Relative Advantage of Using Digital Games

Digital Games in the Classroom

Imagine a school in which students could learn through digital games. Would there be advantages to this? For some there would, but what about the students who are not "gamers", students who still love learning through books or other traditional methods? Would they come to enjoy digital games if it was part of their learning experience? 

It's a digital world! Children, teens, and adults are becoming more and more dependent on their digital devices. We have immediate access to unlimited resources 24:7, opening up our lives to the fast paced non-stop life of the information highway. Most students carry a powerful computer in their pockets, which gives them access to the Internet, music, shopping, communication tools, and puts the world within their reach. They are used to that instant access to information, so what happens to their thought process when they enter into a more traditional learning environment where everything seems to be moving in slow motion?

According to an article titled 4 Reasons Why Gaming Must Be Used in Education, “We’ve adapted our thought processes to fit our digital lives, and that’s bad news for the education system.” (1) For the most part, schools have not been able to keep up with the digital world that their students now relate to.

(1) 

The following video, "A Vision for 21st Century Learning", describes how people live their lives today, and the fact that most children begin using digital games prior to kindergarten. It talks about preparing our children, through their education, for the work challenges that they'll face as adults.

Video games are definitely an engaging way to capture the students' interest. How fascinating would learning be, if instead of reading a book and trying to memorize information, you could go on a digital journey, enter into a virtual world, and learn by becoming an active part of that world. There is a place in education for digital games. "The Neurology of Gaming" diagram below outlines some of the positives and negatives of using digital games.

The Neurology of Gaming (5)

Neurological studies have shown that video games can be used as a learning tool. According to Judy Willis, MD, "Games insert players at their achievable challenge level and reward player effort and practice with acknowledgement of incremental goal progress, not just final product.” (4) By rewarding the students' achievement as they progress, and giving feedback as they go, students are able to self-correct, change strategies, and plan for their next moves, right away. Developing these skills is an important part of the skill set that they will need in the future.

(1)

Florida Virtual School is a full-time on-line school that is using video games to engage students in the curriculum, using a game called Conspiracy Code, a history learning game. A student who has difficulty fitting in to a traditional learning environment and is not engaged by 20th century teaching methods, describes how video games help him to learn. 

Playing video games will motivate students to learn key concepts, due to the fact that in order to progress in the game, mastery of skills has to be achieved. Students are able to see their score, generally in the form of accumulating points, as they go. They don't have to wait for homework or a test to be returned to see how they are doing. In the digital environment as they achieve, their score increases, which gives the player an immediate reward and sense of satisfaction. 

The video below gives some insight, especially the part about medicine, as to why introducing children to video games could impact their success in the future. It's so hard to predict what the future will actually look like, but as quickly as technology is changing, I can imagine that almost everything that my elementary students will do as adults, will involve the use of some sort of technology. If the education process does not adapt in a way that reinforces the skills that will be needed in the future, it is not meeting the needs of the students.

Skills necessary to function in the fast moving digital world of the 21st Century are very different than those taught in a traditional school setting. Integrating digital games into the curriculum will help to not only engage our digital learners, but to build skills in problem solving, decision making, strategy building, cooperation, online socializing, and self-motivation. Developing these skills will lead students toward a successful future in the world that will be theirs, as adults.

In conclusion, I think that although there are definitely advantages to integrating digital games into the curriculum, and beginning to incorporate as many digital resources into our daily routines is important, as educators we need to consider all of the learning styles and adjust the curriculum accordingly. As with all assignments, options need to be made available that will meet the needs of everyone. The real challenge is going to be finding games that are economically feasible, and are exciting enough to engage students, while still meeting academic goals...fun and interesting but not all "fluff". Public education has a long way to go and we need to begin by developing an awareness to the benefits of gaming, and working to get everyone in a district on board. It takes a village!!!

Work Cited:

1. (2012). 4 Reasons Why Gaming Must Be Used in Education. Retrieved March 11, 2016, from http://whatculture.com/gaming/4-reasons-why-gaming-must-be-used-in-education.php.

2. (2009). Florida Virtual School Makes History Learning a Game - Blogs. Retrieved March 12, 2016, from http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/DigitalEducation/2009/06/new_gamebased_course_for_flvs.html.

3. (2014). Conspiracy Code Conspires to Teach American History ... Retrieved March 12, 2016, from http://www.gamification.co/2014/02/04/conspiracy-code/.

4. (2014). A Neurologist Makes the Case for the Video Game Model as ... Retrieved March 11, 2016, from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/neurologist-makes-case-video-game-model-learning-tool.

5. (2012). The Neurology of Gaming - OnlineUniversities.com. Retrieved March 11, 2016, from http://www.onlineuniversities.com/neurology-of-gaming.

6. (2013). Video Games and Social Emotional Learning | User ... Retrieved March 10, 2016, from https://usergeneratededucation.wordpress.com/2013/02/11/games-and-social-emotional-learning/.