Well, the debate begins....
Are video games really helping our children learn? Associate Professor Walter Boot from Florida State University doesn’t think so. Along with a colleague from an affiliate university, he has undertaken a study that ‘proves that video games do not really contribute to a person’s cognitive development.’ These findings support what we know deep down, that video games are not helping our children learn. The authors are careful to separate general gaming from targeted educational gaming but Dr. Walter Boots still notes that “if people are playing games to improve their cognition, they may be wasting their time.” We all know that most children would welcome playing video games to improve their cognitive skills, but is that what is best for them? Are parents and educators short-changing children when they attempt to teach them skills through video games? Are they learning to their full potential when gaming?
Are video games really helping our children learn? Associate Professor Walter Boot from Florida State University doesn’t think so. Along with a colleague from an affiliate university, he has undertaken a study that ‘proves that video games do not really contribute to a person’s cognitive development.’ These findings support what we know deep down, that video games are not helping our children learn. The authors are careful to separate general gaming from targeted educational gaming but Dr. Walter Boots still notes that “if people are playing games to improve their cognition, they may be wasting their time.” We all know that most children would welcome playing video games to improve their cognitive skills, but is that what is best for them? Are parents and educators short-changing children when they attempt to teach them skills through video games? Are they learning to their full potential when gaming?
According to Dr Boot, in the past few years studies and
media reports have been kind to gamers, suggesting that video games improve a
variety of cognitive, as well as perceptual skills. In response to studies
claiming that gamers have improved cognition, Boots says that often the participants
in these studies were ‘intellectually capable’ to begin with and then became involved
in gaming. He points out that ‘volunteer recruitment posters for video game experiments contain
the words “expert wanted” which proves that these particular researchers were
expecting the gamers to have developed cognitive skills beforehand.’ Dr Walter Boot is not a video game hater and
admits to playing video games growing up. He says that he is disappointed that
despite conducting their own video-game training study, he and his colleagues
could not replicate the benefits stated by earlier studies.
So is there a place for educational gaming in our schools?
Is it helping our children learn or is it a waste of time for educators?
I was quite intrigued by your post as commonly I too have only heard of the benefits of video gaming for improving cognitive thinking abilities. After reading about this study I came across an interesting article that may shed some more light on these findings. Kirschner, Sweller and Clark (2006) suggest that when a learner is being required to search for solutions to a problem it can place heavy demands on the working memory. As a result then if the working memory is constantly searching for problem solutions it cannot be used for learning and the transfer of knowledge to the long term memory. When you think about many commercially produced games, the gamer is constantly searching for answers to problems and in many cases must be thinking at a rapid rate to ensure their character is not killed off and GAME OVER! I guess it could be surmised then that if the gamer’s working memory is on overload trying to quickly manoeuvre through the virtual world it cannot also be used to transfer knowledge to the long term memory which would thus improve cognition. It was interesting also to note the author’s suggestion that this study focused on commercially bought games and not those designed for educational benefit. Perhaps there’s hope for us teachers yet in convincing people that video games can be good.
ReplyDeleteReferences:
Kirschner, P.; Sweller, J and Clark, R. (2006). Why Minimal Guidance During Instruction Does Not Work: An Analysis of the failure of Constructivist, Discovery, Problem-based, Experiential, and Inquiry-based Teaching. Educational Psychologist, 41 (2), 75-86. Retrieved 26th October, 2011 from
http://web.ebscohost.com.ezp01.library.qut.edu.au/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=bb6e6ff5-b821-4d34-be55-df6ad8f58fab%40sessionmgr104&vid=2&hid=111
Previous comment posted by Deanna
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment Deanna! Sometimes it is good to play devil's advocate as you can't fully embrace an issue without knowing both sides :)
ReplyDeleteKatie