Most people believe that video games can only lead to addictions, violence, lack of physical activity, and other negative consequences. However, many studies suggest that playing video games can improve visual attention, spatial-motor skills as well as some soft skills like critical thinking, resilience, leadership, and creative problem-solving. Moreover, video gaming can generate a lot of benefits in the learning process. For instance, educational video games can teach skills in various subjects, such as algebra, biology, or computer programming. Hence, they can be integrated into the classroom to boost students’ productivity.
As a social activity, video gaming stimulates students to work together in teams to reach common goals or to compete against each other. This way, they can refine their communication skills and establish better relationships. According to the UMass-Amherst, video games help to build an emotional connection to learning, provide opportunities for feedback and practice, and make teaching more individualized. As you see, playing games can be a highly beneficial activity. So let’s have a closer look at the amazing advantages of this activity in education.
Improved attention and memory
Various research demonstrates that educational video games allow students to concentrate more easily and focus much better than in a traditional class environment. What’s more, studies show that playing video games can help children with attention disorders.
Games require us to memorize different things like critical sequences, narrative elements, and many others, which increases memory capacity. This helps students in education as they always have to absorb a big amount of information.
Creative assignment writing
Video gaming boosts creativity as we often need to find unconventional paths to win a game. Creativity is a crucial skill not only for education but for other life aspects as well. It can help to deal with different school tasks, so one needs less assignment help. Those who lack creativity typically turn to a writing service to have their homework completed. Personally, I regularly chose to hire writer to do my assignment as I didn’t play video games while being a student and couldn’t develop my creative skills. I don’t regret that I asked professional writers from an assignment writing service to do my home tasks because I always got high grades for them. But if I had a chance to improve my imagination by playing video games, I would definitely deal with everything by myself. So it’s not only enjoyable to create characters, strategies in competitive games, or stories for role-playing games but also extremely helpful for personal development. So don’t hesitate to spend your free time on gaming as most video games encourage us to practice creativity.
Better coordination
All games that require us to use a gamepad or a keyboard and the mouse help develop hand-eye coordination. The University of Toronto conducted a study that revealed that individuals who play action video games on a regular basis can better learn new sensorimotor tasks, and improve visuomotor control, than those who are not into gaming. Scientists suggest that video games even could be a part of treatments for students struggling with hand-eye coordination problems or sensorimotor skills issues.
Developed digital skills
Today, technical skills play a crucial role in almost every life aspect. They are vital for adaptation and must be gained as early as possible. Alongside learning, video gaming makes students accustomed to the digital world and sharpens their digital skills. Embedding technical skills in an entertaining way is one of the biggest advantages of playing video games.
Effective thinking
Any video game requires us to make smart and quick decisions because the faster one reacts with the right solution, the better result will be received. Gaming encourages us to resort to logic, strategic thinking, and problem-solving. The ability to think ahead is necessary in order to complete levels and advance in a game. Through discrete steps, we can see the interrelationship of tactics and strategy as well as learn about the value of alternative paths.
Video gaming can teach students to tackle any challenge with confidence and stay resilient in the face of an obstacle. It makes them more confident and independent thinkers who are ready to complete large projects. All these things significantly help young people in their learning process.
In general, video gaming can inspire students to develop skills and competencies as they focus on game activities. Games can function as both individual learning activities and content delivery mechanisms. In order to be effective, they must perfectly align with learning outcomes and should not be too competitive. However, some competition can pique motivation.
Games can draw learners into a course more actively, making them explore the content from a new point of view. Video games are a great way to reinforce the fact that failure is not a setback but a sign that more skill-building is needed.
As you may see, video gaming can be a very productive activity that develops various skills. It can stimulate learning and cognition, which are so important to achieve educational goals.
