Good video games operate by a principle just the reverse of most schools: performance before competence (Cazden 1981). Players can perform before they are competent, supported by the design of the game, the “smart tools” that the game offers, and often, too, the support of other, more advanced players (in multiplayer games, in chat rooms, or standing there in the living room). Language acquisition itself works this way. However, schools frequently do not. They often demand that students gain competence through reading texts before they can perform in the domain that they are learning.
How can we make learning in and out of school, with or without using games, more game-like in the sense of using the sorts of learning principles that young people see in good games every day, when and if they are playing these games reflectively and strategically? Figuring out how to achieve this goal is a worthwhile endeavor.