We have been asking this question for a long time, how can we use video games to make learning more fun and interactive. It’s been proven by many researches that video games are extremely helpful in learning new things and sharpen our minds.
But why haven’t we already used video games to improve our education system? Are we ever going to use video games to make the learning experience better for the students? Here is what I think:
How Video Games Can Improve Education System
Scientists have carried out a ton of research and surveys and one thing is clear that video games are helpful in many aspects of learning and life in general. Video games provide you with problems and put up restrictions around that, making you work hard around the problem to find a logical solution.
That is exactly what we learn in schools, we learn about different ways to solve problems in real life but the methods that we adapt are comparatively boring. They don’t interest us and we end up thinking about other stuff while the teacher continues to teach us stuff.
If we could combine video games with education, we could come up with some great methods that are way more intuitive and rewarding which makes us want to try hard and learn more. Video Games are excellent at polishing our problem solving skills but that’s not all, where the schools fail to teach us socializing skills and leadership skills, games do a very great job at this.
Minecraft is already trying to combine the both with its new Minecraft Education title, that brings together both teachers and students in a virtual land with abstract learning concepts to promote problem solving and creativity.
Why are Games not being Utilized in Education?
Now don’t me wrong, there are many schools that are using video games to promote education but on a bigger scale, we are still too far away from unleashing the true potential of video games in education. The problem here is, many educators haven’t been in touch with video games, so they don’t actually know how to utilize the power of games to teach their students.
Also, video games can’t be forced, they need to be desired for the students to actually want to learn more about the game. This will make the students explore more in their off time rather than trying to run away from the subject. This way they’ll be self motivated to study and desire is actually a better motivator than the fear of punishment.
There are some great titles out there, Like Red Dead Redemption 2 that teaches us about history way better than I ever did in my history class, then there are games like Age of Empires that takes us through different civilizations and their cultures. My point being, the education system needs to change and video games can be just the answer that we are all looking for!
