User:Rfischer2/Educational game

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Why do Kids Learn Better Using Educational Games?

Video Games
Why do people learn better using games? We know that video games are a source of learning. A question to ask is why are they so effective? In online video games, you are presented with complex situations in which you must solve. This makes the game interesting and gets kids to create problem solving habits. In educational games, game players are presented with a problem or a task. They must then solve this problem or complete this task in order to play. These games are motivational to kids because they present a task or problem and reward the student when they answer correctly. Most games will not let you play a round if you answer incorrectly. This is also a motivational factor for learners.

How can Playing Video Games be Helpful in Learning?
Video games make us think a lot even if we don't know it. In a game, when you fail, you are normally given another chance. This allows learners to test theories and find the best possible way to win. Introducing learning games to the classroom may improve a student's motivation in that class. This is because kids are competitive, if they are playing a fun game while learning, they are most likely to try harder. The games give the learner a reason to work harder in order to receive their reward (the game). Some games are also effective in group teamwork. Games that separate students into groups allow these students to hear each other's ideas and work together. Students are more likely to work together well if they are given a common goal.

Why is Learning with Games so Successful?
Educators and parents alike wonder why their children and students would rather play video games, than complete work for school. Humans like to improve their abilities and get better at things. How do we get children to want to learn and get better at schoolwork? You could turn learning into a game. In order to do this, you must give the children choices and options like they would have in games. Give them creativity freedom with their learning and allow them to do it their way. Drop curiosity, make the kids ask questions. Finally, make learning fun. Introduce challenges and rewards that motivate them to do better.

Video games in learning have been around for a long time. Video game designer Andre Thomas says “Many people who went to school in the 1970s through the 1990s may recall the iconic video game The Oregon Trail, which made its debut in a classroom in 1971.” It is now 51 years later and video games are still used in learning. Games are an easy way to allow students to fail safely and learn from their mistakes. This allows them to create hypotheses and test them until they succeed.

Video games do not always have to be specifically designed for learning for us to learn from them. Author Kaity Kline tells a short story of when video games helped her with classwork, and not on purpose. Kline explains, “One day, my history teacher passed out blank maps of the Caribbean. Surprise: It was a quiz I had forgotten about. We had to label countries and major cities. Luckily, I'd been playing a lot of Assassin's Creed: Black Flag, set in the Caribbean during the golden age of piracy in the early 18th century. So I was able to draw on my life as a pirate to fill in the map, and I got an A.” This accentuates that video games can help us learn without us realizing it.