Different Perspectives About Digital Games and Kids

The all-digital life makes children’s behavior and lifestyle accustomed to being surrounded by various kinds of technology. Different from children from previous generations, today’s modern children have higher digital literacy skills, thus providing opportunities for faster and superior internet access. Children’s turning to the internet for answers is a new age phenomenon that baffles teachers and mentors globally.

There are almost equal numbers of teachers who see technology as both a solution and a problem. While the common belief is that technology hinders students’ capacity to think and analyze, there are also strong opinions in favor of the ability of video games and digital gadgets to engage students and enhance learning by using more than one sensory stimulator.

Despite growing concerns about deteriorating student attention, institutions include them in the classroom learning process. Children are naturally curious creatures. They have a curiosity to discover new things and learn by discovering and experimenting even before they are exposed to formal educational methods such as reading or writing. Science is a discipline of experimentation and discovery.

The National Standard for Science Education emphasizes that science education needs to provide students with three types of scientific skills and understanding. Students need to learn the principles and concepts of science, acquire the reasoning and procedural skills of scientists, and understand the nature of science as a particular form of human endeavor.

Therefore, students must be able to design and carry out investigations that test their ideas, and they need to understand why investigations are conducted has a unique power. Digital games are considered to be more able to attract students’ interest and attention than other conventional ways to spread education in the classroom.

However, some educators also consider it the cause of the exponential decline in the attention span of children. The involvement of children in games in the technological era, the types of games available in the market, and the impact of digital games as learning aids in the classroom are a concern in many discussions with different perspectives.

Gaming and New Age Kids

Digital technology has broadened the horizons of video games in the modern world. Children experience a much more complex and challenging technological environment than their counterparts over half a century ago. The involvement of children in digital games is the result of many significant changes in the lifestyle and culture of modern society.

The digital gaming market is one of the fastest-growing segments of the global entertainment industry. The US is witnessing unprecedented penetration of digital gaming among young people. In the US, 97% of teens play some type of game regularly.

In India, the gaming market has grown rapidly in recent years. Therefore, educators need to continue to think about using digital games as a learning tool in the classroom. Institutions are also using innovative ways to leverage digital advantages to enhance the learning experience in schools.

What is Digital Game?

A game can be defined as a system in which players engage in an artificial conflict, defined by rules, that produces a measurable outcome. Technology and digitization add a new dimension to gaming where simulation, interactivity, augmented reality, alternative reality, collective intelligence, and sensory stimulators such as sound and visual effects. Digital games are also characterized by seamless portability and accessibility.

Role-playing games, simulation games, and puzzles are some of the most popular digital games. All kinds of digital games involve the social engagement of players. Some require a collaborative effort to play while others may be socially discussed or analyzed.

Although some games are accused of being a direct violent visual effect, a well-designed game can speed up thought processes by motivating, engaging creativity, and developing inspired and enhanced meta-games or social interactions inside and outside the game. Incorporating digital games into the basic education framework can lead to increased competitiveness and multi-dimensional growth in children.

Different Perspectives Between Digital Games and Kids

Here are some perspectives on digital games and kids in general:

• Digital games can be addictive for kids and make them physically inactive
• Game addiction is also known to alienate children socially. Impulsive behavior, depression, and increased levels of anxiety are mostly associated with excessive play in children. Several studies have also shown that children who play games are unable to concentrate for long periods of time and have reduced attention spans
• Kids tend to absorb socially unacceptable behavior through some digital games like using dirty words and so on
• Digital games are considered a barrier to better performance in academics

However, despite their reputation as advocates of violence and chaos, digital games have actually been shown to help children learn important skills, content, and also skills.

• Children can learn a variety of positive content such as rich vocabulary to science and history, skills from literacy to math to complex problem solving, artifact creation from videos to software code, and systems thinking such as how changing one element affects the overall relationship
• Digital games involve extreme hand-eye coordination and improve motor and sensory skills
• Collaborative play also enhances team-building attitudes. They develop time management skills in teams and train players to work together for a common goal
• Digital games develop efficient situational analysis and strategy making in children
• Simulation games and digital role-playing games help players gain skills or learn by experiencing replicas of real-world situations

That’s a discussion about perspectives on digital games and kids. It’s very interesting to know about it.