best of both worlds
best of both worlds: Combining office hours with video games
Exploring how Jones incorporates video games in his livestreams to connect with students on a social level
Vivian Jiang and Leanna Sun
Vivian Jiang and Leanna Sun
When science teacher Kyle Jones first began livestreaming review sessions for his biology classes, also known as Office Hours, on YouTube, he knew he wanted to incorporate something that students could relate to. In his case, it was video games.
“I know students like video games, and I thought it would be cool for them to see me doing something that I enjoy [while] connecting it to school,” Jones said. “There was a moment where everything clicked and I was like, ‘I can combine this in an interesting way and try it.’”
The medium of the live stream enables Jones to multitask; so while waiting for students to ask questions, he can play video games. Although the format of Jones’ live streams varies depending on how close an exam is, he usually finds a way to include gaming.
“Sometimes it’s more busy like, for example, you have a lot of people that are getting ready for a test so they’re asking a lot of questions and I can’t really play at the same time,” Jones said. “Those are the times where I’ll be very much just live streaming and it becomes a review session, less like an Office Hours. Then maybe after, I’ll play a little bit of video games when it’s more of a cool down kind of thing and people can still ask questions but the time for the intense office hours is kind of over.”
“I know students like video games, and I thought it would be cool for them to see me doing something that I enjoy [while] connecting it to school,” Jones said. “There was a moment where everything clicked and I was like, ‘I can combine this in an interesting way and try it.’”
The medium of the live stream enables Jones to multitask; so while waiting for students to ask questions, he can play video games. Although the format of Jones’ live streams varies depending on how close an exam is, he usually finds a way to include gaming.
“Sometimes it’s more busy like, for example, you have a lot of people that are getting ready for a test so they’re asking a lot of questions and I can’t really play at the same time,” Jones said. “Those are the times where I’ll be very much just live streaming and it becomes a review session, less like an Office Hours. Then maybe after, I’ll play a little bit of video games when it’s more of a cool down kind of thing and people can still ask questions but the time for the intense office hours is kind of over.”
When junior Parssa Alimadad first learned about Jones’ unique live streams from his freshman biology teacher Kenneth Gan, he was surprised to learn that Jones was combining science review with video games.
“[Gan] introduced me to Mr. Jones and I checked out his channel,” Alimadad said. “My first reaction was ‘this has to be a joke,’ but I actually went there and it was real.”
For senior Niko Gustafson, Jones himself was enough of an incentive for Gustafson to go online and watch Jones’ live streams.
“Mostly I went on because it was him,” Gustafson said. “Because Mr. Jones is a pretty significant figure at this school and I think a lot of kids admire him. Whenever he went on stream, a lot of my friends would get notifications and tell me about it. They’d be like ‘Oh my God, get on his stream. Mr. Jones is streaming. Watch it!’”
Gustafson’s reaction to Jones’ live streams is exactly what Jones was aiming to accomplish — opening a pathway for students to relate to him outside of school and connect on a different level.
“It’s allowed them to share something in common with me, and we can sort of experience a game at the same time together,” Jones said. “They get to see me in a different context than just in front of the class teaching like as part as who I am as a human, so maybe it makes me more humanized to them, which hopefully makes them more comfortable approaching me or talking to me.”
“[Gan] introduced me to Mr. Jones and I checked out his channel,” Alimadad said. “My first reaction was ‘this has to be a joke,’ but I actually went there and it was real.”
For senior Niko Gustafson, Jones himself was enough of an incentive for Gustafson to go online and watch Jones’ live streams.
“Mostly I went on because it was him,” Gustafson said. “Because Mr. Jones is a pretty significant figure at this school and I think a lot of kids admire him. Whenever he went on stream, a lot of my friends would get notifications and tell me about it. They’d be like ‘Oh my God, get on his stream. Mr. Jones is streaming. Watch it!’”
Gustafson’s reaction to Jones’ live streams is exactly what Jones was aiming to accomplish — opening a pathway for students to relate to him outside of school and connect on a different level.
“It’s allowed them to share something in common with me, and we can sort of experience a game at the same time together,” Jones said. “They get to see me in a different context than just in front of the class teaching like as part as who I am as a human, so maybe it makes me more humanized to them, which hopefully makes them more comfortable approaching me or talking to me.”
In addition to connecting with students, Jones’ live streams have also allowed him to meet others outside of his community. Previously, Jones experienced his 15 minutes of fame in 2017, when he started the first 15 seconds of one of video lectures playing Overwatch, a popular first-person shooter video game. The video blew up on YouTube and Reddit, amassing more than 100,000 views and receiving over 300 subreddits. Nowadays, whether it be talking to new students during the actual live stream or meeting them in person, Jones enjoys the interactions he is able to have on a smaller scale.
“I’ve had someone from a high school in San Jose who came and visited me,” Jones said. “He brought me a mouse and a keyboard, which was kind of cool and very nice of him. At a certain point, I had people on there from Nevada and other places around the country, so that was interesting.”
According to Alimadad, another reason why Jones’ live streams are well received by viewers is the setup that he has uses. Alimadad enjoys the live streams because of the academic help he is able to receive, but also because he likes the way Jones plans out his live streams by starting off with questions and eventually shifting to both gaming and answering questions.
“I like that format a lot because you can first learn, and then you can have fun watching him play video games,” Alimadad said. “The students will feel more engaged than when they're in class, and I think that will help them learn better.”
In contrast to Alimadad, Gustafson’s opinions on the format differ when it comes to the video game aspect. Despite being an avid gamer himself, Gustafson recognizes the limits that incorporating video games could potentially create.
“It's distracting or it can be distracting,” Gustafson said. “The video game aspect of it gears the whole ‘asking questions’ session to a certain, smaller audience that likes video games.”
Although Gustafson was initially doubtful of its efficiency, he agrees that live streams do help to a certain extent and appreciates the way Jones balances video games with questions.
“I think for what it was, it was more effective than I had anticipated it to be,” Gustafson said. “Because a lot more people were asking questions than I thought would. He was pretty good at putting his priority on answering the questions over playing the game.”
Although Jones doesn’t exactly know the extent of the social impact his video game and live stream combinations have on students at MVHS, he hopes to continue them throughout this year.
“Have I noticed an overall and sudden trend?” Jones said. “Not really, I’m not overwhelmed with people coming in and spilling their deepest secrets to me. I’m not really keeping track or keeping data on it. I’m just kind of doing it because it’s really not a lot of effort on my part and I've seen the rewards, so it's worth it to me.”
“I’ve had someone from a high school in San Jose who came and visited me,” Jones said. “He brought me a mouse and a keyboard, which was kind of cool and very nice of him. At a certain point, I had people on there from Nevada and other places around the country, so that was interesting.”
According to Alimadad, another reason why Jones’ live streams are well received by viewers is the setup that he has uses. Alimadad enjoys the live streams because of the academic help he is able to receive, but also because he likes the way Jones plans out his live streams by starting off with questions and eventually shifting to both gaming and answering questions.
“I like that format a lot because you can first learn, and then you can have fun watching him play video games,” Alimadad said. “The students will feel more engaged than when they're in class, and I think that will help them learn better.”
In contrast to Alimadad, Gustafson’s opinions on the format differ when it comes to the video game aspect. Despite being an avid gamer himself, Gustafson recognizes the limits that incorporating video games could potentially create.
“It's distracting or it can be distracting,” Gustafson said. “The video game aspect of it gears the whole ‘asking questions’ session to a certain, smaller audience that likes video games.”
Although Gustafson was initially doubtful of its efficiency, he agrees that live streams do help to a certain extent and appreciates the way Jones balances video games with questions.
“I think for what it was, it was more effective than I had anticipated it to be,” Gustafson said. “Because a lot more people were asking questions than I thought would. He was pretty good at putting his priority on answering the questions over playing the game.”
Although Jones doesn’t exactly know the extent of the social impact his video game and live stream combinations have on students at MVHS, he hopes to continue them throughout this year.
“Have I noticed an overall and sudden trend?” Jones said. “Not really, I’m not overwhelmed with people coming in and spilling their deepest secrets to me. I’m not really keeping track or keeping data on it. I’m just kind of doing it because it’s really not a lot of effort on my part and I've seen the rewards, so it's worth it to me.”