Video Games in Education as a learning tool
Play has always been about learning
If you look at our animal counterparts, from the moment they are born they begin learning, almost immediately, especially amongst themselves. Cat's ... Dog's you name it, they train and they train hard. How do they train? They Play! One thing they train in is wrestling, mainly to build the strength necessary to survive (in addtion to training to defend themselves if the need be). I've seen cats play mind games on each other tricking each other out.
Animals learn most effectively by play, the same is true for humans. Humans learn and train best by play.
Play is so effective as a learning tool we know. But Why? There are Five Main Reasons
- Choices are Engaging
- Instant Feedback
- Knowledge is applied to accomplish a solid Goal
- Try, Try again
- Interesting!
When we are playing we make choices and while playing and learning with others we can receive information and feedback directly from the learning experience (as opposed to a test where you are tested just for the sake of showing knowledge instead of applying knowledge). Also Playing connotes to the mind Fun which is alot better of a prospect then the bleak idea of reading another Textbook.
Why is modern learning so ... boring?
Modern Learning is boring many times because the instructor fails to create an engaging learning environment where the interest of Students is captured. It can also be the Student themselves not being interested in the subject.
One of my least favorite Subjects was English, but one year I had one of my favorite teachers who engaged the students in a way that I never had seen before. We played a card game where we picked cards from a "Goosebumps" Deck of cards and made up a story based on the Cards we picked. It was pretty bizarre and funny how differently you could create stories from a random assortment of Ghost's, Jackolanterns, etc.. That is one example of a "Game" this particular teacher used to engage her students.
For teachers Creativity is the key to success with the example stated above, my interest in English grew and I knew my English Skills grew rapidly from the use of a simple game. Why? because it was much funner than reading a big old text-book, I didn't feel like I was just mindlessly plowing through "Busy-Work" I felt like I was Learning, because I was Learning Through Playing!
Current examples of games as learning tools
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Downloadable PC Games
