Exploratory Benefits of Educational Video Games in an Information Economy
Game Learning’s educational video games invite young minds to learn about history through allowing players to take small risks, and ultimately become comfortable with some failure. In today’s information economy (as opposed to industrial economies of previous generations), creativity and flexibility are not only acceptable, but in demand. That’s precisely why educational video games play such an integral role in early education.
Consider for example, those who grew up before the computer age. Let’s suppose we are thinking of an older adult (70+). For many in this generation, upon purchase of a new smart phone, television or computer, the first step involves reading the instruction manual. By contrast, this concept would likely seem a waste of time for a younger person, who is far more likely to begin by plugging in the device, or connecting various plugs, and figuring it out as they go along.
”One approach is not necessarily better than the other, but they are fundamentally different, due to advances in technology and the ensuing cultural shift.
But don’t just take it from us. In the foreword to David Williamson Shaffer’s book How Computer Games Help Children Learn, James Paul Gee, notes:
“Young people today need to be able to use their learning muscles to innovate and create, and ultimately to adapt and transform themselves several times over in one lifetime. They need to be tech-savvy if they are going to have any hope of a secure future. This was not true for the Baby Boom generation.”
Likewise, in the book Rethinking Education in the Age of Technology: The Digital Revolution and Schooling in America by Allan Collins and Richard Halverson, the authors write:
“As students enter the work world, computer computers guide their training for the different facets of their jobs. And they are more and more likely to take courses at a local college or adult education program or on the web to help them improve their skills or enrich their lives. Most of these things were simply not happening in the middle of the 20th century. Technology is moving education out of schools and into homes and workplaces, pre-schools and post-schools after hours and after-after-hours.”
”The exploratory approach to learning inherent in Game Learning’s educational video games results in a deeper learning.
This is because student players must use critical thinking skills to solve problems posed in our educational video games. Rather than mere recitation of facts, kids learn how to not only make good/smart choices; but learn as the result of making mistakes along the way. To put it another way, young players learn by exploring, rather than only by listening or reading. They are immersed in the subject matter, because they play an active role in learning, through exploration, rather than a passive role in their own learning.
Game Learning’s educational video games teach young minds about history through fun, fast paced game play. Game Learning’s educational video games immerse students & players in historical subject matter by drawing upon their natural curiosity, while nurturing soft skills, problem solving, and historical thinking. Contact us at info@gamelearning.com
