Thank you, Graham (Brown-Martin, Founder, Learning Without Frontiers). It’s truly a pleasure to be here.
Well, some people think that the Sports Minister has the best job in government, but he doesn’t get to play video games at work.
Though I do sometimes fight against the perception that that’s all I do. And, to be fair, when I first entered parliament, I listed my hobbies in Who’s Who as walking and Playstation 2. Though I don’t want to sound partisan; that was in 2001 and now I’ve also got an XBox 360 and a Nintendo Wii. And I am a bit of an evangelist for the industry. So I suppose I see where they’re coming from.
But I’m willing to take the knocks, because I think the video games industry is important. It’s important many of the things that government does, and there are few ministerial portfolios that the industry doesn’t have an impact on: education, health, defence, business, criminal justice… They all have the opportunity to benefit from the video games industry, whether it’s training, planning, simulation, learning or benefiting from a growth engine for the economy.
And obviously, the games industry is central for my brief – not just the digital engagement aspect, but also because I’m charged with the civil service, so the skills and training capabilities are vital.
But none of that is why I’m here today.
I’m here today because of my three-year-old son, Malachy. He learnt to count Telly Tubbies using the spacebar on a Mac. I was staggered. And my friend’s boy, Barney, learnt how to make bronze after he needed to smelt a broadsword playing RuneScape. He had to build a mine to extract the tin before he could do it. And he’s eight years old.
I’m also here because you give me the honour of meeting some of the people who are responsible for hundreds, if not thousands of hours of creative play in my childhood – Nolan Bushnell and Ian Livingstone, who between them unleashed a world of imagination, requiring skill, dexterity, logic, practice, discipline and above all else insomnia.
Whatever the perception about them, games are good. Games help you learn. They make you think, focus, challenge and change. Five hundred years ago, a medium that achieved that would be called art.
But I’m also here because I want to thank same of the greatest educationalists in the UK for the work that you do.
Last night I witnessed an incredible discussion between Nolan and Derek Robertson. They debated the limits and use of technology in the classroom.
Nolan of course was out there – envisioning a totally radicalised new classroom architecture. But Derek reminded me that at the heart of any educational journey is a teacher. And for great teachers, technology is just another tool to unlock a piece of knowledge, or impart a new concept.
Good teachers inspire children to learn whether it be using a rolled up piece of crepe paper and a Pritt Stick or an interactive whiteboard.
Derek’s passion for education and teaching was as inspiring as Nolan’s vision for a new technologically enabled future. To Derek, and the many of you here today – no child should be left behind; no child is the same; every child has a unique talent. It’s just that you have to capture their imagination.
You are here today because you know that if you can teach maths, logic, geography and planning using a World Tour of Guitar Hero, why shouldn’t you?
Stimulating all different areas of the brain is good for the intellect as a whole.
The idea isn’t new – it’s been the underpinning philosophy of education throughout history. Plato and Aristotle considered it essential to the development of intellectual and moral excellence. From the Middle Ages, it formed the basis for the university system. It was the foundation of the Renaissance and the Enlightenment. And it can be found throughout modern education systems the world over.
People learn in different ways – so why should we cut off an avenue that can reach a whole segment of the population better than the traditional means do?
It’s unfair to students who learn differently.
And it’s unfair to us: do we really want to lose the next Nolan Bushnell – because they didn’t get the opportunity to learn the best way for them?
Malachy will be going to big school soon – maybe too soon for his parents – and the way they use technology when he gets there will be a deciding factor in his future.
But there is a tremendous challenge when it comes to the institutional implementation of games-based learning. Part of it stems from the very innovation that makes the industry so great: the speed of development means that it’s difficult for any institution – public or private – to keep pace.
And part of it stems from generational knowledge gaps. I’m not saying that older generations aren’t connected – and lest anyone think I’m being ageist, by ‘older’ I’m including my generation, and the one that came just behind me. On the contrary, we’re constantly hearing stories about how plugged-in everyone is: politicians are using Twitter, parents and grandparents are getting on Facebook – and embarrassing their children while they do it. But they’re about five years behind their children. Which, as you know, is a millennium in cyber-years.
We’re dealing with a generation of kids who are so familiar with what we call ‘technology’ that the word is virtually meaningless to them; what we call ‘technology’, they call ‘life’.
They aren’t worried about learning PowerPoint, and frankly, it won’t affect their lives – for them, it’s about web2.0, social networks, gaming, collaboration and self-published content.
This is the first generation of children who, by the time they enter school, will be in a position to teach their parents about one of the most fundamental aspects of our society.
Or, as Don Tapscott put it, ‘This is the first generation of people that work, play, think and learn differently than their parents’.
So how do we keep up with the constant pace of innovation? And how do we bridge that gap? I think that the passion for e-learning is there – a Futurelab/BECTA poll showed that the vast majority of teachers believe that a multitude of skills can be developed through playing computer games: cognitive and motor, ICT, higher-order thinking.
I think the discussion is in the logistics. It’s about how we make it work without having technology and software that’s obsolete two minutes after it’s installed. It’s about finding people with the skills to identify what’s out there and anticipate what’s coming. It’s about finding a way to make an intricately-woven, multi-faceted system keep pace with change, without throwing any one component out of sync. It’s about looking at new models of faster, streamlined procurement of ICT.
No small task, then. But I’m absolutely looking forward to hearing what you have to say about that today.
I don’t think there’s any doubt that we need 21st century education system that keeps up with 21st century needs. And the video games industry can be key to that.
I was at a mini-conference hosted by BERR a few months ago, and got so excited by some of what I was seeing and hearing that I texted Ed Balls in the middle of it all.
Beacuse there’s so much to get excited about in the field: just yesterday I met with a team who are developing a really fantastic game called MP for a Week. Tom O’Leary and Peter Sidwell are here today. Players learn the ins and outs of parliament – dealing with constituents, whips, parliamentary questions, speeches, the media; learning how to respond and what to prioritise – and losing party or constituent support when they get it wrong. And it’ll be online, so players can deal with real issues in real time. Part of me hopes that it won’t be too realistic and discourage a whole generation from entering politics.
The great thing is, it’s meant for Key Stage 3, but all my staff are really excited to play it. I’m sure a number of my colleagues will be, as well.
And one of the ways I can get an extra 10 minutes in bed when a 3 year old wakes up at 5am is to hand over my iphone to allow him to play a phonics game.
And when he’s older, he’ll be playing Rolando – a smash hit iphone game. It makes money. It entertains and teaches physics. Simon Oliver, its creator, epitomises the sheer genius of UK games designers.
And I definitely think that there’s a place for games and e-learning in every aspect of government. I’ve just taken a Cabinet Office e-learning module on data security; but that really is a story for another time…
The industry is key for all the reasons I already mentioned – health, defence, disaster preparedness; it really is all interconnected.
And there’s another reason: if my son’s education is an essential component of his future, so is the economic fortitude of the country he grows up in. Britain’s strength lies in a knowledge economy. We need to support sectors and businesses that can prosper and grow and put Britain on solid footing. This isn’t just important to help us come through a recession; it’s important to creating a Britain that comes out the other side with a reformed economy focused on new opportunities. This recession will end, and we need to prepare for that time by investing in our strengths. And the games industry is one where UK plc should be leading the pack.
It’s innovative. It’s world-leading. And in the face of all the doom and gloom, Britain’s games industry just keeps going: you can see it in the 23 per cent increase in sales last year; or in the fact that the UK already has a global reputation for its e-learning products.
Not to mention that the innovation that defines the games industry is the calling-card of successful business. Innovation and skills are the key to next-generation businesses, and we need to champion them. The Simon Oliver’s of the UK should have a big role in the future.
So I suppose you can see that I mean it when I say I want to be the industry’s champion in government. I realise, of course, that by doing this, I’m going to be the guy with a number of heavily editorialised tabloid newspapers on his back. But this industry is so important it’s worth the risk.
I know there are challenges right now. I know that outside organisations sometimes don’t move at the same pace as the industry – though I’m afraid nothing does, except maybe Formula One. But I have no doubt that, working together, there is much we can achieve.
And I think that government and the video games industry are a perfect fit. I represent a generation that grew up playing Manic Miner on a Sinclair ZX Spectrum and Defender on a BBC Micro, and I think the reason we have the best gaming industries in the world is because of the vision of that time: we put computers in the hands of a young generation of talent – and they have gone onto achieve the most remarkable things. In those days we programmed in BASIC. Today’s teenagers should be coding in Flash.
So I think there is a very positive future.
I am your advocate in government. This is important to me because I have a duty to do whatever I can to make this government the best it can be. And it’s important to me because it affects my children’s futures.
I’m looking forward to hearing what you all have to say; and I’m happy to answer any questions you may have right now – I’m keen to get the discussion going.
Thank you.
