The Impact Of Digital Games On Learning

Gamification is the use of game elements in non-game contexts on the purpose of making the object entertained. (Deterding et al., 2011) Gamification in education can be interpreted as the notion of presenting learning materials and designing pedagogy by integrating game mechanics. It is believed that without the desire of learning, learners will lose passion for pursue knowledge. As a result, the features of gaming, competition and motivation are the reasons that the integration of gamification has been increasingly placed emphasis. Yet, there are a few researches in terms of the efficiency and learning outcome of gamification in education.

The U.S. public education system has been subject for debate for many years now, budget cuts, overcrowding and lack of innovation have severely impacted the effectiveness of our schools. As a result, according to a report by Education Week, “In mathematics, 29 nations and other jurisdictions outperformed the United States by a statistically significant margin, up from 23 three years ago” (Heitin). Coupled with our 19th and 22nd ranking of literacy and science respectively, because of this, we can conclude a reform is necessary if we want to remain prevalent in tomorrow 's economy (Heitin). To get to the root of the problem and secure economic prosperity for our children, we need to reconcile the relationship between schools and students. Some of the reasons students dislike school is because it revolves around the prospect of failure, not gaining knowledge or solving problems. Therefore, this method is not very effective as it does not encourage curiosity and relies on extrinsic motivation. Many educators have played around with the idea of using video games in the classroom, kids love to play these simulations where one must learn the game and fail, in order to succeed. Even though they are usually viewed as an expensive entertainment medium, recent technological advancements in hardware capabilities have resulted in better and more immersive gameplay while lowering the cost of each unit may help bring video games into the classroom. Video games can be used as a medium to

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

In fact, many experts “herald this gamification of education as the way of the future”. It 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” (qtd. in Malykhina). In our current culture MinecraftEDU has educational merit. But with all the time kids spend video gaming, concerned parents and child experts are afraid kids will lose “interest in the real world” (Jenkins), trading it in for a virtual one instead. Video gaming can be used as a learning tool in the classroom, but there are still unanswered questions related to the total amount of time kids spend video gaming both in and out of school. The community of parents, educators, and child experts are simply learning as they

In the past decade there has been an increased interest in video games and their potential uses to increase motivation and academic achievement. A variety of games have been designed to engage students and provide academic learning in various subjects.

Across the continents, people are turning to new technological developments for entertainment. Unlike the previous generations who were fascinated by television and radio, the current generations are much more advanced regarding their choices of technology, relying on their smart phones, tablets, and game consoles to help them pass their free time. Today's youngest generation in particular, enjoys playing video games. Although parents may be concerned about the amount of time their children are spending on these video games, they should realize the numerous benefits to playing video games that have been identified, including increased problem solving skills and better grades, various health benefits, decreased stress and increased social

The market for video games targets people of all ages, these games however are not just for recreation but are also making headway in the academic world gearing more towards learning through play on the educational level. With a recent spike in popularity and availability video games have become something of interest with academic scholars, teachers and concerned parents wondering how an increased exposure to video games will affect their students academic success. In theory, one would believe that recreational video games are detrimental to academic success but when video games are used for educational purpose’s they can be very effective.

As a child in your elementary school classroom, have you ever cheered for joy when your teacher allowed you to play games on a computer or tablet to help you learn? Have you ever been more interested in the vivid colors and pretty designs in the game? Rather than the actual material within the game? Well I have. As a child, computers have distracted me from learning. I’ve been more interested in the bright colors and funny-looking animated characters in the game that it began to disable my ability to learn from the content within the game. Recently, Technologies such as computers and tablets, have been incorporated into the learning environment of children of all ages. There are many positive and negative effects

Leaning, M. (2015). A study of the use of games and gamification to enhance student engagement, experience and achievement on a theory-based course of an undergraduate media degree. Journal of Media Practice, 16(2), 155-170.

Instructional design and technology is a mixture of the designer’s knowledge of learning behaviors that is connected to the human psychology depending on educational materials to best help and facilitate the learning objectives. Instructional design is intensively linked with psychology in terms of variety of theories that are available to put the designers and learners on the right path to learn. The description of those theories give the designers a chance to see the vision and the outline of how to well create lessons for the learners including the media in ways as a tool for learning. The first thing to keep into consideration is to make sure the learners achieve the educational goals with high performance and efficiency.

Video games can be used as instructional tools as well. They have positive elements and add value; they create a micro world of their own. The players act based on natural tendencies towards learning. Therefore, learning occurs while playing (Rosas et al., 2003).

According to Annetta, Minogue, Holmes, and Cheng (2009), the world of education has included video games as part of learning to make it more entertaining and interesting to students. Gaming has helped to inspire many over the past few decades. The effectiveness of video games as an educational tool is still not widely studied even though literature on this topic is growing. As a result, the researchers studied participants' levels of engagement when playing with educational video games and their effectiveness on concept understanding. Their research is crucial to this paper because it addresses the positive effects of video games on children's learning process.

Timon of Athens admonished Apemantus once and said: “In general riot; melted down thy youth. / In different beds of lust; and never learn'd. / The icy precepts of respect, but follow'd. / The sugar'd game before thee” (Shakespeare, trans. 1995, 4.3.255-258). This idea of games as being a distraction from more serious tasks is not unique to Timon of Athens but also many cultures, especially American culture. This is manifested in the metaphors we live by such as “He is playing games!” or “She is gaming the system.” I remember my father said to me once: “Don’t waste your time on this!” He was referring to Pong, the first retro tennis video game, which I played a lot during my childhood. There is a negative atmosphere still surrounding video games as containing inappropriate language and content. I always thought this negative categorization of video games as unfair and inaccurate. As I grew up and began playing more advanced video games on PlayStation and Xbox, I became more interested in their potentials. I became particularly absorbed in the online collaborative environment, the critical thinking skills needed to solve problems and overcome challenges, and the virtual environment. Gee’s (2003) What video games have to teach us about learning and literacy, kindled my passion in conducting research on this topic.

Video games have been known to be a negative effect on children throughout the years. They have also been connected to violent behaviors. With this, games have been given a lot of negative light within the media, yet they are seen in a large amount of homes throughout the United States. Lately, computers and tablets have been introduced into the american school system given children even more access to video games throughout their day. This brings up the question if maybe using different games may help children learn. Video games have been made in the past, such as JumpStart, to help children learn. This starts to raise the question of what are video games able to do to help students learn.

Video games have become a huge part of our lives in various forms, such as consoles, handheld devices and some television games. As Suzanne Phillips Psy.D, ABPP, stated, “Statistics reveal that 58% of Americans play video games, the average age of a player is 30 years old... and parents are involved with their children’s game purchases 81% of the time.” “Video Gaming: Unexpected Benefits” Every age group from toddlers to senior citizens are exposed to a form of video game, whether it be educational, fantasy, violence or even a puzzle. Within all age groups, there is a variation of different types of video games and usage amount.