Educational
games have come a long way. From being an unknown concept endorsed primarily by
their makers and a few stray voices, they have gradually proved their worth in
classrooms and homes across the world and won the appreciation of parents,
teachers and kids. What is it about these games that make them so popular? A
lot of research has gone into the effectiveness of educational games, and the
results are pretty interesting.
According
to modern research, educational games by their very design are able to do
certain things that most classroom teachers cannot. Here are five areas in
which educational games outperform teachers:
1. Educational games give instant feedback
Instant
feedback is an important contributor to a positive learning experience. For
kids doing well, it provides reassurance and motivation to continue performing
well. For kids who are performing a task incorrectly, it prevents them from
learning the incorrect procedure and encourages them to attempt a different approach.
The same feedback when provided after a delay cannot reproduce the same
results. However, teachers rarely provide test results or even corrected
assignments immediately after the students turn them in. Educational games, on
the other hand, respond to every input with feedback on the player’s
performance.
2. Educational games keep kids engrossed
Being
focused and involved during lessons greatly impacts how well a student retains information.
However, students find it difficult to remain alert and involved throughout the
school day, in part due to the teacher’s inability to make lessons interesting
for the students. In direct contrast, educational games give great importance
to engaging players, and keep them engrossed for hours on end.
3. Educational games do not threaten a child’s self-esteem
Many kids
feel threatened by the learning atmosphere in classrooms where mistakes are
looked down upon or ridiculed by classmates and teachers. Children are afraid
to make mistakes, and this limits their enthusiasm to try and learn new things.
In educational games, mistakes are never laughed at. Kids are constantly given
motivation and positive reinforcement when they are working on a task, and this
gives them the self-esteem to try newer and more difficult tasks.
4. Educational games recognize and reward achievements
Educational
games have a multi-level reward system that rewards every achievement of
players, whether big or small. This allows players to see the results of their
efforts and motivates them to try harder and aim for bigger rewards. It is
nearly impossible for teachers to monitor every student’s performance so
carefully, forget rewarding every small achievement.
5. Educational games provide a customized learning experience
In most
classrooms, teachers teach the same lesson to the entire class, catering to
only a few of them. Students familiar with the concepts end up bored, and those
who have difficulty understanding it end up frustrated. Educational games
customize every lesson according to the abilities of the player, moving to more
complex lessons or providing extra practice with the same lessons based on the
player’s performance.
Keeping
students engrossed, customizing lessons, monitoring progress and providing
constant feedback and motivation are just a few of the ways that educational
games help kids learn scholastic skills. These innate characteristics of
educational games are what make them so effective and have earned them a
permanent place in many students’ learning experience.
