Gaming in the Classroom Reflection

It's no wonder that gaming in the classroom is so preferable to traditional "sit and get" instruction. Games activate the brain while lecturing, well, doesn't. More specifically, as outlined by the Gaming in the Classroom infographic, "computer games stimulate the brain to produce dopamine" which helps students to focus and build connections between neurons. In other words, utilizing digital games in the learning process primes students for real learning to take place.

What does real learning entail? To begin with, it allows students actively manipulate objects and variables. Additionally, it gives these students direct control over themselves and their actions. And simultaneously, they engage in experiential learning. Not only do these opportunities describe what occurs in the midst of real learning taking place, they also explain what kids love so much about their favorite video games.

While gaming in the classroom might sound like a novel trend, the writing is on the wall for its effectiveness in the teaching and learning process. At all levels and across geographic boundaries, students are engaging in digital game play as part of their educations, and in those same classrooms positive results are manifesting themselves.

Aside from higher grades and resilient attitudes in the face of academic challenges, students who participate in game-based learning are learning life skills which include "problem solving, collaboration, communication, and negotiation" which might just be as important as content knowledge in the 21st-century world that we are living in.

It's great to see research supporting this wild idea that kids learn best when they are genuinely engaged in something that naturally piques their interests. And while naysayers will certainly continue to vilify game play as escapist or a complete waste of time, young people, those whose opinions on the subject actually matter, are overwhelmingly drawn to educational gaming with a positive opinion of its effectiveness for kids and meaningful learning. It's time for the rest of us to level up.