This is what breeds addiction. The more you play, the better you get. It is the psychological basis of most games but it is also the basis of learning: the more I practice, the more I perform!
In general, especially in the education system, it has been forgotten to what extent most video games are educational.
It would be necessary to analyze all this from a pedagogical point of view. Not necessarily to integrate it in the form of a course, or prevention or je ne sais quoi, but rather by giving it a formative value. For example, by granting credits. Is it provocative? Certainly, because that would then be a real revolution for a system which has, more or less, the monopoly of certification.
In any case, the certification system is deeply called into question by the multitude of certificates, in particular MOOC type and now teaching modules through gaming in the corporate world.
We have to face the facts: the third places of knowledge are in full development and will shake up the establishment. And this is especially what will interest many young people in investing in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics subjects.
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