How Online Games Can Be Beneficial
People have been looking critically at video games, mostly unfairly, and have accused it of turning players into couch potatoes who don’t take part in any forms of physical exercise. The criticism is aimed against video games and the main point is that no physical interaction ever takes place and that social relations suffer as a result.
Add to this, the fact that these video games can be played any time of the day making it responsible for erratic sleep behavior and its subsequent consequences. However, there is a lot that players (not necessarily children) can and should learn from video games. In an article in Harvard’ Nieman reports, the author has given several examples as to how the video games can help the player in developing some of the skill sets. For example, combat games such as Full Spectrum Warrior and Metal Gear show how to wage war in contemporary global conflicts or sneak past enemy lines.
In other games like Civilization and Simcity you have to manage a whole population of people. There are also games like Chibi-Robo which teaches basic family values as success is based on keeping your house clean and keeping your family happy. Games like these have a lasting effect as it is something that everyone can relate to and it can be played by children as well. Other games go very in depth in teaching people about other people and their cultures like in Tactical Iraqi. This creates a sensitivity towards how other people live and work and you learn so much about their culture and what they prefer.
Another distinctive feature of games over schools is that the gaming framework is based on the philosophy of putting performance before competence. In a game, the player learns things by doing it rather than relying only on reading. On the contrary, in a school environment, a child is more likely to learn by reading and may or may not have an opportunity to have hands on experience. This is even true of simple games like forklift games or even 3 in a row games. Also, in a schooling environment, the child is under the constant pressure of performance and is most likely to follow the traditional norm whereas in a gaming environment the child is not under such pressure and is likely to explore newer techniques which contribute to the intellectual growth of the child.
In your life you will be faced with loads of different choices and it is very important that you make the right ones, but just as important that you make the necessary changes if you have mad a wrong choice. When playing video games you are constantly faced with making decisions and having to live with the results. The way in which games are similar to real life is uncanny. You have to train your mind in decision making, but in video games you can learn how to make better decisions much faster. Something often overlooked is the time and dedication shown by children to learn how to master a game by spending time and effort to learn to be better at it. If there is a way that the powers that be can learn to integrate playing games into school work there it is logical that children would spend more time on their school work.
There are various games like forklift games and 3 in a row games that are prime examples of games you can play to demonstrate the benefits of games on Skillpod.com.