The Learning Capabilities Through Video Games

Those against the inclusion of games or technology in education will continue to refute with flawed evidence and research tactics hoping to mislead others in their crusade. Naturally bingeing on games and technology will not help in the educational fields however thanks to currently trends we are able to monitor and stay goal oriented when using entertainment for scholarly purposes. Those in support of these educational endeavors continue to find ways to improve upon the system. At one point in time the ESRB was founded to please those against video games however some organizations have gone the extra step to improve the ESRB one step further. Common Sense Media (CSM) was founded in order to expand upon the seven existing categories of the ESRB in order to offer a more beneficial view for parents and educational institutions (Common Sense Media [CSM], 2014). Computer entertainment is a multibillion-dollar industry generating 30.4 billion dollars in 2016 and shows excessive gains each year especially after the explosion of the mobile market (ESA, 2012). The sooner we recognize the positive capabilities of this technology and learn how to correctly apply it to our educational system the sooner our society and future will

Everyone enjoys the sweet taste of victory and the feeling of accomplishing a goal, especially in a video game. However, video games are not just about winning. Video games are a good method to enhance our educational experience and create a career pathway for us to take. By creating a video game course within schools around the world, we are able to create a whole new generation and future that incorporates the advanced technology that is constantly improving.

During Jane McGonagall’s 2010 TED Talk video “Gaming can make a better world”, she states “the average young person today in a country with a strong gamer culture will have spent ten thousand hours gaming by age 21”. Such numbers alone should pique the interest of every educator in our country. Young people today spend the same amount of time learning at school as they spend gaming (TED Talk, 2010). Many people view video games as fun, exciting, and adventurous outlets where they can escape reality and be creative innovators. As educators, we want our classrooms to accomplish similar outcomes. We want learning to be fun, exciting, and adventurous. We want our learners to be creative, critical-thinking innovators who strive to change the world. This brief dissertation will evaluate the influences gamification can have on teaching and learning, the science behind learner motivation and its connection with gamification, analyze how gamifying supports differentiated ways to teach and learn, and discuss how technologies and gamification are being used to enhance teaching and learning.

Kids in schools often struggle with learning invaluable life skills. Life skills that are supposed to carry kids throughout the rest of their lives. The solution to this problem may be easier than we initially thought. What if we could teach these skills through video games? In Pamela Paul’s “Reading, Writing and Video Games”, Paul argues that video games are ineffective in the classroom and serve more as a hindrance rather than an asset. Classrooms should take advantage of the technological advances like video games that have the ability to positively teach young minds life skills.

This is a wonderful point, if of course the instructor chooses to incorporate actual video games into the class at all. I don’t believe the author of this article fully understood the concept of gamification. It seems to me that she believes everyone will be sitting around playing video games all day. When, in reality, it’s simply borrowing game mechanics of achievement, progress, collaboration, competition, chance, and success to bring into classroom scenarios. A gamified classroom may never see an actual video game used in class at all! I believe it would be up to the instructor to choose whether or not to incorporate games into their curriculum. From this article I see a problem that needs to be addressed. The problem is misinformation regarding what gamification actually entails. A clear line should be drawn between educational learning with games versus personal playing. To be frank, I wouldn’t support gamification at all if it constantly had me playing video games to finish homework assignments. I wouldn’t enjoy games to the fullest, or at least I wouldn’t find enjoyment playing them outside of school because it’ll feel like work. Yet, on the occasion a homework assignment to play a game would be

However, video game technology can greatly improve the ways human interact with their environments in terms of the overall learning process. There is much to be observed and studied in order to perfectly synergize video game technology to precisely benefit humankind. However, this analysis sought to bring to light, research looking into potential benefits in order maximize the learning potential humans could potentially have. There were certain examples supplied which suggested that

An electronic device in which a player would control the images on the screen is known as video games (WorldBookStudent). Video games are the basis to why some students do not do well to school. This is because these students would get the “video game addiction” in which the games “would take over the lives of a kid.” Is this a psychological disorder like the others stated within the DSM-IV? The answer for this is no (CRCHealthGroup). This addiction however is not a mental disorder, but instead many students may use video games as a stress reducer by releasing all their energy that they gain during the day on the video games. These students would only feel that a videogame is more interesting because it would have cool graphics and most games are multiplayer games which mean that they can play with their friends (VideoGameAddiction). This cause would lead to the effect of where students do badly in school because they would be too concentrated in the video games they play that they will have less time to do any homework which will lead them to not understanding the concept within what the lesson is about. From this adults can understand how students do not do well when they take tests and final exams. What can people do about this situation in this case? Since some students within school are addicted to video games, therefore the school system should provide a career pathway on how to create and program video games because it will allow these gaming students to participate

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.

Educational institutions are experimenting with gaming by integrating gaming elements, mechanics and frameworks into non-game situations and scenarios. Educators recognize that games can inspire productivity and creativity among learners, promote engagement in critical thinking, problem solving skills as well as collaborative and team work, (Johnson, Becker, Estrada, & Freeman, 2014). Similar to designing a curriculum, gaming should follow specific design principles to ensure that goals are clear. The games should be at a pace where students can comfortably learn and doesn’t become frustrated and provide feedback throughout the process so students can get a feel of their progress and personal growth, (Reeves & Read, 2009). The first step

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.

Thesis: With enhancements in the gaming genre being created every day, many industries, experts and educators are seeing the benefits of using this technology in ways outside of just entertainment purposes.

This book looks at the educational level of what video games have to teach us. Gee analyzes what a good video game are, which possesses the characteristics of being hard, long, and complex. Furthermore, the game develops complex challenges, a learning potential, and steady struggles in the game, leading to be

Nowadays, video games have become a huge part of our society, many people especially kids play video games for hours, in fact, according to Rachel Barclay the percentage of kids who play video games in the United State is approximately 90% (7/16/2017). Surprisingly, not only kids, but also many adults play video games. However, many people say that video games can be beneficial for kids because it can teach them some valuable skills such as thinking critically, making great strategies and cooperating with others, for instance, a game called “League Of Legends” players work together and set strategies in order to dominate their opponent and take down the enemy team’s objects and win the game. Some schools also use another kind of video games in classes to enhance students’ enthusiasm and coopration by making a competitive game for example “Kahoot” a teacher can make a quiz full of multiple choice questions that contain the content he taught then the students challenge each other by exhibiting their understanding about a specific subject. Video games are sometimes beneficial for kids, but it also has many negative effects. Indeed, many people believe that video games can be dangerous for several reasons such as make people have weak relationship, health problems, and increase violence.

It also concluded that more research was needed on the use of educational gaming as a pedagogical tool in STEM disciplines as teachers prepare the 21st century learner. According to this article “ given emerging research on how videogames and associated pedagogies work in designed settings, it seem that the important questions is not can games be used to support learning but how can they support learning(Earnest, 2012). This is a controversial issue that can go either way but there is more positive outcome than negative at this time. One advantage of educational gaming that research has shown is that male students that use the joy sticks to play video games turn out to be very skilled surgeon because the practice and manipulation using the joy stick.

There is no question that multimedia can improve the quality of games and this is shown through such creations as Playstation. In the end, it is that very game-like quality that can enhance a learning experience. Parents watching their children play innovative games see how powerful multimedia is at teaching them how to read or solve math problems even thought the children perceive the experience as just a game. Building on the power of this perception, innovators have increasingly used multimedia to support all kinds of activities that are not just games ("Partial Project List").