by G. Kirchmyer
If you had to make a choice between letting your child play video games for 15 minutes before a big test or studying, which would you choose? If you said study, you might want to reconsider. Major research is being done in the area of gamification, and studies are finding it’s a lot more beneficial than we originally thought. “Gamification is the process of applying game-thinking and game dynamics, which make a game fun, to the non-game context in order to engage people and solve problems” (Kim). There are many misconceptions about gaming and its affect on our children. Firstly, according to Jane McGonigal, author of Reality is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better, most of us assume that gamers are boys, and while the majority are male, 40% of gamers are female, and 94% of girls under the age of 18 are gamers, so this perception needs to change - gaming is for everyone (Smith). Another misconception is that gaming is a form of escapism. Actually, 10 years of research shows that gamers are more productive than non-gamers, so we don’t just end up “with a pear shape and cheeto-stained fingers” (“Jane McGonigal”). Gaming is not about escaping reality; in fact, when we’re gaming we tap into the part of us that is the most creative, motivated, optimistic, collaborative, and resilient - all qualities that contribute toward success! According to McGonigal, gaming affects us by allowing us to carry over emotions from the game into our real lives. So, she says, having a powerful avatar for 90 seconds will improve one’s effectiveness at meetings, on tests, and even with flirting (she says you’ll be more bold and feel confident to approach people you might normally feel are out of your league). In the classroom games can be used as a means to author platforms, deliver content, test theories, trigger discussion, familiarize with technology, explore points of view, document learning, critique ideology, and research subject matter (Dunn). | So, what do we do with this information? McGonigal says the first step is to help gamers understand that they can be just as powerful in real life as they are in the game. Then we have them play games that can simulate change in the real world; currently there are games in which they can cure cancer, end poverty, and stop climate change. She says she has already created a game called Invoke for people in sub-Saharan Africa which helps them to start their own enterprises and end poverty (“Jane McGonigal”). So, common sense says to start looking for (or creating) games that can change the world!
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