Why Schools Should Make More Use Of Video Games?

China established a video game-free zone to reduce gaming time among its youth. These were not allowed to be played by students during the school days. Limit them to only an hour per week on Fridays, weekends, and holidays.

Should video games be limited during the school week? We see the need for it to grow during the school days and actual school time.

The video game market is one of the most popular media. It is estimated that it will reach US$268.8 billion by 2025. This is significantly higher than the $178 billion in 2021.

Gaming does not offer an escape from real life, it can enhance it!

A long history

It’s not a new idea for video games to be used in classrooms. The original game was developed in a classroom in 1971.

The game sees players leading a group of settlers in the Midwest to follow in Lewis and Clark’s footsteps.

For over 50 years educational video games were used in schools. These educational games aren’t very popular in schools today, despite studies showing that they can be highly beneficial.

We have five reasons to believe that video games should not be banned in schools.

1. STEM students can use video games to stay engaged

According to the 2020 President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, the nation must develop the STEM workforce of tomorrow. Many students abandon or change programs in engineering, science, and mathematics because of the difficulty of introductory courses like calculus.

The University of Oklahoma has developed a Calculus game to assist students with their calculus learning.

2. Allows for experiential learning

According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, teaching students 21st-century skills, such as creative problem solving, is vital for the future workforce. DragonBox Algebra lets students solve math problems in a fantasy environment. This helps them develop critical thinking skills.

Civilization gives players the opportunity to be a leader within the community and help guide countries to prosperity. They can also become bankers, or patrons for the arts. Through experiential learning, they can acquire knowledge and skills.

3. Learn from your mistakes as a player

While students are naturally prone to failing, they can learn from their failures and try again until success

Burnout Paradise makes it fun to fail. Players can learn from their mistakes and correct them before trying again. It can be a remedy for people who will prefer to buy homework for cheap or just skip it if the very first part of the assignment goes wrong.

Jesper is a video game researcher and author who stated in his book The art and failure that failing to complete a video game makes the player feel inadequate, but can quickly redeem themselves and improve their skills.

4. Students get involved in content

The average time students spend in school is 60% of the day. Expanding the time in school will not be effective. But making learning time more engaging will increase the effectiveness of learning a lot. So gamified learning can improve learning quality by simply being more interesting.

5. Games make complicated knowledge fun

According to educational theories knowledge cannot be taught. Students learn their knowledge through their own efforts.

Many students struggle to remember the periodic list of elements. Instead, students play the game. They gain a deeper understanding of how the game works. They learn fundamental skills like literacy, how they can compete in grace and sportsmanship, along with abstract thinking.

While Pokemon wasn’t intended to be an educational videogame, the design principles and gameplay of other video games can be easily used to create educational videogames in schools.