Evaluating Video Games as Tools for Education on Fake News and Misinformation

Abstract

Despite access to reliable information being essential for equal opportunities in our society, current school curricula only include some notions about media literacy in a limited context. Thus, it is necessary to create scenarios for reflection on and a well-founded analysis of misinformation. Video games may be an effective approach to foster these skills and can seamlessly integrate learning content into their design, enabling achieving multiple learning outcomes and building competencies that can transfer to real-life situations. We analyzed 24 video games about media literacy by studying their content, design, and characteristics that may affect their implementation in learning settings. Even though not all learning outcomes considered were equally addressed, the results show that media literacy video games currently on the market could be used as effective tools to achieve critical learning goals and may allow users to understand, practice, and implement skills to fight misinformation, regardless of their complexity in terms of game mechanics. However, we detected that certain characteristics of video games may affect their implementation in learning environments, such as their availability, estimated playing time, approach, or whether they include real or fictional worlds, variables that should be further considered by both developers and educators.