Reflection on Technology News and Education: Video Games and Student Learning

Today in class, we watched a TED Talk video about the effects of video games on today's children. There have been many concerns by educators and parents alike that video games are ruining today's youth, causing ADD, ADHD and a higher increase in violence. The video addressed these concerns as well demonstrated the good effects games could have. I found this presentation fascinating and think video games can be a good way to supplement classroom learning, but I do feel that the use of games should be monitored and steps should be taken to ensure that the games are educational and used in a correct and appropriate way.

In the presentation, the speaker made a point to show all the benefits of using video games. He stated that students who played video games learned important life skills such as multitasking. In a game such as World of Warcraft the player must challenge him or herself to complete tasks while talking to other players via headset, typing commands and dealing with parental interruptions.  Some argue that games that require this level of multitasking causes children to not focus in the "real world". The reason for this is that the real world seems boring to these kids. While I feel that this is true, I do agree that games like this can be created for classroom use. The speaker noted a study where games were used in a classroom to teach reading and math skills. The students made great progress and advanced to a higher level of reading and math in a span of 18 weeks. Also, these students felt learning was fun. I think that if a game is created specifically to teach reading and math it would be helpful for students. However, I feel that these games should be designed by teachers and other educators and should only be used maybe once or twice a week. There are many benefits from using these games like learning to work together, multitasking and having fun while reinforcing concepts but if they are used daily, students could be losing much more. They could be losing valuable skills such as listening, talking to each other and if they move to another school where games are not used, they could become bored and dislike traditional learning.

Another negative thing I feel that comes from video games and technology in general is the lack of human contact and social skills. People could be locked alone in a room on the web or playing a game for hours without talking to anyone. Because everything entertaining from movies to games to friends is right there at your fingertips there is a decrease in drive to join clubs or organizations to meet people when you could do this online or in a game chat room.

The speaker closed his presentation with saying the kids are alright. This is true only if adults are careful to provide their children with a well balanced education that includes everything from books to educational toys to video games.