Video Games in Education

The article brings up some interesting points. Like it or not video games play a large part in today’s society. When I was a kid my brother and I would spend most of your time at our neighbor’s house. Not because we liked him but because he has a Nintendo. My father was against any video games in the house which made us want to play even more. When I was fifteen I almost got arrested for stealing from a tip jar at an Asian restraint. Why was I stealing? I wanted to go to the arcade and play video games. “Fifty-eight percent of kids declare that they play almost daily, 36.7% one or two days per week, and 4.8% never use videogames.” The numbers do not lie. Education caught on to the trend early with the introduction of educational games like Oregon Trail, Number Munchers, and Bomber (all games in which I spent countless hours on trying to fulfill my gaming needs). “Videogames are useful instruments for learning specific strategies and for acquiring knowledge; they also develop the learning that is characteristic of the culture of the information society, and this learning is likely to have long-term consequences.” There has always been resentment for video games in education. It is almost like teachers do not want their students to play games for the simple reason that they are spending their time in front of a computer screen and not a text book. The Education field must come to the realization that video games are the future of education. Video games enhance personal and social development, language and literacy, mathematical development, creative development, knowledge and understanding of the world, and physical development. It is our duty as teachers to positively engage our students and educational video games do just that.