Fact or Fiction?: Video Games Are the Future of Education. As kids all across the U.S. head back to school, they’re being forced to spend less time in front of their favorite digital distractions. Or are they? Video games are playing an increasing role in school curricula as teachers seek to deliver core lessons such as math and reading—not to mention new skills such as computer programming—in a format that holds their students’ interests. Some herald this gamification of education as the way of the future and a tool that allows students to take a more active role in learning as they develop the technology skills they need to succeed throughout their academic and professional careers. Few would argue that video games can do it all in terms of education, says Scot Osterweil, a research director in Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Comparative Media Studies program and creative director of the school’s Education Arcade initiative to explore how games can be used to promote learning.
Are Video Games Educational? Video games. While they may seem like the bane of every parent's existence, they don't have to be—many of them offer unique learning features. And with increased requirements in schools placing unprecedented demands on children and parents, it may be time to start thinking about video games as teaching tools. The learning component of gaming can be optimized with parent involvement. That means understanding what makes a game both fun and educational. What makes a game fun? Challenge and strategy – this is the core of the game. What makes a game educational? New information – this is the educational information provided. Armed with that information, let’s take a look at what the PC and console video gaming industry has to offer. Big Fish Games. But learning doesn't just come from the video games that are designed specifically for education; there are some great learning experiences among popular entertainment video games, too.
Play games with your child. Video Games In Education And Training - eLearning Industry. Video games in education - Wikipedia. This page includes some history of video games being used as an additional or alternative method to traditional education. This page presents why using video games are beneficial to use for educational purposes in the classroom as well as the limitations. This page additionally discusses how learning from video games outside the classroom is possible as well. Compared to a classroom model[edit] Video games have been found to be more engaging in a classroom environment; instead of providing information over an extended class period, games provide small amounts of information at relevant stages. Educational setting[edit] As video games spread in the 1980s, the educational potential of them was researched. Using video games in the classroom[edit] Several studies have attempted to answer, "How and to what extent are games used in the classroom?
" While there are people who do not agree with the idea of using video games in the classroom, others are open- minded to the experiment. See also[edit] Educational video games. © 2010 - 2012 Gwen Dewar, Ph.D., all rights reserved Educational video games are big business. But do they work? Unfortunately, there hasn’t been much rigorous research to answer that question, particularly when it comes to games aimed at children. One small survey has reported that kids who played educational games were less likely to suffer from attention problems at school. This contrasted with kids who played violent and/or arcade-like video games. Other research suggests that playing "action" video games can improve visual-spatial skills. In a recent experiment on 60 undergraduates, Christopher Sanchez randomly assigned students to play either a computer word game or Halo: Combat Evolved, an action game of the type that has been linked with improvements in visuospatial ability.
After 25 minutes of play, students read a complex article about plate tectonics, and then were tested on their understanding of the material by writing an essay entitled, "What caused Mt. The problem? Problem loading page. Intrinsic Motivation in Education and Video Games. Why is it that children can be so dedicated to learning and mastering the languages, systems, and patterns of video game worlds but not interested in school work, which teaches them how the languages, systems, and patterns of the life world around them? The answer is not a mystery. It is simple: context. Games give children opportunities to use new knowledge in context. To the contrary, our everyday education practices often fail to contextualize the content. Given the opportunity, children will play video games for hours. My own children not only play the popular game Minecraft for hours, they also watch YouTube videos and read books about the game.
Certainly some of my children’s excitement to learn the game is motivated by a desire to earn status and recognition: they enjoy being among the best players in their peer groups. In order to gain a desirable level of commitment and comprehension from our students, content must be presented in contextualized ways. Video Games and Education. The effects of video games on school achievement. © 2010 - 2013 Gwen Dewar, all rights reserved Testing the effects of video games: The importance of controlled experiments Some survey-based studies have reported a link between video game use and poor achievement in school.
But correlation doesn’t prove causation. Kids who struggle in school may be more likely to seek out video games as a distraction. A recent experimental study helps address this ambiguity. Robert Weis and Brittany Cerankosky selected a group of boys who didn’t own video games (Weis and Cerankosky 2010). Then each boy was randomly assigned to one of two conditions:The “video games now" group got their systems immediately The “video games later" group didn’t receive their systems until months later—after the end of the study Researchers tracked the boys’ academic performance at school, and found evidence of an effect. Such results are consistent with surveys on adolescents who play video games in the United States.
But is all the news bad? More information. Video games in education doesn't have to mean educational video games. Educational Video Games Can Boost Motivation to Learn, NYU, CUNY Study Shows. Math video games can enhance students’ motivation to learn, but it may depend on how students play, researchers at NYU and the City University of New York have found in a study of middle-schoolers. Math video games can enhance students’ motivation to learn, but it may depend on how students play, researchers at New York University and the City University of New York have found in a study of middle-schoolers. While playing a math video game either competitively or collaboratively with another player—as compared to playing alone—students adopted a mastery mindset that is highly conducive to learning. Moreover, students’ interest and enjoyment in playing the math video game increased when they played with another student. Their findings, which appear in the Journal of Educational Psychology, point to new ways in which computer, console, or mobile educational games may yield learning benefits.
The authors caution about generalizing their results, however. 50 Educational Video Games That Homeschoolers Love. Video games often get a bad rap. Some of that criticism may be deserved (many don’t exactly encourage kids to get active), but video games aren’t all bad. In fact, there are a number that are pretty darn educational and can help students young and old learn new things, develop problem-solving skills, and get creative, all while having a really great time.
Many schools have already gotten on board with educational video games and homeschoolers can do the same. Here are some great games to try out that present quality educational content in a fun format that students from kindergarten to high school will love. Gaming Platform These video games for Wii, Xbox, and Playstation will get your kids loving the learning process. My Word Coach: Available for both Wii and Nintendo DS, this linguist-developed game will help students improve their verbal communication skills through six different fun, word-related games. Handheld Devices Computer SimCity: This classic game isn’t just fun. Online iPad. U.S. Department of Education: The future of education includes video games in classrooms. 10 Educational Video Games Your Kids Will Love | HowStuffWorks. If I told you that kids really like playing video games, you'd probably roll your eyes and tell me I'm stating the obvious.
But if I explained to you just how much kids like games -- that a study by the Pew Research Center found that a staggering 97 percent of kids ages 12 to 17 play video games -- would that get your attention? Sure, kids spend a lot of time in front of computers, TVs and handheld devices, and as a parent you probably worry that they're just scrambling their brains with all that gameplay. But it turns out that time spent playing video games can actually be pretty educational -- those word games and problem solving tasks they have to complete to get to the next level can really teach valuable skills.
It's all part of a growing field of activities known as "edutainment," or education while entertaining. And while kids are having fun they're picking up problem solving, critical thinking, math, language and even science skills. Playing High-Action Video Games May Speed Up Learning, Studies Say. Xbox fans play games from the popular “Halo” franchise at HaloFest in Los Angeles earlier this week. —Matt Sayles/Invision for Microsoft/AP Fort Worth, Texas Contrary to the popular stereotype of a distracted teenager lost in Halo or Call of Duty video games, new evidence suggests playing such high-action video games may help students learn and react faster—but not more impulsively.
The new findings run counter to recent studies that have linked extensive video game playing to attention-deficit and impulsiveness disorders, stoking concerns that playing highly stimulating video games reduces students’ ability to pay attention in less-stimulating academic settings. “Certainly, there’s a sense that action video games have been a disruptive technology in terms of capturing the attention of students,” said Daphne Bavelier, the director of the Rochester Center for Brain Imaging, in Rochester, N.Y., in a symposium this month at the International Mind, Brain, and Education Society meeting here. Ms. Are Video Games the Future of Education?
Game developers all over the country are working to align some educational games to Common Core State Standards, while educators and video game makers are seeing benefits in using games in a classroom context, despite concerns from administrators. This could be the golden age of educational video games. “You’re going to see teachers and students build games together,” said EdTech insider Garrett Fuller at New York’s 10th Annual Comic-Con.
Fuller, a former teacher, is a journalist, and game developer within software configuration management, at TenTonHammer and MMORPG.com respectively. He lead off the panel Games and Education, a professional development session for educators, at this year’s New York Comic-Con. “It’s a passion that drives you to learn and play, and it keeps pinging your brain in different ways. “I think that’s the environment you’re going to start to see more and more,” he said. “Getting the new technology into schools is critical. Education World® 7 Ways Video Games Will Help Your Kids in School | The Huffington Post. The first video games were not designed with education in mind. Pong, Mario Brothers, Sonic the Hedgehog and Street Fighter didn’t help anyone learn algebra, practice vocabulary, or memorize details of Ancient Roman history, but they were fun.
Because of their entertaining nature, video games developed a bad rap over the years for “rotting kids’ brains” or distracting them from more studious pursuits. Fortunately, we know now that playing video games is far from a waste of time. A number of recent studies have indicated that video games, even violent ones, can help kids develop essential emotional and intellectual skills that support academic achievement. These findings led many innovative teachers around the globe to recognize the benefits of gaming and include game-based learning in their curricula.
However, it’s not just in-school gaming that reaps benefits. 1. Seventy percent of gamers play with their friends who are in the same room, and only 20 percent play alone. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Pros and cons of video games in schools -- ScienceDaily. Video games that include physical exercise, known as exergames, encourage children to exercise and counteract overweight -- two reasons why schools in several countries use them in physical education.
"One drawback is that health in some games is all about burning calories and measuring BMI. An advantage is that video games can be used as a learning aid in teaching, such as in dance," says Professor Mikael Quennerstedt. "Playing a video game gives points for burning calories. Likewise, the body is portrayed as having an ideal BMI of 22 -- even though we know that BMI says little about a person's health. Alarmingly, some video games amplify the media image of a healthy individual, while others focus on rankings, comparison and competition. So as a learning aid, video games have obvious problems," says Mikael Quennerstedt, and continues: Therefore, Mikael Quennerstedt and his colleagues have focused on what children and young people learn from the games.
Playing action video games can boost learning : NewsCenter. A new study shows for the first time that playing action video games improves not just the skills taught in the game, but learning capabilities more generally. “Prior research by our group and others has shown that action gamers excel at many tasks. In this new study, we show they excel because they are better learners,” explained Daphne Bavelier, a research professor in brain and cognitive sciences at the University of Rochester. “And they become better learners,” she said, “by playing the fast-paced action games.” According to Bavelier, who also holds a joint appointment at the University of Geneva, our brains keep predicting what will come next—whether when listening to a conversation, driving, or even preforming surgery.
Action Players vs. The action-gamers outperformed the non-action gamers. Video Training Individuals with little video game experience were recruited, and as part of the experiment, they were asked to play video games for 50 hours over the course of nine weeks. The educational benefits of videogames.