Teachers Must Be Life Long Learners in Order to Better Educate Students and Incorporate Technology

Video games can be useful to the public, teachers, writers, and developers use games in study, design, critique, and for fun. Today’s children learn at a very young age how to work a cell phone and or a tablet. Video games are introduced at an early age as trends move from attempting to incorporate games into the classroom, to developing games that focus on learning. Even snipers are put into virtual games in order to improve their skill.

As stated earlier, there are several good learning principles that video games teach, which in turn complements learning. Video games allow students to explore roles and environments that would be otherwise impossible in a real-world setting. This principle is identity. Students learn a new domain by first experiencing/playing a new identity (Gee, 2005). In this identity, whether it is one created by students or a pre-created one that they take on, students observe value and work in the world, the way that their new identity does. In these games, students have the freedom to make alterations to the environments that they are in. Also, there are exposures to different time periods and extraordinary events. Reflection based on this data, reveals significant usage opportunities in subjects like social studies; timelines, time periods,

They’re learning to learn.” (Gee, 399) Gee might be correct that there is potential to learn through video gaming, however, it is more the content of these games that should be held up to scrutiny. Specifically, the depth of violence and unrealistic virtual worlds involved in many of these games should indeed hold cause for concern. There are no long term studies to draw from telling us that video gaming is either a good or bad thing. But we do have common sense to draw from and we should consider what is known to date from both ends of the spectrum. The popular television show Dr. Phil recently aired an episode when a young man was so addicted to video gaming that it overtook his life. He no longer ate, showered or brushed his teeth and only slept when it physically overtook him. He mentally transformed himself into the video game, ignoring everything else. While this may be only one case, it should not be ignored. When considering the theories both Carr and Gee present, both essays are alarming and brings one not only to the conclusion that education is definitely in crisis in this country, but if were intending on video games to fill some kind of educational void, we are likely a country in

Often through the course of history new inventions drastically change elements of society. The printing press allowed the mass production of books, leading to more education for many people. Today’s world is rapidly changing, and new technology is being invented frequently. Video games should be used in school to promote teamwork as well as teach new skills and material to the student. Additionally, video games could become an invaluable tool for teachers and educators to assess the learning style of a student, and therefore better prepare them to help that student learn. As Andy Serkis put it “Every age has its storytelling form, and video

Educational video games have been a hot topic in the past few years. Educational games prepare children to be more proficient with their work while being entertained. Educational video games promote good memory skills, provides motivation, and improves motor skills for children that are school aged in the United States. They can educate children in a healthy environment that provides excellent communication, so they can enhance their learning. It can enhance problem- solving while playing strategy games or puzzles. It also challenges the brain that connects memory and decision making. Educational video games are essential for the

Video games get a bad name for themselves because some people will spend hours in front of a screen working towards a virtual goal. They are blamed way too often for making kids violent and giving them an unrealistic view of the real world. Video games such as Atari’s Pong and Tomohiro Nishikado’s Space Invaders only had one objective (Welch). Now there are games like Fallout 3 and Assassin 's Creed where there are many objectives, puzzles, and achievable items. When video games were first made they were seen as mindless entertainment for young and even middle-aged people. Now, there are games that give you entertainment, but also educate you in a fun and creative way. Video games should be played more because there are many lessons and educative tools used to help people learn and think while playing and also having fun. According to an article published by the private University of Rochester, cognitive scientists did a study on fast-paced games like Call of Duty and Battlefield, and they help players be able to think on the move and multitask. They also help students in classrooms by giving them the ability to have a better understanding of core materials and take tests easier. The human brain learns easier and retains information better when it is excited or entertained while learning. Video games such as the Assassin’s Creed Series can help someone learn about history and solve puzzles while enjoying every

According to McGonigle & Mastrian, (2012), educational games, simulation and virtual technologies each have features that can assist an individual in learning and assist educators to choose appropriate tools for learners. The features include, goal orientation, competition, exploratory learning and social interaction. Learning is a skill acquired and uses thought processes that individuals need to respond, such as in gaming. Interactive experiences motivate and engage individuals in the learning process. Game based learning is working toward a goal, choosing actions and experiencing consequences of the actions through each level. In a sense, individuals actively learn and practice the right way to do things, whereas in a traditional setting, individuals are taught through passive approaches and are evaluated on memory. Interactive technologies such as game based education, simulations and virtual applications, the individuals learn the facts, understand the how’s and whys, seek abstract principles to allow them to perform consistently and effectively. Games are competitive, simulations can be goal oriented and virtual learning is through exploratory and social interactions. (Bliemel, & Ali-Hassan, 2014). Functional and factual learning can occur with interactive technology and can assist in problem solving creativity, persistence which are all skills learned.

Video games began in the late 1960s. It is highly interactive but also a distinct simulation of the real world and the world of thinking. In recent years, Video games have been gaining its popularity at an amazing rate and have developed into a common form of entertainment in people's lives. According to a survey, the researcher found that in 1992, approximately ninety-two percent of U.S. kids between 2 and 17 years of age play video games, and their parents bought 225 million of them last year to the tune of 6.4 billion dollars (Sider, 2002). Some people also believe that playing video games has become a cultural phenomenon. However, there are many noticeable problems are coming out while video games bring us a lot of fun. The most

Nowadays there are many more people playing video games, and some consider it a waste of time, but that is very possibly the opposite what is happening. It is possible that gamers are more likely to bring their problem-solving skills into the real world. Some reasons that this outcome might happen include intrinsic—or natural rewards, subconsciously having extra think time, and transferring the skills to real life.

For many years video games enthusiast have spoke out and said that well-designed games may impact learning through solo play. Video games are also good at motivation from their reinforcing reward systems (Ault 3). Meaning that people began to learn better when they are rewarded from the good work that they do from playing educational video games. Playing by themselves help them focus more on what they are doing and take in more than playing with others (Ault 3). They are less likely distracted from outside forces. Some studies on seeing if video games can help learning have shown to have positive feedback. Good Principles for learning have shown to come from well designed video games because they offer players “strong identities, makes players think like scientist, lower the consequences of failure, enable players to practice challenges until they get it right; and encourage players to think about relationships, instead of just isolated facts and events” (Ault 3). Many game enthusiast have also said that video games improve thinking. Educational video games cause the player to think and react to the obstacles and challenges that the game provides (Ault 4). With the option of repeating things in these types of games it leaves room for error and for the player to keep trying until they get it right. With most games ranking the player on their performance it makes you want to work harder to be the

Simulation, adventure, and role playing games are another type of video game that produces positive results in skill levels (Morgan 2003). Simulations games are widely used in training various areas:

As technology changes each generation, so does choice of pastime. The most notable one being a kid’s obsession with video games, spending hours glued to the monitor. Instead of fighting it, educators around the nation are accepting and adopting the video game interest to their classrooms. Many may argue that videogames are a distraction and are too violent, however, if implemented in school systems the games used will be safe and focused around the core subject. Otherwise, “there are teachers out there that are interested in leveraging game for learning, they 're not alone.” as the director of the academic and digital learning Lucas Gillispie says, It makes it logical to implement video games to the class lesson as it provides a fun and effective way for students to learn with.

Children who play video games show better performance in perception, attention, and cognition. This can be used to better educate students and control their attention for a longer period of time (Griffiths). The students like video games, when a learning aspects applied to them that relates to the subject they are on, then it makes the subject easier to understand for the children and easier for the teachers to teach.”Game play involves repeated actions that strengthen the brain cell connections underlying memory and learning” (Image on article by Griffiths). The gameplay has been scientifically shown to connect with memory, this will help children in class better remember what they are being taught. While playing the video games the children have plan ahead and think about what they are doing which is part of their cognition, the more they do this the better it becomes. “the researchers reported that gamers with previous experience of playing such action video games were better at perceptual tasks such as pattern discrimination than gamers with less experience”

Without doubt, Video games are a part of today’s modern world. If you look around you, everyone is playing a video game. Video games gives a massive impact on the life of every single person who has the access to it. What is a video game? This electronic game involves human interaction with a user interface to provide visual feedback on a video device. Even now, so many people are playing video games for many purposes depending who they are, what they do and what games they are interested in. Are they good for you? Well, maybe there are disadvantages. But, in our opinion the advantages greatly outnumber the disadvantages. However playing video games still gives a good influences for students on educational purposes. There are three main advantages

College students from now and into the future have grown up in an age where video games are commonplace as home entertainment. With this said, it is important to know how these students are and will be affected by using video games as an important source for their entertainment. The use of video games does have an impact on how a student learns and the grades they receive. As the popularity of video games started to increase throughout the entire world, so have studies that have been performed on how video games affected students. In this time, from 2000 to 2010 and 2011 to the present, the main focus of these studies has changed in several different aspects. This has occurred because of changes in how the research was being performed and allowed different factors to be studied more in depth. Earlier studies on video games effects on college focused more on grades and scores, then later studies that focused more on the effects on the brain and on the individual.