The "Wikipedia problem" this means children turning to internet for readymade answers is the newest age phenomenon baffling teachers and mentors globally. There are almost equal amounts of teachers who consider technology to become a solution around a problem. While a common belief is that technology is hindering the students' capacity to consider and analyze, there is also a powerful opinion in support of game titles and digital gadgets' ability to interact students and enhance learning by using several sensory stimulators. Notwithstanding the growing concern in regards to the students' deteriorating attention spans, institutions are incorporating them in the act of classroom learning.
Students are inherently inquisitive creatures. They've a curiosity to discover new things and learn by way of discovering and experimenting even before they're afflicted by ways of formal education such as reading or writing. Science is just a discipline of experiments and discoveries. The National Science Education Standards emphasize that "science education needs to offer students three kinds of scientific skills and understandings. Students need to learn the principles and concepts of science, acquire the reasoning and procedural skills of scientists, and understand the nature of science as a particular type of human endeavor. Students therefore need certainly to be able to devise and carry out investigations that test their ideas, and they need to understand just why such investigations are uniquely powerful. Studies reveal that students are much prone to understand and wthhold the concepts they've learned in this way " ;.Hence, it becomes imperative to interact children in science education at an earlier stage.
Digital games are far more capable to get students' interests and attention than other conventional way of imparting education in a classroom. However, some educationists also regard them as culprits of exponential decline in the eye span in children. Another sections in this informative article discuss the involvement of children in games in the tech age, kinds of games available in the market and the impact of digital gaming as learning aids in classrooms.Game TopN
Gaming and the New Age Kids
Digital technology has expanded the horizons of video gaming in the current world. Kids are afflicted by far more complicated and challenging technological environment than their counterparts were from over half a century back. Involvement of kids in digital gaming is a results of many significant changes in the lifestyle and culture of the current society. Easy accessibility of technology, dispensable income due to dual income families and lack of infrastructure for outdoor activities in many cities are some major contributors in making screen games an important area of the children's' lives. A study by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2010) found that only 20 percent of the census blocks are within half a distance of a block boundary. Also, the effectation of peer pressure can not be undermined in today of social networking.
The digital gaming market is one of many fastest growing segments of the global entertainment industry. US is witnessing unprecedented penetration of digital games amongst youngsters. In the US, 97% of the teens play some form of game on a regular basis. In India, the gaming market has grown manifold within the last few few years. Hence, it is imperative that educationists are continuously contemplating the utilization of digital gaming as a learning tool in classrooms. Institutions are also employing innovative approaches to leverage the digital advantage for enhancing the educational experience at schools.
What're Digital Games?
There is no concrete definition of games as it might vary with an individual's preference and profession. Games can be defined as a "system by which players engage in artificial conflict, defined by rules, which result in a quantifiable outcome" ;.Technology and digitization add new dimensions to games where simulations, interactivity, augmented reality, alternative reality, collective intelligence and sensory stimulators such as sound and visual effects. Digital games are also characterized by their portability and limitless accessibility.
Role-playing games, simulation games and puzzles are some of the most used digital games. In role-playing games, the player enacts the role of a particular character in a virtual world moving from level to another on the basis of the outcome of the earlier level. RPGs can be single player like the dungeons and dragons from earlier days of gaming or multi-player games such as Diablo III, Xenoblade, Final Fantasy XIII-2 or Mass Effect 3. MMORPG or the Massive Multiple Online Role-Playing Games are an expansion of the RPGs where large amount of players interacts in an on the web virtual world. Simulation games create realistic situations in virtual worlds. The outcome will depend on the player's decision-making and responsiveness and is going to be closely similar as to the may happen in a real world in the same situation. Widely found in training and analysis, simulation games are also popular for their unpredictable and personalized outcomes. Flight Simulator X, Live for Speed (LFS) and Importance of Speed have already been extremely popular simulation games for an extended time. Puzzles genre of digital games involves problem solving and analysis with varying levels of difficulty depending on the nature of the game. Crosswords and treasure hunt games are basic forms of puzzle games in both physical and digital form.
All kinds of digital games involve a cultural involvement of players. Some need collaborative efforts to play while others might be discussed or analyzed socially. Notwithstanding some games being accused of outright violent visual effects, a well-designed game can accelerate the thinking process by motivating, engaging, involving creativity and developing a meta-game i.e., social interactions inspired and enhanced inside or outside the game. Incorporating digital gaming in the essential education framework can cause augmented competitiveness and multi-dimensional growth in children.
Digital Games in Science Education - Why and Why Not?
The 21st century requires the mentors and the students to integrate technology into the curriculum. Although ultimate goal is always to benefit the students with regards to learning and experience, unsupervised, unorganized or irrelevant application can lead to complete failure or have negative effects. Some of the negative impacts of digital games in general and in context with the education are listed below:
- Digital games have already been facing constant rebuke for allegedly enhancing aggression amongst kids and developing a violent streak at an earlier stage. In a study by Anderson and Bushman (2001), Children involved with violent game titles are prone to have increased aggressive thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, and decreased prosocial helping. Usage of weapons and being rewarded if you are violent is just a reason for widespread concern.
- Digital games can be addictive for kids and cause them to become physically inactive. Digital games, besides social networking, are thought for reduced physical exercise ultimately causing obesity in kids and postural and skeletal disorders.
- Addiction to games can be known to make kids socially secluded. Impulsive behavior, depression and increased anxiety levels are largely related to excessive gaming in children. Some studies also claim that the kids winning contests are unable to concentrate for an extended span and have reduced attention span.
- Students are prone to absorbing socially unacceptable behavior through some digital games such as using profanities and ill-treating the fairer sex. Lack of adequate knowledge about screening the material available online is a growing concern amongst the parents.
- Digital games are thought a barrier to raised performance in academics. Students in many cases are found to skip homework to play games ultimately causing deteriorated performance at school. However, despite their reputation as promoters of violence and mayhem, digital games have in reality been shown to simply help children learn skills, content, and vital "21st-century" skills. From digital games children can learn: content (from rich vocabulary to science to history), skills (from literacy to math to complex problem-solving), creation of artifacts (from videos to software code) and systems thinking (how changing one element affects relationships as a whole). Strong arguments in support of using digital games as learning aids in secondary education are summarized below:
- Digital games involve extreme hand-eye coordination and enhance motor and sensory skills. Sensory stimulation theory proposed by academician Laird (1985) validates that effective learning occurs when the senses are stimulated. Although some studies reveal that digital gaming reduces attention span, you can find strong evidences of improved concentration simply speaking intervals of time. Digital games involve keeping an eye on every detail, follow the principles and respond proactively to the given situation. Complex digital games help is developing problem-solving and decision-making skills. Some games also involve logical analysis of the problem and pattern recognition and improve memorizing thus assisting in the cognitive process. Playing by the principles teaches children to accept and respect a certain amount of discipline.
- Multi-player digital games develop a sense of constructive competitive attitude. Collaborative games also improve team-building attitude. They develop time management skills in a team and train the players to cooperate for mutually desired goal. They teach the players to accept defeat along with strive for better results. Digital games provide an avenue for hyperactive kids to direct the energy in a constructive system based game. Additionally they provide an outlet release a aggression and frustration, thus helping in diffusing stress. Some games also involve physical exercise such as Nintendo Wii boxing helping kids to interact mentally and physically with the kids. Complex digital games involve advanced level of multitasking thus improving brain's natural learning process. Brain based learning theory proposes that multi-tasking is definitely an inherent activity of mental performance and learning is enhanced by challenges at various levels. Digital games develop efficient situational analysis and strategy making in children. Since games have certain objectives at every level and your final objective of the game, it teaches players to devise temporary and long-term strategies such as scoring points, retaining energy and attaining the ultimate goal of the game. Simulation games and the role-playing digital games help players gain expertise or learn by experiencing in replicas of real world situations. Experiential learning and action learning theories are on the basis of the premise that individuals learn faster when they by experiencing and actually participating in action.
