It isn’t a secret that it is the dream of every college student to play video games in a classroom. It’s much more fun than using textbooks. But not all teachers are for using video games in education. There are many studies that show that video games don’t help to study the material. The performance of students whose teachers use video games isn’t better than those who still use college tests during the class. In most cases, the results of the students are the same. This means that video games don’t harm, but they should be used by students with the aim to change activity and relax. The human brain is more productive when you change activities and switch from one subject to another one. Playing video games has its advantages when it is used as one of the recreational activities. 

Some scientists think that video games may have a positive effect on certain skills. For example, they may help to train memory, attention, and logical skills. However, they can’t improve your writing skills, oral speech, etc. If you find it difficult to write an academic paper from scratch, you’d better go to Write My Paper Hub and ask for essay writing help from someone than sit at the computer to play video games. 

The Use of Video Games in Class Is the Worst Idea Ever:  Opinion 1

Not all education reformers agree that computer games can be useful for learning things. Many teachers think that students don’t have a serious attitude to studying when they are offered to play a game in class. Of course, there are some educational games that can bring certain benefits. But most games focus only on competition and include elements of violence. Playing video games both at home and in class prevents the development of social values. Since childhood, children play computer games and think that the real-life is like the one they can see on the screen of the monitor. 

They follow examples of their favorite characters and solve problems as they do. Most students can’t stop playing video games for hours. This has a negative effect on their health. The worst thing is that sometimes students see no difference between the virtual and real world. Some video games simplify the real world. As a result, students aren’t ready for life in the real world. They find it challenging to deal with real problems and act as the heroes of video games being unable to understand what is right and what is wrong.

Video Games Aren’t That Bad and Can Improve Certain Skills:  Opinion 2

The modern gaming industry is extremely versatile. But the greatest interest among psychologists has long been caused by various kinds of MMORPGs - multiplayer role-playing projects, for example, World of Warcraft. Research shows that in such online games, gamers are faced with a wide variety of social dilemmas, which in one way or another develop creativity and problem-solving skills.

The reason for this, according to scientists, is the fact that the digital worlds of MMORPG are surprisingly complex. To one degree or another, they are based on the realities of our life and therefore they work out ideas related to the real world.

Researchers at Brown University have found that gamers learn to solve visual problems quickly. Scientists set up a small experiment: two groups of people (some actively play video games, others not) were asked to perform two similar tasks - they had to look for foreign inclusions in the texture of the picture. The next day, students were shown both versions of the pictures. They found that gamers improved their performance in both cases, while people in the other group quickly figured out the picture they studied in the second. According to the researchers, quickly switching to the second task damaged the assimilation of the first one - as a result, the participants remembered better what they did last. It is difficult to say yet why this feature does not apply to gamers. According to Professor Yuka Sasaki of Brown University, it is likely that people who actively play games have a better ability to absorb visual information. When you have to process gigabytes of data every day, the body adjusts to the load, works faster and more accurately. Perhaps, the ability to learn develops as a result of training.

Final Thoughts

It would be unwise to say that video games should be banned in the age of information technologies. However, the increasing popularity of gamification in classrooms won’t lead to anything good. Video games have obvious disadvantages. They help to gain skills on how to solve problems quickly but all those problems are from the artificial world. Most games can’t serve as a model of real life. One more drawback is that video games are isolating. Educators can use video games as one of the learning elements. For example, to teach students how to use computers. But it isn’t a good idea to teach serious topics through video games that are more entertaining than educational. It’s because some games make it easy to control everything and be the one you aren’t in reality. Games give the power that isn’t always combined with the high intellect. So, you should remember that games are games but learning is learning. It’s better to play video games when you have breaks from study.