The primary reason people nowadays are more successful is because of video games. Contrary to popular belief, video games improve society; they help educationally and teach how to live efficient lives. The first home video game system was the Odyssey made by Magnavox in 1979. Since then, there has been many more systems, games, and expansions to where approximately forty-five million homes have video games and about seventy-five million Americans play them—according to the Seattle Times reporter Bob Feller—for nearly three billion hours a week (McGonigal).
Video games help students learn better. In 2009, a study was published by Issues in Teacher's Education about using video games as a "learning device" (Sardone and Devlin-Scherer 47). Twenty-five participants had to pick a video game, choosing from multiple categories: English, History, Health, and Spanish, among others. The participant played his/her game and afterwards taught a group of students by using the game. The results showed that students reacted differently. The students became more engaged in learning while playing video games, and it showed that teachers taught better using video games as a part of their curriculum (Sardone and Devlin-Scherer 63-64). The main reason this occurs, according to the Federation of American Scientists, is because video games teach children how to be analytical thinkers, how to multitask, and how to problem solve under pressure (Feller; Booth). Another reason, concluded by Rochester University, is some video games "change the way our brains process visual information" (Sherwood). This has led to some schools in Europe to consider using video games in the classroom (Booth). When students become more engaged in learning, they are in "intense concentration" (McGonigal); as a result, students learn more, become smarter, and accomplish more with their lives. These are necessary skills that people are required to have if they want to be smart and successful. When many people have these skills, society as a whole will achieve more because the overall population is smarter and more innovative. An example of this is possible by comparing the 1980s—when video games were first established—to nowadays. In the 1980s, examples technology were the Walkman, the desktop computer, and the Nintendo Entertainment System—things that constricted society to a single place. Comparing it to nowadays, there is the iTouch, high-powered laptops, and multiple video game systems. This makes it so society can accomplish more and learn more wherever and whenever they please.
Once people learn skills from playing video games, they will then be able to apply it in real life. There are games like World of Warcraft, an online role-playing video game, which has been played collectively for more than five million years (McGonigal). Consequently, players have been more active in problem solving as well as being more collaborative in the workforce (McGongial). Jane McGonigal, a game designer, discussed three games she created, World without Oil, SuperStruct, and Evoke, during her TED2010 conference, and how they changed people's lives. The first was where players pretended the United States had limited oil; the second was humankind was close to extinction, and players had to do something about it; the third was how to become a "social innovator" (McGonigal). After the three-month trial was over, people were more efficient in their life because they kept the habits learned from the games (McGonigal).
There are many other games out there that can teach people how to be successful in different categories. Researchers at Rochester University claimed that people who have played action video games on a daily basis have improved vision (Sherwood). The test had participants play either one of the two games, Unreal Tournament, an action video game, and Tetris, a puzzle video game. After a month, researchers concluded that "people who played action video games for a few hours a day over the course of a month improved by about 20 percent in their ability to identify letters presented in clutter" (Sherwood).
Video games can help society become extraordinarily great in whatever one wants to do. If society keeps playing video games, in twenty years who knows where this will lead. Nancy Sardone’s and Roberta Devlin-Scherer's study was for a semester with approximately twenty-five participants (Sardone and Devlin-Scherer 51); McGonigal's trial was for three months and only consisted of a few thousand people; the research at Rochester University was conducted for a single month. Imagine if this was increased for years and with millions of people? Today's technology can be seen as amazing, but if society keeps growing with the use of video games, technology in the future will be limited to society's imagination.
Works Cited
Booth, Robert. "Video Games Are Good for Children - EU Reports." Guardian.co.uk. The Guardian, 11 February 2009. Web. 21 October 2011.
Feller, Bob. "Scientist Say Video Games Can Reshape Education." Seattletimes.nwsource.com. The Seattle Times, 18 October 2006. Web. 20 October 2011.
McGonigal, Jane. "Gaming Can Make a Better World." TED2010. 10 February 2010. Conference Presentation.
Sardone, Nancy, and Roberta Devlin-Scherer. "Teacher's Candidates' Views of Digital Games as Learning Devices." Issues in Teacher Education 18.2 (2009): 47-67. ERIC. EBSCO. Web. 20 October 2011.
Sherwood, Jonathan. "Action Video Games Sharpen Vision 20 Percent." Rochester.edu. University of Rochester, 2 February 2010. Web. 30 October 2011.
No comments:
Post a Comment