Video games =\|/= -/+ Education?

This news article link was posted by someone in the comments of the Infinite Space rom.http://videogames.yahoo.com/events/plugged-in/study-video-games-can-hurt-schoolwork/1394310I really laugh when I see and or hear about anything remotely like this. Why? If it wasn't for Pokemon Blue for the gameboy, I'd be worse off in my reading and writing skills. Back when I was 5-6 years old, I could barely read. I had gotten blue version, and my sister got red version. She was 5 years older than me, I would constantly nag her to read for me. She got sick of my nagging, and pretty much said no after so long.This forced me into the position of learning how to read. Because she would no longer help me, and I couldn't read, I was stuck in Viridian for a week. I did not know I had to go back to Prof. Oak after delivering a parcel to the shop. Hell, I didn't even know I delivered a parcel in there, I just watched the event fly by.I slowly learned how to read, and RPG styled games such as pokemon INCREASED and helped me progress my literate skills.I guess it's different depending on the games really. There are specific educational games, which would probably prove more beneficial. And, games that include vast amounts of text, whilst not educational, wouldn't be as bad as a game such as rockband or guitar hero.What's your opinion on all of this and what are your experiences of 'learning through games'.

Well, it depends on each person.
And the game they play.
If the person is smart enough and the game is good enough(in some aspect) s/he can learn from the game.
Actually, 40% of my English skill is from games :P

Replying to #2

They should have conducted the tests, not only with more groups of kids, but different types of games. Either that or they simply had odd group out, I know plenty of people who learned more from gaming than they did in school. Whether that's due to the game getting more concentration or not.

Video games can assist with learning in some respects, but they also often interfere with formal learning in a way that arguably negates the "benefits". If you were to ask, I'm sure a great many members of this forum would admit to playing games instead of doing their homework or studying. Lots of kids also play games in class, which is quite obviously detrimental to their education.

Not being literate at 5 years would be fairly common I presume, so your argument is moot. I'm sure that if you spent the same time that you invested in Pokemon reading books instead, your ability to read/write would be at the same level. Video games can be used to teach because they can hold the attention of young children whereas more conventional methonds struggle.

tehuber1337 · #4Video games can assist with learning in some respects, but they also often interfere with formal learning in a way that arguably negates the "benefits". If you were to ask, I'm sure a great many members of this forum would admit to playing games instead of doing their homework or studying. Lots of kids also play games in class, which is quite obviously detrimental to their education.

My entire Year 12 maths class consisted of me playing competitive pokemon for 90% of it. Was pretty great.

Replying to #6

Mine consisted of rounds of charades and Uno with the folks who sat near me. Good times, good times...Needless to say, I learnt very little like that.

i could read and write before i went to school, and back in 1982 games didnt have any words it was just pac man and pong. I learnt the old fashioned way with books but back then books were cool and got your attention, i suppose games do the same job today.

The US Military trains their officers/commanders with Real Time Strategy games like; StarCraft, etc...

I've learned english from video games man!

tehuber1337 · #7Mine consisted of rounds of charades and Uno with the folks who sat near me. Good times, good times...Needless to say, I learnt very little like that.

I remember my maths class in grade 10. We did absolutely no work in class. My friend and I would play random paper games, at the end of the year the teacher handed us a massive booklet saying she'll base our grade on that. It covered all the work of the year. We both passed with just 2days of work.

Zdroyd · #9The US Military trains their officers/commanders with Real Time Strategy games like; StarCraft, etc...

Would not surprise me at all. LOL

That's a way to use game-like stuff to make education more fun:http://www.tomsguide.com/us/Experience-Points-XP-Indiana-University,news-6183.html

Big Brain Academy helped me a bit when I was 10. So yeah video games kinda help.

Replying to #13

That game is too obvious helps you develop your brain.
I think the games that we are talking are any games other than educative games.

Girls were excluded from the study because researchers feared they would not play video games enough to produce meaningful results.

Read: the results we wanted.This is a waste of research money. It's fairly obvious that anybody who can't manage their time properly will spend most of it doing what they like over what they have to. And it doesn't have to be video games: anything that will grab the child's attention is enough, like television. If parents gave their children a stricter schedule at least until they were old enough to assume responsibility for their grades, the whole video game issue would be non-existent.

Education is rendered moot when:1. Your view of history is warped by Video games so much you believe that Hitler was a damn Gerudo pixie fairy, George Washington was a smiley Jackal-faced furry, and 9-11 was when the land of Oblivion came to destroy President Uriel Septim, which caused the Twin Towers to collapse.
2. You learn sophisticated language from RPGs such as Final Fantasy.

"Weis acknowledged the need for a study on the effects of long-term ownership of video games."as a gamer since the age of 2 (older brother put in excikebike and it went from there), I can understand the cause for worry. Unmonitored game time can be detrimental to educational performance, but not to the overall intelligent or skill of the gamer. Students who play games for excess amounts of time tend to leave homework alone, and not pay attention in class. We all get this. What this study does not take into account is the actual IQ of the students themselves. Of the 8 students in my Advanced Particle Physics class, 7-8 have been playing games since 5 or younger, at a rate of 4-6+ hours per day. I currently, with a full time job, 24 credits, and housework/yardwork average 6-8 hours, and still maintain a 4.0 gpa.this study lacks the depth to really say anything about the effects of games except to say that, like anything, they should be used responsibly, and when they interfere with academics, they should be controlled.

I think games could definitely help you, assuming you don't let them take priority of things such as health and necessary education. Otherwise, I feel that the hand-eye coordination and entertainment derived from video games, not to mention the processing of puzzles and strategy (I'm looking at you Zelda), can absolutely be edifying and positive in overall cognitive ability. All in moderation of course.

Replying to #18

Moderation is the key for EVERYTHING even exercising(sp) can be overdone.

I learned to read from game manuals