Do video games help you learn? This is a question that people have been asking since video games first came on the market. It’s maybe not a question of ‘are they educational by themselves’. It might be more appropriate to ask if we can get some educational value from them.
Action Players vs. Non-Action Players
As anybody who works for EduJungles knows, there are different ways to look at a problem. This is why we teach problem solving, after all. Not everyone is going to see things the same way, but they still need to learn the same skills!
Games can help you teach problem solving skills. Most games involve a mix of fighting and diplomacy. How much of one versus another can depend on the player and how they approach the game. You can incorporate lessons into the game by getting students to try and avoid fighting, for example. Let them see how far they get, and what options they have. It could be a very good learning experience for them.
Games Improve Communication Skills
Games can help you and yours improve your communication skills. Games like Minecraft are good for this. Minecraft is an open world made for people to build and explore and discover. Have your students form teams and go into Minecraft. Set them tasks that they have to accomplish together.
Video games and learning can go very well together. There is plenty of value in putting people into teams, like in the example above. You can also use this for games which are connected on the internet. There, your students can collaborate in-game with people they meet.
This can also be a good opportunity to teach proper etiquette. Teach your students that it is not okay to hurt others on the internet or games platforms.
Types of Educational Games
Playing video games is a lot of fun! And playing games can be educational in and of itself. There are also games which are made for education. There are very basic ones such as maths simulators, which have children doing sums. There are similar ones for English. All of these games get more complex as children grow older.
You have games that can teach co-ordination, among other things. Games that teach science. Anything you can think of, there is a game for it.
Educational games are not yet at a level where they can replace school. Of course they aren’t. But they are a fun way to practice. Do you know students who have a different style of learning to the rest of the class? Then send them to an educational game, and maybe it will help.
Measuring Learning
Measuring learning can be quite hard, especially in today’s environment. Essaywritingservice.ca normally keeps track of their writers progress through feedback and grammar web sites. As a teacher, these routes may not be open to you. A game normally shows the progress of its players in a number of ways. Maybe you could use them as a means of marking where your students are.
Games can track progress by the level their players are at, or by what they have.
You can use this – take a game, and see what levels happen when. Then, you can set awards and merits based on when a student reaches particular levels. It depends on the game how you handle the effects.
Games Teach you Basic Economics
A lot of games, particularly RPGs, involve money of some kind. This is possibly the most basic example of video games as learning. Have your students try and buy and sell their items to meet a specified amount.
You can use this to segue into lessons about supply and demand. Why are some items cheaper, while some are expensive? What is the difference between one armour set and another? There are so many lessons you could teach around in-game economics. It can also bring up some interesting discussions on the wider economy in society.
Video Games Help you Understand Emotional Manipulation
One of the lesser known uses of video games is to teach people about emotional manipulation. Therer has a been a lot of controversy lately over loot boxes in games. Video games experiment with how to get money from their players after all. Server space isn’t free even if the game is – they need some way to make money.
You can teach your students about emotional manipulation in a few ways. Some of the NPCs in games definitely try and manipulate the player into doing what they want. You can use this as a jumping off point to explore issues around asking for help, or giving what you can’t afford. You can also work with your students to talk about emotional manipulation by other players. People can be led into doing things they don’t want to do very easily. Explore issues of language and expression. How are they used to manipulate and cheat?
It Show you how to Play with Myths and Symbols
Video game learning is very easy when it comes to games like Assassin’s Creed and Gods of War. These games are full of historically accurate details. If you teach history these games can be a very good back up to what students learn in class. The Total War series has just launched Total War: Troy. This can be a good way to teach the epics in a class – both the stories around them, and the actual history.
Even if students don’t have the games themselves, they don’t need to miss out. YouTube is a fantastic resource. There are any number of channels featuring playthroughs of the games in question.
Games Boost your Reactions
Writemyessayforme.co.uk makes sure that its writers are all good at what they do, and quick at what they do. Many places value quick reflexes just as much – these reflexes can be crucial in later life. Do your students want to have quicker reflexes? You could do worse than showing them video games. These games train people to react more quickly than they did before. First person shooter games are better for this, but any kind of game can require quick actions. Games are good for this because they typically give some kind of reward for quick actions. It incentivises people to try more, and so creates more opportunities to get quick reflexes.
Learn Through Play
So, does gaming help learning? It can, if you approach it the right way. If you see what can be used in a game, then yes, it can help. The tips in this essay alone should prove that. Who said you had to be a child to learn through play?
