Pros & Cons of Using Interative Games As Educational Tools

A survey conducted by Amanda Lenhart, a senior researcher at Pew Internet and American Life Project, shows that 97 percent of respondents ages 12 to 17 play video games, and the 7 percent who do not play video games still had a game console at home. Interactive games are not strangers to the younger generation anymore. Some schools plan to integrate interactive games into the classroom. While interactive games help children develop certain skills, using them as educational tools requires careful consideration.

  1. Better Coordination and Skills

    • Daphne Bavelier, a professor of brain and cognitive sciences at the University of Rochester (rochester.edu), has recently found that people who constantly play video games score better in vision tests than people who do not play video games as often. Also, the Federation of American Scientists (fas.org) recently published the results of a study that suggests strategy games help people improve analytic and decision-making skills.

    More Interesting, More Effective

    • The quality graphics, sound system and interactivity of educational games are more attractive to young students than traditional classroom lectures which require note-taking. Writing down information is one way to memorize things, yet according to Richard Hake, emeritus professor of physics at Indiana University (indiana.edu), "In a pre- and post-test comparison of conceptual knowledge, considerably larger gains in conceptual knowledge were reported for the interactive courses, [. . .]." Also, interactivity of educational games improves students' communications skills, problem-solving skills and alertness and helps with mathematics, reading and spelling grades.

    Daily Health Problems

    • Playing games too much causes bad posture and Repetitive Strain Injury. Dr Diana Macgregor at at the Royal Aberdeen Children's Hospital (nhsgrampian.org), reported a an 11-year-old as having the first case of computer-induced RSI and confirmed that spending too much time playing games also causes disequilibrium along with eye strain, headache and pain in the wrists, arms and back. Macgregor said, "The child reluctantly agreed to stop using his computer for a week and his symptoms disappeared."

    Underdevelopment of the Brain

    • Excessive playing of games interferes with brain development because most interactive games use only parts of the brain associated with vision and movement, and other parts, especially the frontal lobe, are not stimulated. "The greatest threat from computer games was not their tendency to arouse aggression, as previously thought, but the lack of mental stimulation they provided," says Dr. Ryuta Kawashima at the University of Tokyo.

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