Messages and mediums: learning to teach with videogames

PurposeProposes to argue that current assumptions about media effects in videogames fail to take into account the variety of messages and potential effects embedded in games.Design/methodology/approachA survey of the game “Grand Theft Auto III” and a short, illustrative, review of “videogames as learning” perspectives.FindingsEven a game such as “Grand Theft Auto III”, pilloried for its anti‐social messages and assumed negative behavioral effects, reveals a significant number of positive social messages.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper only illustrates the conflicting nature of media effects assumptions – both positive and negative. It does not attempt to provide an exhaustive review of or context for either the subject‐matter or the research area.Practical implicationsThe perspective presented provides a warning to educators intent on assuming positive learning benefits (effects) of the videogame medium just as it argues against a simple reading of videogames as negative media by groups seeking to censor games.Originality/valueThis is the first paper to identify the underlying assumptions of both the “videogames as learning” and the “videogames as social danger” camps as both sharing the same conceptual framework.