Parents and teachers often believe that video games can negatively impact academic performance. Some even believe games can lead to violence or social development problems. While certain games do give credit to these arguments, there is a growing market for games that can actually make kids smarter and help them gain top marks in the classroom.
Community Learning Games
Many people are now familiar with virtual communities like Second Life. However, few would consider these enterprises to be educational for children. There are some, though, that were designed specifically for student use. Take, for example, River City. This innovative game was developed by programmers from Harvard with funding from the National Science Foundation. The goal of this community is for middle and high school students to work together to solve a fictitious epidemic. As players work to resolve health problems, they learn a lot about biology, medicine, and problem solving. Plus, the 3-d graphics keep kids engaged better than any textbook.
A more general community currently used in schools is Whyville. Though it began as a way to promote science and math education, Whyville has greatly expanded. Designed for middle school students, Whyville includes activities focused on everything from history to outer space. The Whyville designers work with top industry organizations, like NASA and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, to develop their site. In addition to specific tasks and games, students develop communications skills by working with peers and learn about financial management as they earn "clams." Now, Whyville is used in classrooms, teacher development courses, and by kids and parents at home.
Learning at Home
Educational video games played at home on a PC or gaming system have been around for more than a decade. Recently, though, there is a new emphasis on creating educational games that don't seem as academic. Games that children might play anyway are increasingly viewed as educational tools. For example, society-building games like Civilization and SimCity are widely popular among students of all ages. In addition to being fun, these games teach history, economics, and civics.
Students Perform Better with Games
Although research is still scant on this subject, early indications are that low-performing students receive much higher marks in an academic gaming environment. For example, when professors at Harvard studied students playing the aforementioned River City, they found students with low grades did much better in the game than in other classroom projects.
So, why do games encourage better performance? The most obvious and logical conclusion is that they engage students. However, mere enjoyment is not the only factor educators are now stressing. The major reason this immersive games are so vital to modern education is that they teach children problem solving skills. In scenario-based games, students have to connect several kinds of knowledge and experience to solve real-world type problems. This is a much more complete way of internalizing a concept, like taxation, than learning it in isolation.
A Growing Market
As video game popularity continues to rise, more and more groups are getting involved with educational gaming. Even the United Nations has released a program for kids. Called Food Force, this game focuses on how food is distributed for aid. Meanwhile, new games launched by Nintendo for their handheld DS system include language learning, SAT coaching, and mathematics review. The web still seems to be winning the educational game race, though. With games kids can easily access at school or home, the internet seems to be the best place to encourage "virtual" education.
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