Mobile Gaming & Improved Childhood Learning
If you’ve been lamenting the fact that screen time is out of control at your house, take comfort that a little more tablet time might not be such a bad thing. Research is finding that the gap between education and technology is actually an intersection and that putting tech into the hands of kids can actually have a positive effect on learning. Mobile games in particular can improve things like study habits, literacy and test scores in kids of all ages.
The jury is still out on why playing games is a positive thing, but chances are good that today’s more thoughtful kids’ titles are partly responsible for the growing acceptance of mobile games as teaching tools. There’s Toca Boca‘s lineup of dreamy, colorful games for the artsy preschooler. Titles like Storyteller Deluxe and Tree Story by Zig Zag Zoom Games inspire imagination and good stewardship in older kids. Across the board, mobile games are becoming more like their tabletop counterparts, from blocks you can build with in a 3D world to brain-boosting special awareness puzzles like the award-winning Monument Valley.
It’s not just the games, though. It’s only been fairly recently that handheld technology could power gaming experiences like the ones most kids are devouring these days. Thanks to Snapdragon’s mobile technology and other advancements in phones and tablets, children’s games have become more beautiful, more playable and more than just a distraction.
That said, here’s something that may surprise you: The benefits of mobile gaming aren’t limited to educational titles. German researchers conducted a study that found that people who played games for 30 minutes a day – any games, not just those specifically billed as educational – had more gray matter in the parts of the brain responsible for things like memory formation, spatial navigation, fine motor skills and strategic planning. And fast-paced action games, sometimes derided as attention span sappers, actually promoted faster learning and better data retention!
Based on findings like these, decisions about screen time are now a three-way affair with moms, dads and teachers making the call. School districts across the country are putting technology (and games designed to augment classroom curriculum) into the hands of students as young as kindergarten age. So far devices in the classroom are being used to enhance traditional learning activities and classroom engagement, but there could come a time when the reading element of the “three Rs” is done exclusively on tablets or even in games.
And why not? Gamifying education is nothing more than finding a way to take what most kids are already doing and make it beneficial. If levels, points, achievements and bonuses can help a reluctant learner try and try again, that’s a good thing. Elementary school teacher Martha McCoy described the change she saw in her students after introducing devices into the classroom like so: “I could not believe how tenacious students were. They would try and try again. They didn’t need to have anybody’s approval about what they were doing. They would just persevere. They were doing things I never thought that age group could possibly do.”
Limiting screen time is still a parental prerogative and probably a good idea for a generation of kids who often get their first phone before their first two-wheeler. But that said, it makes sense to make sure that kids have access to the kinds of devices and apps they’ll eventually be using for work and for play as they enter adulthood. Mobile games are an introduction to our prevailing tech as well as a portal into a world of the kinds of intellectual challenges that inspire learning.
The key is treating mobile games like any other tool in your parenting toolkit. They’re not a panacea, and nor should they be viewed as toxic. Smart games will likely be a part of every kids’ future – it only makes sense for parents to come along for the ride.
Via http://emergingtech.tbr.edu/gaming-impact-education
Jennifer Thayer is a technology writer from Southern California who loves finding ways technology can make life easier. She enjoys sharing her tips and tricks with readers. Follow her on Twitter.
It’s crazy how kids nowadays can play on phones like an adult!!! One might as well use this to their advantage, and provide ways to make this educational and constructive!