Digital Games And Kids -- A different Perspective.

 The "Wikipedia problem" which means children turning to internet for readymade answers is the newest age phenomenon baffling teachers and mentors globally. You can find almost equal variety of teachers who consider technology to be always a solution as much as a problem. While a standard belief is that technology is hindering the students' capacity to consider and analyze, there's also a strong opinion in support of video games and digital gadgets' ability to engage students and enhance learning by using more than one sensory stimulators. Regardless of the growing concern concerning the students' deteriorating attention spans, institutions are incorporating them in the process of classroom learning.

Children are inherently inquisitive creatures. They've a curiosity to find new things and learn by means of discovering and experimenting even before they are put through types of formal education such as for example reading or writing. Science is really a discipline of experiments and discoveries. The National Science Education Standards emphasize that "science education needs to offer students three types of scientific skills and understandings. Students should find out the principles and concepts of science, acquire the reasoning and procedural skills of scientists, and understand the type of science as a particular kind of human endeavor. Students therefore have to manage to devise and carry out investigations that test their ideas, and they need to realize 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 engage children in science education at an early on stage.

Digital games are 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. The next sections in this article discuss the involvement of children in games in the tech age, forms of games available on 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 modern world. Students are put through far more complex and challenging technological environment than their counterparts were from over fifty per cent of a century back. Involvement of kids in digital gaming is a consequence of many significant changes in the lifestyle and culture of the modern society. Easy accessibility of technology, dispensable income due to dual income families and not enough infrastructure for outdoor activities in several cities are some major contributors in making screen games an important part of the children's' lives. A study by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2010) discovered that only 20 percent of the census blocks are within half a mile of a block boundary. Also, the aftereffect of peer pressure can't be undermined in these times of social networking.

The digital gaming market is among the 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 sort of game on a regular basis. In India, the gaming market has grown manifold in the last few years. Hence, it's imperative that educationists are continuously contemplating the usage of digital gaming as an understanding tool in classrooms. Institutions may also be employing innovative ways to leverage the digital advantage for enhancing the training experience at schools.

What are Digital Games?

There is no concrete definition of games as it may vary by having an individual's preference and profession. Games could be defined as a "system by which players participate in artificial conflict, defined by rules, which create 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 for example sound and visual effects. Digital games may also be characterized by their portability and limitless accessibility.

Role-playing games, simulation games and puzzles are a few of typically the most popular digital games. In role-playing games, the player enacts the role of a particular character in an electronic world moving from level to the other based on the outcome of the sooner level. RPGs could be single player like the dungeons and dragons from earlier days of gaming or multi-player games such as for example 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 quantity of players interacts in an on line virtual world. Simulation games create realistic situations in virtual worlds. The results 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 may also be popular due to their unpredictable and personalized outcomes. Flight Simulator X, Live for Speed (LFS) and Significance of Speed have already been extremely popular simulation games for a lengthy time. Puzzles genre of digital games involves problem solving and analysis with varying quantities of difficulty with respect to the nature of the game. Crosswords and treasure hunt games are basic kinds of puzzle games in both physical and digital form.

All forms of digital games involve a social involvement of players. Some need collaborative efforts to play while others might be discussed or analyzed socially. Regardless of 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 beyond your game. Incorporating digital gaming in the basic 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 to 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. A number 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 early on stage. In a study by Anderson and Bushman (2001), Children associated with violent video games are prone to have increased aggressive thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, and decreased prosocial helping. Use of weapons and being rewarded to be violent is really a cause of widespread concern.


• Digital games could be addictive for children and make sure they are physically inactive. Digital games, other than social networking, are believed for reduced physical exercise leading to obesity in kids and postural and skeletal disorders.


• Addiction to games can also be known to make kids socially secluded. Impulsive behavior, depression and increased anxiety levels are largely attributed to excessive gaming in children. Some studies also declare that the youngsters doing offers are unable to concentrate for a lengthy span and have reduced attention span.


• Children are prone to absorbing socially unacceptable behavior through some digital games such as for example using profanities and ill-treating the fairer sex. Lack of adequate knowledge about screening the material available online is a growing concern between the parents.


• Digital games are believed a hindrance to higher performance in academics. Students tend to be found to skip homework to play games leading to deteriorated performance at school. However, despite their reputation as promoters of violence and mayhem, digital games have actually been shown to greatly 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 once the senses are stimulated. Although some studies reveal that digital gaming reduces attention span, you will find strong evidences of improved concentration simply speaking intervals of time. Digital games involve keeping an eye on every detail, follow the rules 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 situation and pattern recognition and improve memorizing thus assisting in the cognitive process. Playing by the rules teaches children to simply accept and respect a specific degree of discipline.


• Multi-player digital games produce 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 simply accept defeat as well as strive for better results. Digital games offer an avenue for hyperactive kids to direct the energy in a constructive system based game. Additionally they provide a store to produce aggression and frustration, thus helping in diffusing stress. Some games also involve physical exercise such as for example Nintendo Wii boxing helping kids to engage mentally and physically with the kids. Complex digital games involve advanced of multitasking thus improving brain's natural learning process. Brain based learning theory proposes that multi-tasking is an inherent activity of the brain 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 one last objective of the overall game, it teaches players to devise short term and long-term strategies such as for example scoring points, retaining energy and reaching 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 based on the premise that individuals learn faster if they by experiencing and actually participating in action.