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CH 1 Reading (available until 0227) (3)

This chapter discusses the educational value of video games, presenting two contrasting perspectives. The first perspective highlights the potential benefits of educational games in enhancing learning and critical thinking, while the second perspective suggests that playing video games, including violent ones, can improve cognitive skills, creativity, and social interactions. The chapter concludes with recommendations for adults to monitor and discuss video game usage with children.

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13 views

CH 1 Reading (available until 0227) (3)

This chapter discusses the educational value of video games, presenting two contrasting perspectives. The first perspective highlights the potential benefits of educational games in enhancing learning and critical thinking, while the second perspective suggests that playing video games, including violent ones, can improve cognitive skills, creativity, and social interactions. The chapter concludes with recommendations for adults to monitor and discuss video game usage with children.

Uploaded by

chrisdicaswo
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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English News Reading High-Intermediate I

Spring, 2025
CH 1 Reading
Learning through Video Games: Fact or Fiction?
Video games are a major part of children’s lives today, and they spend hours playing them.
However, parents and teachers alike question the educational value of video games at home
and in the classroom. Even more importantly, can playing video games, specifically violent ones,
actually be harmful to children? This chapter presents two articles with different perspectives on
the topic.
The First Perspective: Gaming to Learn
Do educational computer and video games lead to real learning gains?
by Amy Novotney, American Psychological Association
Many of today’s K-12 students are spending their class time—and a lot of it—exploring
science and writing sentences through the website BrainPOP. The website allows kids to watch
movies, complete quizzes, and play games covering hundreds of topics within math, science,
social studies, English, technology, art, music, and health.
BrainPOP is just one of hundreds of educational game websites in a billion-dollar industry
that is growing in popularity. Nearly 60 percent of teachers now use digital games at least
weekly in teaching, with 18 percent using them daily, according to a nationwide survey of 488 K-
12 teachers conducted by researchers at New York University and the University of Michigan.
But despite the growing popularity of such games, research has yet to determine whether they
really help children learn.
Over the past 20 years, scientists have conducted nine major reviews of research on the
effectiveness of educational computer and video games. Overall, they’ve found that the research
on games is highly diverse, disorganized, and unfocused. Douglas Clark, Ph.D., professor of the
learning sciences education at Vanderbilt University says, “The research shows that games as a
medium can be effective, but not always. Design is really what matters. Nobody assumes that all
lectures, labs, or books are good simply because of their medium.” Jan Plass, Ph.D., a professor
in NYU’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development and one of the
study’s lead authors, agrees. “We found that well-designed games can motivate students to
learn less popular subjects, such as math, and that game-based learning can actually get
students interested in the subject matter.”
English News Reading High-Intermediate I
Spring, 2025
Psychologists are also studying a learning game for college students. A series of studies
were conducted by psychologist Art Graesser, Ph.D., of the Institute for Intelligent Systems at
the University of Memphis, and his colleagues, who developed the game. They reported
improvements in critical thinking skills among students at three different types of higher
education institutions—a community college, a state university, and a private college. “Every part
of the game was backed by one or more principles of learning,” says Graesser. “That’s different
from a lot of commercial games that often try to improve motivation but not learning. We really
tried to do both.”
The Second Perspective: Review finds video game play may provide learning, health, and
social benefits
by Lisa Bowen, American Psychological Association
Playing video games, including violent games, may boost children’s learning, health, and
social skills, according to a review of research in American Psychologist. 40 The study comes
out as debate continues among psychologists and other health professionals regarding the
effects of violent media on youth.
While one view maintains that playing video games is intellectually lazy, such play actually
may strengthen a range of cognitive skills such as spatial navigation, reasoning, memory, and
perception, according to several studies reviewed in the article.
Playing video games may also help children develop problem-solving skills. The more
adolescents reported playing strategic video games, the more they improved in problem solving
and school grades the following year. Children’s creativity was also enhanced by playing any
kind of video game, including violent games, but not when the children used other forms of
technology, such as a computer or cell phone, other research revealed.
Simple games that are easy to access and can be played quickly can improve players’
moods, promote relaxation, and ward off anxiety, the study said. “If playing video games simply
makes people happier, this seems to be a fundamental emotional benefit to consider,” said
Isabela Granic, Ph.D., of Radboud University Nijmegen in the Netherlands.
The authors also highlighted the possibility that video games are effective tools for learning
resilience, or flexibility, in the face of failure. By learning to cope with ongoing failures in games,
the authors suggest that children build emotional resilience they can rely upon in their everyday
lives.
Another stereotype the research challenges is the socially isolated gamer. More than 70
percent of garners play with a friend. Multiplayer games become virtual social communities,
where decisions need to be made quickly about whom to trust or reject and how to lead a group,
the authors said. People who play video games that encourage cooperation, even if the games
are violent, are more likely to be helpful to others while gaming than those who play the same
games competitively, a recent study found.

Perhaps a compromise between the two perspectives is to have adults monitor or screen
video games before allowing younger children to play them. Another helpful strategy is to limit how
much time children are allowed to play the games each day.
Finally, adults, especially parents, can discuss the video games with their children and explain why
some games are better to play than others.

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