There’s something about video games that is alluring to people of all ages: young and old. Maybe it is the fact that the graphics are tailor-made to stimulate the players’ minds or the problem solving that is required to complete a certain level, video games are incredibly engaging and are used by most people to unravel at the end of the day. Therefore, it is not surprising that most academic institutions have started using video games as part of their lessons to help students’ education.
For the longest time, schools and colleges only relied on traditional teaching methodologies wherein students were required to attend lectures and go home to work on assignments. While such institutions have started to use games in the classroom, students still spend most of their time doing regular school exercises, tests, and essays.
This is why assignments by Writix are aimed at helping students with the heavy workload of homework so that they can get more incentives in the form of video games. Gamification for both education and student engagement has now become a popular trend in education. Though it does not change the regular classroom routine completely, it does allow students to engage more in the educational process.
Concept of Gamification
The concept of gamification in education is not a new one. Even before digital sports were a thing, teachers would rely on other forms of entertainment to keep their students from being bored in class. Thankfully though, with innovations on the rise, several companies have introduced engagement games that are not only fun to play but also help scholars learn.
A 2018 Pew Research Study found that 97% of children aged 12 to 17 have played a video sport. This goes to show the level of engagement that such computerized games can have. Although some studies show the negatives of having children become addicted to such recreational activities, recent studies show that there are many potential benefits of video games in the context of education and cognitive flexibility.
While many parents consider games a distraction from studies, students actually learn a lot of information from the games. New educational games constantly appear on the market, though are mostly targeted at toddlers and children up to the age of secondary school. College students reading articles to ace their exams would also appreciate a break from time to time while still sharpening their thinking.
Impact of Video Games
There have been several studies on the impact of using video games in education. For instance, a game called ‘Making History’ was introduced to a traditional classroom in 2011 in the US to teach children about history. The participants of the school were closely monitored to check their overall development.
The research showed that most students benefited from engaging in automated sport. The classroom also changed dramatically from a teacher-centric point of view to a learner-focused class. The scholars were free to interact with each other during the class and ask their teachers questions to help them think critically while working on the game to level up. The students’ overall excitement was extremely high, and each of them was involved in the classroom. Some were even known to discuss their game strategies before and after the lessons.
Social Development With Games
Academicians have even taken the concept of gaming one step further to teach scholars about social studies. A game called ‘Pax Warrior’ was introduced to high school students in a graduate-level public policy course. The theme was based around a United Nations decision-making panel that discussed the genocide in Rwanda. The study participants were not entirely excited about the game; however since no matter what they decided on, people were likely to die.
The research findings show that while students were not particularly enthused about Pax Warriors, they did learn an important life lesson. With the computerized simulation’s help, educators were able to show them that not everything in life is black and white. Sometimes people are forced to make decisions in which the least amount of people get hurt. The research shows that sport does not have to be necessarily fun to enhance learning.
Conclusion
The impact of computerized games on one’s education is quite clear. With the help of automated simulations, scholars can immerse themselves in a different world and learn from real-life scenarios. In school and college, one’s academic achievement is usually measured in grades. The introduction of video games has significantly impacted the test scores of participants in classes that used computerized sports to learn. However, further research may be needed to appreciate the full impact of video games on one’s overall behaviour, learning, and understanding.
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