Does building games result in learning?

I have previously blogged about the Constructionist theory, however, I feel I need to mention another article I have read by Yasmin B. Kafai who talks about the constructionist theory in terms of children building there own games in particular video games. The article is called Playing and Making Games for Learning, and speaks about how just being a responder to a game even if it is an educational game the learning outcomes are not as high as if the students had actually participated in the building process. By building a video game a child or student does not only need to know how to interact with a computer but how to program it. This concept provides so many opportunities for a broad range of skills to be strengthened.

As Kafai mentions video games are becoming increasingly more apparent in everyday life, and the concentration that a child has with the computer whilst playing these games is rarely seen in any other context. To use this information to our advantage as teachers we should provide opportunities for students to immerse themselves in not only playing games but building them too.

We have all heard the learning can be fun and we learn whilst playing but now children can build the fun and the play. 

Thanks to this flickr'

Kafai, Y. (2006).  Playing and Making Games for Learning: Instructionist and Constructionist Perspectives for Game Studies. Games and Culture,  1(1), 36-40.