educational games essay

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How Games Can Boost Your Learning

Did you know that playing games can make you smarter, happier, and more creative?

In this article, we will explore how games can enhance your learning and pedagogical skills in various ways. Games are not only fun and entertaining, but also powerful tools for stimulating your brain, enhancing your memory, improving your problem-solving skills, fostering your creativity, and motivating you to achieve your goals. We will also discuss some of the challenges and opportunities of using games for learning and pedagogy in different contexts and settings. Whether you are a student, a teacher, a parent, or a lifelong learner, you will find some useful tips and insights on how to use games to boost your learning and creativity.

In Keith Bowen’s Stanford class EDU 391 (Engineering Education and Online Learning), I recently spoke about Heather Browning’s excellent book chapter where she discusses her MDAO Framework for designing serious games, which is seminar to our work on Game Design Thinking.

But she also surfaces work by Gentile and Gentile (2008) who suggested a list of seven “exemplary dimensions of video games”. At the time, they were looking at violent video games as a response to much of the previous literature around whether video games were harmful for children. But in the interim researchers have discovered that in fact video games have many positive and prosocial qualities for children and young adults.

In this article, we will explore some of the reasons why games are good pedagogical tools, based on these points:

Active and Participatory Learning

One of the main advantages of games as pedagogical tools is that they require players to be active and participatory in their learning process. Unlike passive forms of instruction, such as lectures or readings, games involve players in making decisions, solving problems, collaborating with others, and creating outcomes. These activities engage players cognitively, emotionally, socially, and physically, stimulating multiple senses and modes of learning.

By being active and participatory , players also take ownership over their actions and choices. They are not simply following instructions or rules, but rather exploring possibilities and consequences. This ownership fosters a sense of agency and autonomy , which are key factors for intrinsic motivation and self-determination .

One example of a video game that involves active and participatory learning is Minecraft, a sandbox game that allows players to create and explore virtual worlds made of blocks. Minecraft can be used to teach various subjects and skills, such as math, science, art, history, and programming.

In Minecraft, players are active and participatory in their learning process because they have to make decisions, solve problems, collaborate with others, and create outcomes. For example, players can design and build structures, such as houses, castles , bridges, or monuments, using different types of blocks and materials. They can also experiment with physics, chemistry, electricity, and logic by creating circuits, machines, or contraptions using redstone , a material that can transmit power and signals. They can also explore different biomes, such as forests, deserts, oceans, or caves, and encounter various creatures, such as animals, monsters, or villagers.

By being active and participatory in Minecraft, players take ownership over their actions and choices. They can see the impact of their decisions on the game world and their own progress. They can also compare their results with those of other players or with their own expectations. For example, players can share their creations online or in multiplayer servers, where they can receive feedback, praise, or criticism from other players. They can also set their own goals and challenges, such as surviving in a hostile environment, finding rare resources, or completing quests.

Ownership and Connection

When players take ownership over their actions in games, they also feel a greater sense of connection to their results. They can see the impact of their decisions on the game world, the characters, the story, and their own progress. They can also compare their results with those of other players or with their own expectations. This connection provides players with a sense of meaning and purpose for their learning.

Moreover, games can create emotional connections between players and the content they are learning. Games can elicit various emotions , such as curiosity, excitement, joy, frustration, anger, fear, or empathy. These emotions can enhance memory retention and recall, as well as influence attitudes and behaviors. For example, games that simulate real-world scenarios can help players empathize with different perspectives or situations.

One video game that involves ownership and connection is Animal Crossing, a life simulation game that allows players to create and customize their own characters, homes, and islands. Animal Crossing can be used to teach various subjects and skills, such as art, design, economics, and social studies.

In Animal Crossing, players have ownership and connection over their actions and choices. They can see the impact of their decisions on the game world and their own progress. They can also compare their results with those of other players or with their own expectations. For example, players can design and decorate their homes, gardens, or shops, using different types of furniture, clothing, or items. They can also trade or sell items with other players or with in-game characters, using a currency called Bells . They can also explore different seasons, events, or activities, such as fishing, gardening, or celebrating holidays .

By having ownership and connection in Animal Crossing, players also feel a greater sense of meaning and purpose for their learning. They can express their creativity, personality, and preferences through their creations. They can also learn about different cultures, customs, or lifestyles by interacting with other players or with in-game characters. They can also develop social and emotional skills, such as communication, cooperation, empathy, or responsibility.

Clear Objectives and Self-Efficacy

Another benefit of games as pedagogical tools is that they provide clear objectives that function as unequivocal markers of success. Games usually have explicit goals that players need to achieve in order to progress or win. These goals can be short-term or long-term, individual or collective, concrete or abstract. They can also be aligned with specific learning outcomes or competencies.

By having clear objectives, games help players monitor their performance and evaluate their progress. They also provide feedback on how well players are doing in relation to the objectives. This feedback can be positive or negative, immediate or delayed, verbal or non-verbal. It can also be adaptive or personalized to the player’s level of skill or knowledge.

Feedback is essential for enhancing self-efficacy, which is the belief in one’s ability to perform a task or achieve a goal. Self-efficacy influences motivation, effort, persistence, resilience, and achievement. Games can increase self-efficacy by providing players with opportunities to succeed at challenging tasks, by rewarding them for their achievements, by modeling successful strategies or behaviors, and by offering them support or guidance when needed.

One video game that involves clear objectives and self-efficacy is Super Mario Bros, a platform game that requires players to control the character Mario as he runs and jumps through various levels to rescue Princess Peach from the villain Bowser. Super Mario Bros can be used to teach various subjects and skills, such as math, physics, logic, and coordination.

In Super Mario Bros, players have clear objectives that function as unequivocal markers of success. They have to reach the end of each level within a time limit, avoiding or defeating enemies and obstacles along the way. They also have to collect coins, power-ups, and extra lives that can help them in their quest. They can also find hidden secrets , such as warp zones or bonus rooms, that can reward them with shortcuts or extra points.

By having clear objectives, Super Mario Bros helps players monitor their performance and evaluate their progress. It also provides feedback on how well players are doing in relation to the objectives. This feedback can be positive or negative, immediate or delayed, verbal or non-verbal. It can also be adaptive or personalized to the player’s level of skill or knowledge. For example, Super Mario Bros can show players how many coins, points, or lives they have, how much time they have left, how many levels they have completed, or how many times they have died.

Feedback is essential for enhancing self-efficacy, which is the belief in one’s ability to perform a task or achieve a goal. Self-efficacy influences motivation, effort, persistence, resilience, and achievement. Super Mario Bros can increase self-efficacy by providing players with opportunities to succeed at challenging tasks, by rewarding them for their achievements, by modeling successful strategies or behaviors, and by offering them support or guidance when needed.

Variable Difficulty Levels

Games can also adjust their difficulty levels according to the player’s performance. This feature allows games to match the player’s level of skill or knowledge, and to provide them with optimal challenges that are neither too easy nor too hard. This way, games can effectively eliminate boredom and frustration, which are responses to tasks with inappropriate difficulties and can interfere with continued participation.

By providing variable difficulty levels, games can also promote the concept of “ zone of proximal development ” (ZPD), which is the range of tasks that are slightly beyond the current level of competence but can be accomplished with some assistance. Games can act as scaffolds that support players within their ZPD, by providing hints, clues, tips, or other forms of help that enable them to overcome obstacles and reach higher levels of performance.

One video game that involves variable difficulty levels is The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild, an open-world adventure game that requires players to control the character Link as he explores the vast land of Hyrule, solves puzzles, and fights enemies to defeat the evil Ganon. Breath Of The Wild can be used to teach various subjects and skills, such as geography, history, ecology, and critical thinking.

In Breath Of The Wild, players can choose from two difficulty levels at the start of the game: Normal or Master Mode. Master Mode is a DLC (downloadable content) Hard Mode that increases the rank, health, and intelligence of enemies, adds floating platforms with enemies and treasure, and makes enemies regenerate health in combat. Master Mode also adds a new rank of enemy, the Gold Rank, which is even tougher than the Silver Rank.

However, Breath Of The Wild also has a feature that adjusts its difficulty level according to the player’s performance. This feature is called adaptive difficulty or dynamic difficulty adjustment (DDA), and it works by monitoring various factors, such as the number of enemies defeated, the number of shrines completed, the number of divine beasts freed, and the time spent in the game. Based on these factors, the game can increase or decrease its difficulty by changing the spawn rate, type, and behavior of enemies, the amount and quality of items and weapons found in chests or dropped by enemies, and the weather and environmental hazards.

By providing variable difficulty levels, Breath Of The Wild can match the player’s level of skill or knowledge, and provide them with optimal challenges that are neither too easy nor too hard. This way, Breath Of The Wild can effectively eliminate boredom and frustration, which are responses to tasks with inappropriate difficulties and can interfere with continued participation.

Breath Of The Wild can act as a scaffold that supports players within their ZPD, by providing hints, clues, tips, or other forms of help that enable them to overcome obstacles and reach higher levels of performance.

Immediate Feedback and Practice

Games also provide immediate feedback to players as they practice skills, allowing them to continually advance their practice by instantly applying the knowledge gained. Practice is essential for learning, as it helps consolidate information in long-term memory , enhance recall and retrieval, and transfer skills to new contexts. Games can facilitate practice by providing repeated opportunities to apply skills in different situations, by varying the types and levels of difficulty of the tasks, by increasing the complexity and challenge of the tasks over time, and by providing feedback and reinforcement for correct or incorrect responses.

One video game that involves immediate feedback and practice is Rock Band, a rhythm game that requires players to press buttons on a different controllers which look like a bass or rhythm guitar, a drum set, or a microphone, in sync with musical notes that scroll on the screen. Rock Band can be used to teach various subjects and skills, such as music, coordination, memory, and concentration.

In Rock Band, players receive immediate feedback on their performance by hearing the sound of their instruments, seeing the score and the accuracy meter, and getting cheers or boos from the crowd. The feedback can be positive or negative, depending on how well the player matches the notes. The feedback can also be personalized to the player’s level of skill or knowledge, as the game can adjust the speed, number, and complexity of the notes according to the difficulty level chosen by the player.

By providing immediate feedback, Rock Band helps players monitor their performance and evaluate their progress. It also provides reinforcement or correction for their actions, which can enhance their motivation, confidence, and learning. Rock Band also facilitates practice by providing repeated opportunities to apply skills in different songs, genres , and modes. The game also encourages players to practice beyond the point of mastery and create automaticity, as they can unlock new songs, levels, or features by achieving high scores or completing challenges.

Over Learning and Automaticity

Games also encourage players to “over learn”, continuing their practice beyond the point of mastery and creating automaticity. Automaticity is the ability to perform a skill without conscious effort or attention, which frees up cognitive resources for other tasks or higher-order thinking. Games can foster automaticity by requiring players to perform skills under time pressure or distraction, by increasing the speed or accuracy of the responses, by combining multiple skills in a single task, and by providing rewards or incentives for optimal performance.

One video game that involves overlearning and automaticity is Dance Dance Revolution, a rhythm game that requires players to step on a dance pad in sync with musical arrows that scroll on the screen. Dance Dance Revolution can be used to teach various subjects and skills, such as music, coordination, memory, and fitness.

In Dance Dance Revolution, players practice skills beyond the point of mastery and create automaticity by repeating the same actions over and over again. Dance Dance Revolution can foster automaticity by requiring players to perform complex and fast-paced dance moves under time pressure or distraction, by increasing the speed or accuracy of the arrows, by combining multiple moves in a single song, and by providing rewards or incentives for optimal performance.

Flow State and Learning

Finally, games can induce a flow state in players, which is a psychological state of optimal experience characterized by intense focus, immersion, enjoyment, and motivation. Flow occurs when the challenge of a task matches the skill of the performer, and when there is clear feedback and a sense of control. Flow also promotes learning, by increasing self-efficacy and readiness to experiment with new ways of using learned skills, by enhancing creativity and problem-solving abilities, and by facilitating intrinsic motivation and interest.

One video game that involves flow state and learning is Tetris, a puzzle game that requires players to manipulate falling blocks of different shapes and colors to create horizontal lines without gaps. Tetris can be used to teach various subjects and skills, such as math, geometry, logic, and spatial reasoning.

Tetris can create these conditions of flow by providing players with clear goals, immediate feedback, variable difficulty levels, and minimal distractions.

By inducing a flow state, Tetris also promotes learning, by increasing self-efficacy and readiness to experiment with new ways of using learned skills, by enhancing creativity and problem-solving abilities, and by facilitating intrinsic motivation and interest. Tetris can also improve cognitive functions, such as attention, memory, perception, and mental rotation.

How To Design Using These Principles

An practitioner who is not making a game can still take advantage of the main points from this article by applying some of the principles and practices of game design to their learning products or experiences. For example, an edtech designer could:

• Provide clear objectives and feedback to learners, so that they know what they are expected to do and how well they are doing it. This could be done by using learning outcomes, rubrics, quizzes, badges, or progress bars.
• Provide variable difficulty levels to learners, so that they can choose or adjust the level of challenge that suits their skill and knowledge. This could be done by using adaptive algorithms, branching scenarios, scaffolding, or hints.
• Provide immediate feedback and practice to learners, so that they can learn from their mistakes and improve their performance. This could be done by using interactive simulations, animations, videos, or exercises.
• Provide overlearning and automaticity to learners, so that they can master and apply skills without conscious effort or attention. This could be done by using spaced repetition, retrieval practice, or interleaving.
• Provide flow state  to learners, so that they can experience optimal engagement, enjoyment, and motivation. This could be done by using storytelling, personalization, choice, or collaboration.

As we have seen, games are not only fun and entertaining, but also powerful tools for learning and pedagogy. They can stimulate your brain, enhance your memory, improve your problem-solving skills, foster your creativity, and motivate you to achieve your goals.

However, using games for learning and pedagogy also requires careful planning, design, and evaluation to ensure that they are effective, engaging, and appropriate for the intended audience and context.

And we can use many of these principles for creating digital learning experiences that don’t involve games at all.

I am indebted to Heather Browning’s seminar chapter on Guidelines for Designing Effective Games as Clinical Interventions: Mechanics, Dynamics, Aesthetics, and Outcomes (MDAO) Framework as it introduced me to the work of Gentile and Gentile and taught be so much about expanding the MDA Framework of game design.

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How to Use Gameplay to Enhance Classroom Learning

Research shows that using games in teaching can help increase student participation, foster social and emotional learning, and motivate students to take risks.

What happens when a gorilla goes into a battle with a brown hyena in an Australian rain forest?

Tanya Buxton’s high school biology students could find out as they embark on March Mammal Madness (MMM), a virtual game modeled after the annual NCAA basketball championship that aims to educate U.S. students about the importance of biodiversity and endangered species.

This is the second year in a row that Buxton has enrolled her Atherton, California, students in the tournament to deepen their understanding of global ecosystems while building community and camaraderie among peers.

Gameplay in school isn’t just about having fun though, say Buxton and other teachers, who are increasingly using games and gaming principles to enhance instruction. From Minecraft to the Game of Life and Werewolf , effective games like March Mammal Madness link content with low-stakes competition and can provide a more collaborative, engaging classroom experience—especially for students who may struggle to focus or find their niche in learning. During the pandemic, games have also provided an important outlet that keeps kids connected and motivated remotely .

These claims aren’t just anecdotal. According to research , using games in teaching can help increase student participation, foster social and emotional learning , and motivate students to take risks. One study of the popular multiple-choice quiz game Kahoot found that it improved students’ attitudes toward learning and boosted their academic scores. In addition, studies have found that virtual games can improve focus and attention for students with ADHD and help students with dyslexia improve spatial and temporal attention, which can translate into improved reading.

But games aren’t substitutes for other forms of learning. Like any educational tool, they need to be well-planned and integrated only when they’re relevant to the learning objectives.

Think of games not as Band-Aids to fix what’s broken in the classroom but as “a pedagogical approach that might help people think differently about what’s possible... limited only by a player’s imagination and by what a gaming set of rules allows,” says Antero Garcia , an assistant professor at the Stanford Graduate School of Education who studies the impact of technology and gaming on youth literacy and civic identities.

Want to integrate well-developed games or just a few gaming principles into your lessons? Here are some approaches to consider to make games a valuable teaching tool.

Test and Learn

In many games , players encounter scenarios that involve making in-the-moment decisions that let them quickly see the impact of their choices in a low-risk setting and then try (and try again) if they falter—skills that are valuable as they go through life, says Garcia.

Teachers, for example, can use role-playing games in the classroom to help students inhabit different perspectives and understand them as part of larger, holistic systems of thought, explains Matthew Farber, a former teacher and assistant professor at the University of Northern Colorado who studies the intersection of game-based learning and SEL. This system of thinking can become a good entry point for students to learn about their own agency as they weigh possibilities and consider alternate plans of action.

Because games are interactive—unlike books or movies that involve more passive consumption—they may also encourage students to explore new topics and approaches to learning that they otherwise would not consider, he says.

In the virtual game Alba: A Wildlife Adventure , for example, players launch mini-missions where they discover and protect species of endangered animals. Though students might not consider themselves adventurers or conservationists when they play the game, the low-risk setting can get them thinking about larger-scale impacts they could have in the real world, adds Farber. As a follow-up activity, students could conduct further research on animals they encountered or even take local nature walks to identify smaller ecosystems of local wildlife.

Even if teachers aren’t using a fully developed game in their class, they can use a process known as gamification , or weaving components of games such as points, leaderboards, and badges into lessons to boost students’ motivation. Because students get excited about the competition from earning badges or embarking on a quest, they tend to take more risks—and, in turn, learn from their mistakes, says Manju Banerjee, an associate professor and vice president of educational research and innovation at Landmark College in Putney, Vermont.

When students are researching a topic and conducting a literature analysis, teachers can design curricula to send them on a quest—instead of framing it as a typical assignment—or rethink assessment and “tell a student that he is at a ‘novice’ level rather than a grade of C-” to reduce academic pressure and encourage participation,” says Banerjee.

Learning in Disguise

Though it’s not the only reason to play games, the fun of gameplay is a critical part of why they are so successful with children, according to educators, who say that games can help disguise the learning of essential but challenging skills that kids might otherwise resist.

Teachers Joe Dillon and Marina Lombardo, for instance, created a poem-writing activity using Minecraft: Education Edition, in which students move through a maze and visit rooms to learn how to make their writing more descriptive. This game, inspired by Georgia Heard’s Six-Room-Poem activity , guides students through specific writing prompts, such as describing an object by focusing on the ambience of its surroundings.

Many games involve a compelling storyline that can quickly hook kids, which is what makes teaching with them so effective, explains Kendra Cameron-Jarvis, an instructional technologist for Buncombe County Schools in western North Carolina. In a game she designed called Discovering the Ancient Pyramids Adventure , sixth-grade students use Google Maps Treks—which provide a 360-degree view of the ancient structures—to go on a quest inside the Great Pyramid and solve a mystery while they explore. The game reinforces what they’re learning in class about ancient Egypt, she says.

“It’s kind of sneaky—they don’t realize they’re learning,” she says. “Kids are going to have a really good time, and they’re going to learn along the way.”

Teachers are also increasingly using apps and interactive game platforms like Kahoot and Quizizz —Kahoot says that more than 6 million teachers in 200 countries use its app to date—as fun formative assessment tools to ensure that students are on track with their learning, especially during the pandemic. Cameron-Jarvis says teachers are reporting that the platforms are so engaging, students frequently request to play them as part of their learning.

To increase the likelihood of all students participating, teachers can scaffold the difficulty levels of a game, calibrated to the current ability of the student. For students with special needs in particular, games can be beneficial because they disrupt traditional learning approaches and introduce opportunities for them to succeed where they have often struggled, says Banerjee, who has more than 29 years of experience in the field of learning disabilities.

Banerjee recommends that teachers use a myriad of low-stakes leaderboards—scoreboards that show the names and scores of participants—to highlight often-overlooked activities or skills in a way that recognizes contributions from students who typically do not perform well on traditional assignments. Teachers can give credit to the student with “the most creative calculation error” in a math class, for example, which not only makes learning more entertaining but acknowledges that all students can contribute meaningfully within a classroom.

Bringing Students Together

Though students can play games alone, most education games encourage players to collaborate effectively in teams—a building block for creating strong relationships and skills like cooperation that will be valuable as they progress through school and life, studies show.

These social interactions have been crucial during distance learning, according to Douglas Kiang, a high school computer science teacher at the Menlo School. Since schools went virtual last spring, Kiang has used Minecraft to give students a chance to interact with each other while learning social skills such as teamwork, negotiation, and respect for others. He also plays Among Us with his advisory group of about 10 students.

“I think games are useful in that respect for bonding and for allowing kids to socialize and communicate with each other,” says Kiang, who is a nationally recognized expert on game-based learning and technology integration.

Integrating more community-building elements into your classroom doesn’t always require playing a multiplayer video game, though, says Cameron-Jarvis. She suggests posting questions in the stream of popular tools like Google Classroom, Flipgrid, and Nearpod, and letting students respond, interact, and debate ideas. Other teachers have used Google tools to make their own versions of traditional games like Connect Four or Tic Tac Toe so that students get a brain break from academic learning.

The important part of using games in the classroom is trying not to gamify everything and to start small, using games with rules that students understand, says Cameron-Jarvis. The mix of games also matters, adds Farber, who says teachers should aim for variety. If you do let kids play games in class, he says, “think about the emotions those games evoke besides strategy and procedure.”

Chapter 6: 21st-century media and issues

6.5.4 Video games in the world of education (research essay)

Anonymous English 102 Writer

The relationship between education and new technologies, more specifically video games, has long been debated about and judged without a full understanding of the actual potential of the combination of the two. New methods such as using video games as an education tool are almost always overlooked by educators even though they may be missing out on a niche form of education that can keep students far more engaged in the subject they are learning while also encouraging them to continue learning because they are also having fun. It is also often overlooked that playing video games can potentially in some way increase the players’ skills in communication through the usage and improvement of communication required in some games. I share the belief that video games have great potential to be used as a tool for education if more educators would give them a shot and test them out. I also believe that video games have very high potential to improve the communication skills of those who play them. There are also many researchers and educators who share these beliefs and would like to see the use of video games as an education tool more widespread in the future. Many of these researchers and educators that believe in the use of video games as an education tool are of this opinion because they have tested this on students and found results that sway them to see the potential of this form of teaching. Though obviously video games could never become a primary education tool or mainstream form of communication, I think that video games could be utilized well as a form of education and that they could be used by many as a way to improve their communication skills.

Personally, I think video games have a good positive effect on the communication skills of those who play them. I have been playing video games for a large portion of my life and I think the form of communication within some of the more competitive games can have an effect on my communication skills. I think they do this by forcing the player to communicate in the typical form of the game which then have an effect on real world communication skills. In my experience, this increase in communication skill comes from the specific form of communication that happens in competitive video games. This includes games such as one of my personal favorites, Call of Duty Warzone. In order to communicate effectively, the players must communicate through quick and effective bursts of information. In Warzone, my teammates and I must communicate quickly to tell each other important information such as the location of enemies, or where to find valuable resources such as weapons, ammunition and armor. I can do this by either talking to the teammates through a microphone, or using a system called pinging. Pinging is an in game system where you look at an item or location you want to show to your teammates, then hit a button to place a ping there that is displayed to the rest of your team. The most effective way to communicate in Warzone is a combination of both pinging and rapid verbal communication. This way a player can verbally tell their teammates exactly what they are talking about while simultaneously pinging it to show their teammates visually. With the visual indicator on the screen from the ping, and the verbal description from teammates, it should be the most efficient way to tell a teammates something quickly. While some other games also have a pinging system, most force the players to be most reliant on communicating verbally with quick and information packed sentences. This is because while playing these games, the players do not have time to communicate with each other in long detailed sentences. They need to cut down the time it takes to relay information to teammates or often it will be too late for that information to be important anymore. In the time I have played video games I find most of this to be accurate and I believe it has had at least some effect on my communication skills in high stress situations. I also have personal experience with the use of video games education. When I was in elementary school, I frequently used a computer game to help me practice my speed of completing math equations. Even though I was learning the same thing that the teacher was teaching at school, I was much more engaged and interested because a game was more fun that simply doing equations on a sheet of paper. I think that this kind of education can be used much more often to keep students engaged with the subject they are learning. Overall, I have a good connection to this subject and feel confident in the positive relationship between video games and education as well as communication skills.

First, I will explore the research on the topic of the relationship between playing video games and communication skills. A question that I think is important to answer about this topic is how does video game communication effect real world communication skills. Many researchers have studied this relationship to examine video games effects on communication. One such researcher is Kenneth Horowitz in his article “Video Games and English as a Second Language: The Effect of Massive Multiplayer Online Video Games on The Willingness to Communicate and Communicative Anxiety of College Students in Puerto Rico”. In this article Horowitz studies a group of students from Puerto Rico who are attempting to learn English while using video games as one of their forms of learning. As they play these games it works on their English communication skills furthering their knowledge of the language. Horowitz regards new technology and the internet as a whole as a fascinating new potential form of education and more specifically a form of improving the communication skills in those who are learning a new language (Horowitz 379). Because this study revolves around students who are learning English rather than improving on the English skills they already have it is a slightly different situation than the research question asks but still mostly related enough to be relevant. The research was gathered through two questionaries given through the internet to the research participants further relating the connection to the internet and technology to education (Horowitz 391). This means there was a variety of ways for the participants of the study to express the affect the study had on them to diversify the results. While the participants played a wide variety of video game titles and genres, the results and levels of communication between the players did not change but stayed at a similar level relative to each other (Horowitz 398). While the messages players communicate to each other in these different games titles and genres may be different it still requires the same kind of communicative skill to get the message across to teammates effectively. Overall, the relationship between the time of video games played and the skill in communication is a positive correlation (Horowitz 398). When applied to the research question about Video Games correlation to real world communication skills, Horowitz’s research would seem to suggest that Video games do in fact have a positive effect on a person’s real life communication skills in a significant way. Another article that deals with this research question is “Games at Work: Examining a Model of Team Effectiveness in an Interdependent Gaming Task” by Sylvia Luu and Anupama Narayan. This article is another one that deals with how video games and gamification can help people work better as a team in other aspects of life other than video games. The term gamification is used frequently throughout the article, and I think this term is a great term to relate to this essay and the research questions within it as a whole. As stated in the article, gamification could be described as a way of applying skills and aspects of video game behavior into real life situations and circumstances as a way to more efficiently handle them when the need arises (Luu and Narayan 110). The gamification of everyday tasks or especially tasks that have to do with communication and education relates directly to the research question of video games having an effect on real world communication skills. In this article’s experiment a wide range of students volunteered to take part by working together in a video game designed to specifically bring out the teamwork and communication skills of those who played it (Luu and Narayan 114). In contrast to Horowitz’s study, this experiment uses its own game in contrast with Horowitz allowing the participants in the study to play whatever game they chose by themselves. This provides a different point of view and wider range of research data to support this main concept of improvement in communication skill. In the end of the study, it was shown that more communication between the players in the game lead to better performance overall and satisfaction between teammates (Luu and Narayan 116). When the players who participated in the study communicated more it led to a higher rate of success and level of approving between teammates which could be translated to communication in real life scenarios and demonstrates how the communication in video games is not all that different from communication in real life. Yet another article that deals with the ways video games have an effect on a person’s communication skills is “Using video game to enhance English communication skills” by Alex Roach and Yeski Utami. Once again, this article similarly dives into the gamification of education and communication and how video games can incentivize and reward the improvement of communication skills. The article goes over several types of games that can benefit from good communication skills including co-operative games which are directly related to the players working together and communicating as well as they can in order to accomplish their tasks effectively (Roach and Utami 202). Multiple different genres and types of video games have varying degrees of connection to communication and how it can be improved. The research done in this article was based on two different games played by several groups of students in order to diversify and expand the range of results possible to be shown in the data of the experiment (Roach and Utami 203). With multiple different games to play it becomes easier to show and more apparent that the results of one game are not an outlier to the hypothesis. In the results of the experiment, it is believed that the communication between players had a very positive effect on the success in playing the games and that good communication was very important and incentivized for a good performance (Roach and Utami 204). When the students in the experiment communicated better, they performed better in the experiment which shows the strong connection between playing video games and communication skills. Another, more specific article on this topic is “Can game-based learning enhance engineering communication skills?” by Cheyrl Bondar and Renee Clark. Obviously, this article is of a similar topic as the last few but is more specifically relegated to the topic of engineering students using video games in a similar way as the others. This article is based on a study on several hundred engineering students who were asked to write and deliver a presentation on a subject while first using video games as a way to see how the effect the skill in communication among these engineering students (Bondar and Clark 25-26). Though the final presentation these students are composing is not about video games or communication skills, the way video games are implemented into the study still creates an effective situation for the research to show how video games can affect communication skills in these students. The way the video games were used in this study was the students developed their own games specifically designed around different types of communication such as verbal, nonverbal and written communication. These games were meant to test each student in how well they can properly use these different types of communication to complete their assigned final presentations (Bondar and Clark 35). As the students play these several different games with varying objectives, they are also working together closely much like how they will need to for their presentations at the end of the year. In the final results of this study, it was discovered that the positive correlation in communication skills was only found in the level of out loud verbal communication skills (Bondar and Clark 39). This finding shows how playing video games improves the communication each of the players have with and between each other. It seems to show that as the players proceed through the games, they mainly communicate out loud with each other even when playing the games designed around other forms of communication therefor having a much greater effect on their verbal communication skills rather than non-verbal communication skills. Overall, this article and its research show that even when working towards an unrelated goal, video game players who are effectively communicating with each other will see a great improvement in their level of skill in that same kind of verbal communication. My second to last piece of writing on this particular research question is a CNN article titled “Video Games Help Children Improve Literacy, Communication and Mental Well-Being, Survey Finds” by Alaa Elassar. This article and its message are based on a survey administered to several thousand teenagers in a small range of different ages on how they believe playing video games effects their lives. They are asked about how they think playing video games has an effect on multiple different aspects including their skill in reading as well as their writing ability (Elassar). Many people including those in the age range of this survey know that playing video games and reading and writing skills are much more closely related than most would think. These teenagers who participated in the survey also report that the video games they play are a major topic of discussion between them and their friends when they talk (Elassar). While this particular finding may not show direct increase in communication skill related to video games, it does show that playing video games can increase the amount of communicating a person does throughout their day both while playing and when they are not. Many of these teens think playing their video games are a fun and entertaining way for them to build connections and friendships both with people they know in real life and with new people they meet online through the games (Elassar). This shows that playing video games creates and strengthens connections between those who play them together. In a somewhat unrelated note, the participants of the survey also report that playing video games helps reduce their stress and other negative feelings (Elassar). Overall, the playing of video games has a positive effect on most children who play them both in their ability to communicate and on their mental well being. Finally, I have one more online article titled “Video Games Level up Life Skills” by Kathryn Hulick. This article is a simple online piece of writing that conveys the message of how video games can build their valuable life skills such as communication and improvisation or resourcefulness (Hulick). As players play video games, they work on these skills by stimulating their minds in a casual and entertaining way. The article references a study conducted in Scotland about students who played video games during their school week to see if it had any effect on their school performance (Hulick). In comparison to the control group that played no video games during the study did not show as big of an improvement in the traits they were asked to report on, resourcefulness, adaptability and communication skills, as the group of students who did play video games consistently throughout the two months the study was conducted over (Hulick). All of these articles display a very strong connection between communication skills and the amount of video games the players play.

The second part of this essay will be focused around a different connection to video games. The research question for this portion is can video games be used as an effective education tool. The first source I would like to use for this topic is “Video Games Can Develop Graduate Skills in Higher Education Students: A Randomized Trial” by Matthew Barr. This article is based on a trail to show how video games can be used as an education tool. The study is about a group of subjects who were asked to play video games and report how they were affected in a cognitive and social context (Barr 86). The participants play a wide variety of games that have the potential to have educational value to explore many different methods of teaching from a video game. By the end of the research, it was shown that the students involved in the study did show good results for a test administered by the researchers possibly indicating a link between video games and effective communication skills (Barr 90). This shows what my research question aims to ask that video games while not a main source of education can be used as a tool for educating in some instances where it applies and for specific skills. The next source for this research question is titled quite simply “Gaming as a Teaching Tool” written by Brandon Baker. This source is another website article that aims to point out a positive connection between video game playing and engaging education for students. The article discusses many ways video games are being used in various different environments including the military, fitness, and of course schools themselves (Baker). With such a diverse range of games and genres it is possible for video games to be used in hundreds of different contexts and environments as an educational tool in one way or another. Professor Yasmin Kafai certifies that video games have a long extensive history in education and that their modern surge in use is nothing new as Professor Kafai verifies with the course she created titled Video Games and the Virtual World which deals extensively with how video games can be used for educational purposes in many different scenarios (Baker). As Professor Kafai’s course most likely verifies, video games have had a long history of educational purposes even when it may not seem very obvious or apparent. There are many games that have very specific educational values and themes that were made exclusively for classroom education purposes rather than for entertainment purposes such as a game titled Math Blasters (Baker). Although there are some games that are made specifically for educational purposes and not for entertainment purposes, it is still possible and even likely that more entertainment focused video game titles are capable of having educational value whether it is intended or not. Recent events, especially the COVID-19 pandemic, have shown that video games and other technology based methods can be extremely effective and sometimes vital to a learning environments benefit (Baker). When the world of education suddenly became almost entirely reliant on technology to administer its lessons to students it is possible that many educators became at least somewhat aware that video games have a much higher potential of educational use than many would have previously thought. In summation, Baker’s article is very aware and expressive of how the world of education is already very much connected to video games and that they have a bright future in the educational field now that technology has taken on such a crucial role in the field. Another source that deals with this topic is “A New Venue for Video Games: K-12 Classrooms” written by Carolyn Jones. This article begins by describing a teacher who struggled to keep his students engaged and interested in the subject matter until he instituted video games as a way to make his class more engaging and fun for the students. He began to use Minecraft: Education Edition as a part of his history class and witnessed as it drastically increased his student’s engagement with the course material (Jones). When students are given a more entertaining way to learn the same material as a more traditional classroom experience can offer, the entertaining option will usually be much more appealing and effective at keeping the students interested in the material. Other educational games such as Dragon Box focus around other school subjects such as math to provide a wider range of teaching ability across multiple different possible forms of presentation (Jones). Many games have specialty areas of education just like different teachers are more informed on certain subjects. My last source for this question is “The Benefits of Gaming in Education: the Build A World Case” which has no listed author. The article states that gaming has numerous social and psychological benefits to its players and that these benefits have countless positive effects even in the area of education (The Benefits of Gaming). These benefits are often somewhat overlooked but have a very great impact on students and other young people who play video games. As students play video games they are idly and subconsciously improving their critical thinking and technical skills due to the quick snap decisions and puzzle solving that many games have included within them (The Benefits of Gaming). Video games are not often made purposfully with the goal of education in mind but they very often include puzzles and other stimulating challenges that require the player to think critically. Overall These sources all seem to indicate that there is a strong relationship between video games and the field of education.

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Playing Games with Our Lives: What Critical Pedagogy Can Teach Us About the Ethics of Games in the Writing Classroom

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The use of games has been positioned as a radical challenge to theories of learning in general and the teaching of writing in particular, but does using games constitute a radical pedagogy? This essay uses Freire’s model of problem-posing pedagogy to explore the ethical challenges inherent to game-based pedagogy and to see how revisiting the pre-digital roots of critical pedagogy can help define a political and ethical basis for gaming pedagogy as a hedge against commodification and a faux-neutral version of “problem solving.” By combining a Freirean critique of gaming pedagogy with a gaming approach to problem-posing, we can open a space to approach gaming not merely as means to various educational ends, not as a way to “trick” students into learning, but as ends themselves rooted in the fundamental ethical and political questions of what it means to make a better world and to play games with our lives.

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Alberti, J. (2021). Playing Games with Our Lives: What Critical Pedagogy Can Teach Us About the Ethics of Games in the Writing Classroom. In: Colby, R., Johnson, M.S., Shultz Colby, R. (eds) The Ethics of Playing, Researching, and Teaching Games in the Writing Classroom. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63311-0_5

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The Value and Side-Effects of Games in Education

Games have been used as a learning tool for centuries, and in recent years, there has been a renewed interest in the use of games as an instrument of education (Gee, 2003), with video games having evolved as a source of entertainment for more than 20 years. Most obviously, huge technological developments have made it possible for designers to construct complex digital worlds with significantly better sound and graphics (Olbur, 2003). As a result of these significant technological advancements, games have been utilized in schools to engage students and make learning more interactive and fun (Gee, 2003). They are particularly effective in teaching subjects such as mathematics and science, as they can provide a hands-on and interactive way to learn complex concepts. The arts, like language and history, are also presented in engaging and interactive ways through visual sources to complement the literacy-heavy aspect of these subjects (Gee, 2003). While games in education have the potential to enhance student engagement and motivation and improve learning outcomes, excessive use of games can lead to negative side effects such as decreased attention span and lack of critical thinking, therefore, a balanced and appropriate use of games in education is crucial to fully utilize its advantages and minimize its lacking qualities (Gee, 2003).

One of the significant advantages of games in education includes effectiveness in increasing student motivation and engagement (Prensky, 2001). Some disciplines may be perceived by many students as being challenging, abstract, and dull. Students are supposed to learn while playing the curriculum's games, so they can enjoy the learning experience. The learning process will become enjoyable, captivating, and successful if fun is incorporated into it. An important analysis of educational games incorporates the concepts of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation as the two types of motivation. Extrinsic motivation is linked to rewards, but intrinsic motivation is the desire to do the activity for one's own purpose because they find it enjoyable and hard. These two motives may have varying effects on students' learning outcomes, for example, students who played educational games were more likely to be engaged in the learning process (Gee, 2003), and had a better understanding of the material than those who did not partake in gaming (Prensky 2003).

Games can also be used to teach problem-solving skills, critical thinking, and collaboration, with a better understanding of teamwork achieved by students, in comparison to those who did not play the games (Gee, 2003). Games are entertaining and participatory, and students respond easily to this kind of learning environment, with a heightened motivation to learn which is integral to a beneficial education (Kirkland & O’Riordan, 2006). When played in pairs or groups, games have the effect of giving students safety in numbers. It is practically impossible to sit idly by and not become involved in games, particularly when they are interesting. They are naturally attracted together and bond in the cozy competitive setting of the game – inspired to learn through games as a social need (Kirkland & O’Riordan, 2006). Games can help with student integration and can promote a collaborative and social learning environment. For example, strategy games can help students learn how to think ahead and plan for multiple outcomes, while role-playing games can teach communication and teamwork (Gee,2003).

By giving students more influence over the learning process, setting clear goals, pushing them, encouraging cooperation, employing criterion-based assessments, and adding novelty to the environment, educators can learn from video games about how to improve learning settings (Olbur, 2003). In order to put students in states of "flow," well-designed learning environments make use of many of these design elements. Educational strategies like problem-based learning environments, case-based reasoning, learning through participation in communities of practice, or inquiry-based learning all put students in active roles while pursuing objectives that are important to them (Olbur, 2003).

Games integrate personalized learning experiences into the curriculum, and with the use of adaptive learning technology, games can adjust to the individual needs and abilities of each student. This can help to ensure that each student is working at their appropriate level and progressing at their own pace (Huitt, 2004). With instantaneous, real-time feedback from digital learning games on each player's performance, educators can use this information to modify their teaching methods to better meet the unique needs of each student (Huitt, 2004). This will result in a more targeted use of in-class instruction time and improved learning outcomes.

Although there are many positive sides to gaming in education, there are also negative aspects. One of the main concerns is that excessive gaming can lead to addiction – negatively impacting a student's overall well-being, including academic performance(Rooji et. al, 2011). Video games provide enticing, addictive features of competition and excitement that make them popular leisure activities for youngsters and teenagers (Toto & Limone, 2022). As a result, these players will stop at nothing to advance through the game's levels. In-game settings often make users feel valued, helpful, and at home, with the desire to participate to feel important looming overhead. This frequently happens when someone lacks social pleasure; as a result, playing video games becomes the focal point of their social life and boosts their self-esteem (Toto & Limone, 2022). Studies have shown that excessive gaming can lead to decreased academic achievement, as well as physical and mental health problems such as depression, anxiety, and sleep disorders (Rooji et. al, 2011).

Social isolation and a lack of face-to-face communication skills is prevalent in students who excessively game (Rooji et. al. 2011). As students spend more time gaming, they may have less time for social interactions with friends and family, which can negatively impact their social development. Playing games for long periods meant that students were more likely to have poor social relationships (Rooji et. al. 2011). With these lacking social skills, impulsivity and awkwardness, children would retreat back into their games – spending even more time on the practice. The claim suggests a strong reliance on video games as a source of leisure. Bullying, issues at home, or issues at school can all lead to social isolation, and children may gravitate to video games when they feel cut off from their friends. Video games satisfy a child's need to succeed and a sense of belonging. In addition to being simpler than real relationships, video games also offer a phony form of social contact.

Games can also hurt academic performance, with students who played games for long periods being more likely to have lower grades (Rooji et. al. 2011). Students who played games for long periods were also more likely to have a lower level of academic achievement (Lemmens et. al. 2009). Gaming physically impacts academic achievement because students are too engrossed in the game to complete their assignments or prepare for class (Lemmens et. al. 2009). Gaming not only affects performance in a direct way but also increases hostility, which is frequently associated with behavioral issues at school and poor academic achievement. Playing video games takes time away from homework, social interactions, and other school-related tasks (Lemmens et. al. 2009).

In conclusion, there are various opportunities to include gaming in education. Games can be a valuable tool for improving student engagement, motivation, and learning outcomes in the classroom. However, it is important to note that excessive use of games in education may lead to negative side effects such as addiction, lack of critical thinking, and poor academic performance. In the long run, this can affect the overall performance and progress of the students. Therefore, it is important to use games in education in a balanced and appropriate manner and to consider the potential negative effects when implementing them in the classroom.

Bibliographic References

Evans, G. (2018). How Games are Designed to Increase Students’ Motivation in Learning Physics? A Literature Review . https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1757-899X/335/1/012065/pdf

Gee, J. P. (2003). What video games have to teach us about learning and literacy. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Huitt, W. (2004). Educational psychology: A cognitive view. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Kirkland, D., & O’Riordan, F. (2006). Games as an Engaging Teaching and Learning Technique: Learning or playing? http://icep.ie/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Kirkland_et_al.pdf

Lemmens, J. S., Valkenburg, P. M., & Peter, J. (2009). Development and validation of a game addiction scale for adolescents. Media Psychology, 12(1), 77-95.

Olbur, A. (2003). Video Games in Education . http://www.savie.ca/SAGE/Articles/1064_000_SQUIRE_2003.pdf

Prensky, M. (2001). Digital game-based learning. New York: McGraw-Hill. Squire, K. (2006). From content to context: Videogames as designed experience. Educational Researcher, 35(8), 19-29.

Toto, G. A., & Limone, P. (2022). Signs, mechanisms and consequences of videogame addictions: educational strategies and rehabilitation . https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-3265/paper_4924.pdf Van Eck, R. (2006). Digital game-based learning: It's not just the digital natives who are restless. EDUCAUSE Review, 41(2), 16-30. Van Rooij, A. J., Schoenmakers, T. M., Vermulst, A. A., Van den Eijnden, R. J., & Van de Mheen, D. (2011). Problematic video game use among adolescents: The relationship with school performance and problem behavior. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 40(11), 1437-1447.

Visual Sources

Cover Photo: HERs, t. (2022, March 6). the*gameHERs | How Gaming Can Help Your Creative Flow . The*gameHERs. https://thegamehers.com/blog/get-creative-how-gaming-can-help-you-to-achieve-your-creative-flow-state

Figure 1: Global, H. H. (2022, December 21). How To Write A Case Study: Topic Samples, Types, and Data Collection . Homework Help. https://www.homeworkhelpglobal.com/us/blog/how-to-develop-good-study-habits/

Figure 2: Freepik. (2021, December 5). Young students learning together during a group study Free Photo . https://www.freepik.com/free-photo/young-students-learning-together-during-group-study_21076687.htm

Figure 3: Lee, C. T. (2020b, November 2). Video game addiction not a problem for most kids, but some gamers face serious issues later in life . Study Finds. https://studyfinds.org/video-game-addition-gamers-face-serious-issues/

Figure 4: Karageorghis, A. (2021, August 18). How to cope with exam failure: putting it into perspective - MyTutor Blog . https://www.mytutor.co.uk/blog/students/exam-failure/

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Reasons Why You Should Use Video Games as a Teaching Tool

by Katrine B

September 22, 2023

Modern education has evolved to prioritize creative thinking, complex problem-solving, and utilizing the Internet for learning and interaction. Previously, educational approaches were often rigid, leaving little room for innovative teaching methods.

However, introducing digital gaming into the classroom has transformed this landscape. Video games are no longer seen as distractions for students; Forbes reports that 74% of K-8 teachers incorporate digital gaming into their teaching strategies.

Initially, concerns arose about students spending excessive screen time, leading some to resort to essay writing services like EssayHub.com to cope with their academic workload. However, only some delved into the underlying reasons behind the surge in gaming popularity and reduced enthusiasm for reading, research, and traditional coursework.

Undoubtedly, employing outdated teaching methods in today's classrooms can be tiresome and often reduces student engagement, especially among college students. As a result, educators and researchers advocate for diverse teaching approaches. So, how did gaming find its way into educational settings?

The History of Digital Gaming as a Teaching Tool

The integration of video gaming into education isn't a recent development. Those who attended school from the 1970s through the 1990s had the opportunity to experience gaming in the classroom.

Nevertheless, many educational institutions have hesitated to embrace gaming to enhance student interest in learning. It has been half a century since some pioneering teachers first utilized gaming as an educational tool. During this time, the gaming industry has generated billions in revenue.

True, yet there has yet to be a significant corresponding surge in academic enthusiasm.

This resistance to gaming in education isn't supported by evidence, as there is no substantial proof of the detrimental effects of video games on learning. Instead, it is primarily influenced by cultural factors, with the media often focusing on the negatives.

Here are five compelling reasons why incorporating video games into every classroom can be beneficial.

Video Games Spark Greater Interest in STEM Education

Science and technology advisors have recently emphasized the importance of garnering students' interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).

Schools have encountered challenges when introducing calculus courses due to a lack of enthusiasm among students. While it may be tempting to turn to an online writing service for assistance with a calculus paper, this should not be the norm solely because the subject is perceived as dull.

Recognizing that students also require breaks from their regular coursework is crucial. Consequently, educational institutions should explore ways to kindle students' passion for technical subjects. Some colleges have developed calculus-based video games to make calculus more understandable and enjoyable. Using video games as a guide can significantly enhance one's proficiency in calculus.

They Offer Hands-On Learning Experiences

Contrary to the traditional theoretical approach to learning, contemporary education strongly emphasizes practicality. Creative problem-solving, for instance, is best acquired through hands-on experience rather than mere theory.

Utilizing games to solve mathematical problems represents an effective method of instilling critical thinking skills in students. The likelihood of forgetting the process is minimal when you're excited about solving a problem through gaming.

In addition to mathematics, video games with social and community-oriented themes serve as valuable tools for imparting civic responsibilities. These games provide real-world scenarios and empower students to take on tasks independently.

Players Learn from Setbacks

One of the valuable lessons imparted by video games is the resilience to rise and try again. This lesson holds significant importance in education, yet it can only be challenging with a practical example.

It's essential not to perceive failure in a negative light. Sure game developers intentionally design games where learners must experience setbacks to better understand the concepts at hand.

In these games, each failed attempt contributes to the player's progress, ultimately leading to mastery. Such a skill is invaluable in the classroom, as it fosters the ability to acquire new knowledge through trial, error, and persistent effort.

Games Foster Sustained Engagement

Capturing a student's undivided attention for assignments can be quite a task. Once students leave the classroom, their ability to engage with the subject matter diminishes. However, igniting a student's genuine interest in what's being taught can translate into a more profound affection for the subject.

The time allocated within the classroom needs to be increased to cover the vast educational landscape. This is where the need for extended engagement in tasks arises. Additionally, cultivating curiosity about a topic can significantly enhance the learning experience. Educational games boost motivation and engagement, making them an excellent tool for extending learning beyond the classroom.

Video Games Simplify Complex Subjects

Comprehending complex topics hinges on the ability to build upon prior knowledge. When students connect new information with what they've previously learned, they develop a sense of ownership over their knowledge acquisition, making the learning process more gratifying.

As an educator, you aspire to nurture your students' literacy skills and abstract thinking abilities. Learning becomes a more enjoyable endeavor when students internalize concepts rather than resorting to rote memorization.

Video games play a vital role in assisting teachers in making intricate subjects accessible and enjoyable, all while enhancing abstract thinking skills.

In Conclusion:

While video games are primarily leisure-related, they hold tremendous potential within the classroom. The learning environment should not be limited to a gloomy and rigid atmosphere but should encourage innovative methods for comprehending subjects.

This is where educational gaming options come into play. They facilitate creative approaches to problem-solving, encourage critical thinking, and facilitate grasping new concepts. In the ever-evolving landscape of education in the 21st century, students absorb information through unconventional yet effective methods.

Essay on Games

Games are an essential part of everyone’s childhood. Games are a fun way to keep kids entertained. They provide an interactive and engaging way to learn something new while considering themselves and others. They give children a break from daily study routines. Playing games improves kids’ immunity and helps them stay strong. BYJU’S essay on games allows the little ones to understand the difference between indoor and outdoor games and the importance of playing games.

Table of Contents

Indoor games, outdoor games, importance of playing games.

The essay on games is an article that explains why playing indoor games is vital for the development of kids in their early years. Indoor games are essential for kids who spend a lot of time indoors. There are many benefits to playing these games, like improving a child’s vision and developing memory skills. These skills help them in academics. While playing indoor games, kids can have a friendly competition.

The importance of indoor games is something that many people have probably not thought about. Indoor games can teach children how to move a coin, improve coordination, and use their imaginations. Examples of indoor games are carrom board, table tennis, chess, scrabble, charades, paper games, ludo, etc.

Outdoor games are essential to children’s health and development. Children who play outdoors experience nature, which is good for their physical, social, and mental health. Outdoor games are a fun way to get out of the house, meet new people, and take an opportunity to bond with new friends.

The little ones need to engage in physical activities to stay healthy. They help children develop problem-solving, teamwork, communication, cooperation, flexibility, and physical activity skills. Outdoor activities can be more beneficial than indoor activities because they provide more exposure to sunlight. Examples of outdoor games are kabaddi, cricket, football, kho kho , etc.

Playing games is an excellent way for kids to learn about the world and make new friends. Games improve kids’ learning experience and interest in studies, which helps them score better grades. Experts say playing games has cognitive benefits and can help increase social skills.

When playing games, kids’ brains grow stronger and wiser. Games teach children how to interact with others and think strategically while they are still young and learning new things. They also provide a safe place for kids to learn and explore without fear of judgement. You can also use games to teach your child how to communicate using a game board or cards.

To conclude, games are an essential part of early childhood, and an essay on games helps children understand the value of playing games. When kids soak in the sun while playing, they become strong, improving their vitamin D levels. In addition, playing games keep the kids engaged and entertained. For more kid-friendly activities, stories , GK questions and other games visit, BYJU’S website.

Frequently Asked Questions on Essay on Games

What are the benefits of playing indoor games.

Indoor games provide kids with a way to exercise their minds while playing. Solving puzzles or educational games help children learn new skills, strengthen maths skills and improve memory. Research is also being conducted to see how playing indoor board games can improve children’s literacy skills.

Why are outdoor games important for children?

Parents should encourage their children to participate in outdoor games to teach them the importance of teamwork and cooperation. Games like kabaddi, cricket, and hockey are fun ways for children to stay active during the summer. They also help children build their physical strength.

Why is BYJU’S essay on games vital for kids?

BYJU’S essay on games is essential for children because it explains the significance of playing and how games allow them to release stress, have fun, and learn valuable skills.

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How do video games provide effective learning, how do video games provide effective learning.

There are five broadly defined prerequisites for effective learning: meaningful context, authenticity, motivation, freedom to make mistakes, and learner autonomy. Cambridge English teaching and learning materials harness the power of meaningful context and authenticity by presenting new language in a way that creates a genuine need to interact and communicate. And, as all teachers would attest, learners are most successful when they are motivated, free to learn from their mistakes, and take ownership of their own learning process.

So what do video games have to do with this? Well, in addition to the known benefits of games , video games support each of the building blocks of effective learning by providing:

• a strong and engaging narrative (context)
• purposeful interactions (authenticity)
• emotional engagement (motivation)
• freedom to fail (mistakes)
• opportunities for independent decision making (learner autonomy).

Context – A strong narrative

Context is the glue that helps us connect new information to what we already know about the world. This is why when we learn a language, we cover a series of topics like family, hobbies or holidays, instead of learning all of the words in the order that they appear in a dictionary starting with A and ending with Z. Without appropriate context, new information has nothing to attach itself to in our brain and becomes almost impossible to remember.

Video games set excellent context by providing a strong and engaging narrative, a story. Humans are wired to connect with stories. A strong narrative is compelling because it triggers an emotional response, which in turn makes it memorable. That’s why storytelling is such a powerful tool in marketing, politics, business and media. When teaching young learners, storytelling is vital: children rely on episodic memory much more than adults – remembering concrete facts and events they experienced that are linked together in learning.

Video games in general, and Adventures in English with Cambridge in particular, provide a strong and engaging narrative in which the player is intrinsically motivated to participate. How could they not be when they’re placed in the centre as the main protagonist? ‘Someone’s destroying my library, help me!’ pleads Lilac, ‘The stories need fixing, too!’

Authenticity – Purposeful interactions

We all know that being able to use the second language (L2) is more important than knowing facts about it. How often would you have to explain to a waiter in a foreign country which part of speech you are about to use when ordering a cup of coffee? Never – what matters is communication and meaning! ‘I’d like a cup of coffee, please,’ when sitting down at a table in a café. You wouldn’t expect the waiter to then reply, ‘Well done, that was the correct use of “would”!’ This is because in real life, we speak or write or read or listen when we have a need or a reason to do so – we call this ‘intrinsic motivation’.

Video games provide similar intrinsic motivation to communicate in a meaningful context. In our language-learning experience in Adventures in English with Cambridge , for example, the player will interact with Lilac, a fairy librarian in a giant library. ‘I’m thirsty! Can you bring me a hot drink?’ Lilac asks. To fulfil her request, the player will not need to complete a classroom-like vocabulary task. Instead, by exploring the beautiful library, the player will find a fully functional vending machine. Just like in real life, ‘milkshake’, ‘juice’ and ‘lemonade’ will be available for purchase, but the player will only hear the librarian say, ‘Ah, finally! It was delicious, thank you!’ when they bring her back a cup of coffee, rewarding the player with some more authentic language used in context.

Motivation – Emotional engagement

There’s a direct link between learner motivation and learning outcomes in and outside the classroom. Engaged learners are focused and curious, and generally do better than those who are disinterested or distracted. Video games are very good at leveraging the story, the challenges and the rewards within the game to trigger emotional response which is directly linked to motivation.

Inside our game in Minecraft, learners are motivated to solve the language puzzles because it ensures their progress within the game. They’re encouraged to persevere in their learning, both by the environment and the characters they meet. Players can choose which parts to pay most attention to, but they can’t avoid it. The language is built into the interactions within the game. To progress, players have no choice but to communicate … in English!

Mistakes help you learn – Freedom to fail

It might seem counter-intuitive, but when learning a language, mistakes can be beneficial when learners are given an opportunity to notice and reflect on them in a safe environment. Video games are excellent at providing plenty of safe opportunities to practise. In our Minecraft game, for example, players are free to wander off the wrong way or spell a word wrong. Instead of losing marks or progress, each mistake will result in more language input, to nudge learners towards the solution. This freedom to fail in video games is key to uninhibited language practice and is fundamental to our Adventures in English with Cambridge.

Autonomy – Independent decision making

Finally, in all kinds of teaching contexts, learner autonomy is another pillar of success. The more engaged the learner is in their own learning process, the more fruitful the results. In language-learning classrooms, learners are encouraged to develop study skills alongside listening, writing, speaking and reading – keeping consistent vocabulary notes, drawing mind maps, developing strategies for exam taking, listening and expeditious reading, to name just a few.

In video games, the process of becoming an independent decision maker is naturally fostered through the nature of the task in hand: the player has to discover ways out of tricky situations, frequently coming back to the starting point and starting all over again in order to progress within the game. In doing so, the players not only develop their sense of curiosity, but also perseverance, problem-solving skills and confidence, the usefulness of which stretches back to the classroom and beyond.

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Adventures in English with Cambridge is our exciting new world created by world-leading English assessment experts in collaboration with Minecraft. Inspire your young learners to develop their English skills beyond the classroom in a way they will never forget.

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Video games are finding their way into the classroom, despite a lack of research showing whether they offer any advantages over existing teaching methods and media. Here, sixth-graders in Juneau, Alaska, build mazes as part of a Minecraft game during a technology class in 2015.

What electronic games can teach us

Digital play can enhance certain types of learning, but how to harness that potential for the classroom remains a prize question

By Kendall Powell 10.03.2019

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When my kids, ages 11 and 8, bang through the back door after school, often the first thing out of their mouths is: “Mom! Can we play Prodigy ?”

After a quick mental calculation of how much screen time they’ve already had for the week and how much peace and quiet I need to finish my work, I acquiesce. After all, Prodigy is a role-playing video game that encourages kids to practice math facts. It’s educational.

Though video games are increasingly making their way into classrooms, scientists who study them say the data are lacking on whether they can actually improve learning — and most agree that teachers still outperform games in all but a few circumstances.

But there is growing evidence that some types of video games may improve brain performance on a narrow set of tasks. This is potentially good news for students, as well as for the millions of people who love to play, or at least can’t seem to stop playing (see infographic).

“There is a lot of evidence that people — and not just young people — spend a lot of time playing games on their screens,” says Richard Mayer, an education psychology researcher at the University of California, Santa Barbara. “If we could turn that into something more productive, that would be a worthwhile thing to do.”

In an article in the 2019 Annual Review of Psychology , Mayer set out to evaluate rigorous experiments that tested what people can learn from games . Though he’s not entirely convinced of games’ educational potential, some studies did suggest that games can be effective in teaching a second language, math and science. The hope, he says, is to figure out how to harness any brain-boosting potential for better classroom results.

Your brain on games

Some of the first evidence that gaming may train the brain came from first-person shooter games. That these oft-maligned games might actually have benefits was first stumbled upon by an undergraduate studying psychology at the University of Rochester in New York. C. Shawn Green gave his friends a test of visual attention, and their scores were off the charts. He and his research supervisor, Daphné Bavelier, thought there must have been a bug in his coding of the test. But when Bavelier took the test, she scored in the normal range.

The difference was that Green’s friends had all been devoting more than 10 hours per week to Team Fortress Classic , a first-person shooter version of capture the flag. Green and Bavelier then rigorously retested the idea with people who were new to gaming. They had two groups train on different types of games: One group practiced a first-person shooter action game for one hour per day for 10 days, and the other spent the same amount of time on Tetris , a spatial puzzle game.

The new action gamers were significantly better at focusing on targets of interest in a cluttered, visually noisy field compared with the Tetris players. The team also found that the action gamers, on average, could consistently track five moving objects in a visual field, compared with the three that non-gamers could track.

Video games’ huge popularity offers an opportunity to harness them for education. But how to best do that, and in what contexts, is not yet clear, researchers say.

Bavelier, now a cognitive neuroscientist at the University of Geneva in Switzerland, says that action gamers are better able to switch their visual attention between distributed attention (scanning a large area for a particular object) and focused attention (extracting specific facts from a video). “This is called attentional control, the ability to flexibly switch attention as time demands,” she says.

Though it’s not yet clear if improving this kind of attention can help kids in the classroom, Bavelier says, she does see the potential for games to help motivate students — adding a bit of “chocolate” to the learning mix.

Green, now a cognitive psychologist at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, admits that the benefits of playing hours upon hours of Call of Duty may be limited in real life. “There are some people who have jobs with a need for enhanced visual attention,” he says, “such as surgeons, law enforcement or the military.” But, he notes, all games come with an opportunity cost. “If video game time displaces homework time, that can affect reading and math skills negatively.”

In other studies, researchers found that gamers who trained on Tetris were better at mentally rotating two-dimensional shapes than those who played a control game. Students who played two hours of All You Can E.T. , an educational game designed to enhance the executive function of switching between tasks, improved their focus-shifting skills compared with students who played a word search game. Not surprisingly, the cognitive skills that games can improve are the ones that players end up practicing over and over during the course of play.

In the nonviolent shooter-style game All You Can E.T. , players must switch tasks on the fly, feeding aliens either cupcakes or drinks. The game was designed to hone players’ ability to shift attention, an executive function skill.

CREDIT: COURTESY OF JAN L. PLASS

But importantly, these skill improvements are very specific to the task at hand: First-person shooter games don’t improve mental rotation of objects, and Tetris doesn’t improve visual attention. And ironically, in assessing studies for his review, Mayer found no convincing evidence that so-called brain-training games for healthy adults such as the Lumosity suite of games succeed at improving memory, attention or spatial cognition.

The next step is to figure out how these findings may translate to the classroom, where video games are already making in-roads. Many students could benefit from an improvement in the ability to flexibly shift their attention when needed. And though first-person shooter games are not really appropriate for grade-school students, Bavelier says researchers are getting better at identifying the core features of video games that drive improved brain agility.

“It could be a game based on a doctor who has to choose the right medicine to save the world. It doesn’t have to be linked to death, violence and zombies,” she says.

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“Making a video game that is compelling and effective is difficult,” Green says. Not to mention that games designed purely for entertainment can cost as much as making a blockbuster movie. What might be more useful for classrooms, he says, is to design kid-appropriate games aimed at improving specific brain skills that will help students succeed throughout the school day.

Gaming for gains

At New York University’s Games for Learning Institute, codirector Jan Plass’ team is designing shooter-type, educational video games that boost cognitive skills in executive function without the violence.

In All You Can E.T. , players shoot food or drink into aliens’ mouths based on a set of rules that keeps changing, forcing their brains to shift between tasks. And Gwakkamolé is a “Whac-A-Mole”-style game designed to help players improve their inhibitory control by whacking only avocados that aren’t wearing helmets.

Players whacking avocados in the game Gwakkamolé improve their score by refraining from hitting helmet-wearing avocados, a chance to practice their inhibitory control. The game was developed with education in mind by researcher Jan Plass and his team.

“Both of these games make students practice really important executive function skills that some kids didn’t fully develop in early childhood,” Plass says. “Switching tasks and inhibitory control are really important for learning.”

Inhibitory control keeps kids in their seats, helps them focus on a lesson and prevents outbursts that distract the entire class. Practicing this task while playing a fun computer game has an appeal that other approaches do not. “It’s clear that games re-engage kids” who have turned off or tuned out, he says.

But Bavelier questions whether cognitive skills gained from gaming will transfer to other, real-world or classroom situations. “Sure people who play Gwakkamolé get better at inhibition, in that game ,” she says. “But it’s a much taller order to show that that skill transfers to better inhibition in general.”

The best classroom video games have certain characteristics, say Mayer and Plass. They focus on one specific cognitive skill and compel players to practice that skill with embedded feedback and responsiveness. The game must be adaptive, meaning the level of challenge increases as the player improves. This is key for classrooms where teachers need one game that will work well for both struggling and advanced students.

Game designers want to hook students on educational games in the same way 270 million of us are driven to play Candy Crush . “Games’ most salient feature is their motivational power,” Mayer says. “We want to harness that.”

To do that, Mayer says, brain scientists, education researchers and game designers must engage more deeply with each other to create compelling games that can sharpen cognitive skills while they entertain. Bavelier points to the power of kids’ brains to do things like memorize hundreds of Pokémon characters and their special powers. Imagine if they applied that obsession to learning all the stars in the night sky, Bavelier says.

Although this research is still evolving, I’m reassured about my own kids’ ever-increasing requests for screen time — especially when they beg to play games designed to help them master math.

“Our dream is exactly this,” Plass says. “That kids will be dying to get to their homework.”

Editor’s note: This article was modified on February 12, 2024, to correct a statistic about players of Candy Crush . The figure of 270 million players worldwide refers to the total player base at the time the story was written, and not to people who played the game daily as the article originally stated.

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Top 10 Writing Computer Games for Students

Many parents are often concerned about their children's academic performance and progress, sometimes even opting to pay to do my essay to help them. They are often frustrated when the kid's writing skills are not up to par for their age. Students struggling with this issue had poor performance in school and lacked confidence in their abilities. However, there are various ways to enhance a student's spelling vocabulary, including online games. They are designed to increase children's creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills in a fun and interactive way. This article explores ten outstanding educational games that help learners to be better writers.

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Value of Games Essay | Essay on Value of Games for Students and Children in English

February 13, 2024 by Prasanna

Value of Games Essay:  Games and sports are very significant in an individual’s life. They help people keep themselves healthy and fit and also offers us a change from the monotony of daily life.

Games is a useful means of entertainment and physical activities. It teaches individuals punctuality, honesty and regularity of habits.

You can also find more  Essay Writing  articles on events, persons, sports, technology and many more.

Long and Short Essays on Value of Games for Students and Kids in English

We are providing students with essay samples on a long essay of 500 words and a short essay of 150 words on the topic Value Of Games for reference.

Long Essay on Value of Games 500 Words in English

Long Essay on Value of Games is usually given to classes 7, 8, 9, and 10.

Games and sports are an essential part of education in an individual’s life. The main target of studies is the mental, physical and moral development of a student. A sound body will contain a sound mind. The mind can never be strong if the body is weak.

Students can build their health and body by playing games and sports which provide exercise in the fresh and open air. Games help an individual learn discipline and sportsmanship. Games offer a good drill for playing the game of life. A true player is uncaring of joy and sorrows. Individuals learn to laugh in the face of failures if he plays games. In the art of living, games provide the best education. In the formation of a good character, the spirit of sportsmanship provides individuals assistance.

Games and sports can bring excitement in the dull life of students. If someone is the captain of any sports team, he can wind the heart of his team through respect, love, sympathy and fair play. The best use of leisure can be made by playing games. The surplus energy of young people can also be released while playing games because if the surplus energy doesn’t come out, it may result in indiscipline and mischief. Students and the younger generation should keep themselves busy while they are not studying because the idle brain is the devil’s workshop and games are the best way to pass their times.

Games and sports help individuals develop confidence and courage and many other good qualities. Students can overcome their shyness and can become bold if they play games. Students can overcome their fear and can learn never to lose heart even if a match is lost, which is a huge lesson in their life.

Patience, presence of mind and concentration are the major key points while playing any game, so an individual can learn these traits too while playing any game. Team-spirit and co-operation are also something that games teach an individual. Education without games is an incomplete education. Schools, colleges and universities should give due importance to games and sports.

But along with all the advantages of games, there are some disadvantages of games too like some students are so into playing games that they ignore their studies. Games also sometimes produce party-feeling and may build division between good players and average players. Many individuals ignore their health because their main focus is on very dangerous games.

But the advantages of games are much more as games also does enhance one’s digestion as well as sharpens the focusing ability of an individual. Competitions increase the endurance power and harden bones and muscles. An individual’s anxiety issues can also be freed if they play a game. So, on the whole, games have a very important place in an individual’s life, but they should not be an end in themselves. Individuals should maintain a healthy balance between their work and game to lead a good experience.

Short Essay on Value of Games 150 Words in English

Short Essay on Value of Games is usually given to classes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.

Games are an essential part of a person’s life and necessary for studies as it is an important part of education too. As much as knowledge helps in developing mind, games help the body to develop. For the mental and physical fitness of a person games and sport’s benefits cannot be ignored.

A student needs something to get away from their boredom after a hard day at school and games provide them get out and relaxation. Games are one of the best ways to make someone’s mind fresh and strong. An individual who plays games shows a better concentration on books than the individual who spends their entire day just reading text and doing no other activities. Studies without the inclusion of sports are incomplete. Games are vital for all-round development of the characteristics of a child, but it should be played in the right spirit and with due caution and care.

10 Lines on Value of Games in English

• Games are forms of competitive or casual physical activities.
• Games are a form of play that maintain and improve a variety of skills.
• Individuals who engage in games are moderately less-stressed than those who do not engage in games at all.
• Games provide younger people with an outlet for surplus energy and result in increased growth and fitness in stamina, strength and healthy mind and body.
• Games enhance social skills by teaching how to manoeuvre different social situations by using a set of skills.
• Games provide the ability to think calmly, rationally, persuasion, leadership skills etc.
• Games are proven to reduce obesity by a greater degree and lead to an amplified metabolism and a healthy life.
• Games provide cognitive skills like problem-solving skills, improving coordination, enhanced memory, increased brain speed and mental agility.
• Improved concentration and attention and multitasking skills are also obtained from playing abilities.
• Every individual should wisely balance their life with an equal mixture of games and work to maintain a healthy and good life.

FAQ’s on Value of Games Essay

Question 1.  Can games harm individual health?

Answer:  Games are advantageous for an individual’s life, but in some cases, games can harm an individual by increasing their anxiety and depression and might increase their heartbeats and blood pressure due to stress or too much excitement.

Question 2. Why should games be compulsory for all students?

Answer:  Games are building blocks of the health and character of a student’s life. Their significance in the holistic development of children cannot be denied so it should be made compulsory for all students,

Question 3.  What are the main advantages of indoor and outdoor games?

Answer:  Indoor games help in improving cognitive skills and enhance the parts of the brain responsible for complex thought, whereas outdoor games improve physical health and cognitive skills both.

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45 Fun Classroom Games for Kids

August 5, 2024

Need some rainy-day inspiration? Or, maybe you need to calm your students’ nerves before an exam, or re-energize them for the final stretch of the day. In any case, we’ve got you covered with 45 fun classroom games for kids, both fast and slow. Continue reading for more.

Indoor Recess or Rainy-day Games

1) rule game.

  In this game, one student stands in the hall while those in the classroom come up with a “rule” for that student to guess, involving yes and no answers to a question. For example, the rule could be “only people wearing red say yes,” or “those with glasses say yes.” When the student walks back into the room, they ask questions such as “do you like ice cream?” or “do you have a dog?” This student then tries to guess the rule based on who answers says yes and no to these questions.

2) What changed?

  Send one student out into the hallway, and the other students must change something in the classroom for the hallway student to notice and guess. For instance, they might open the windows, erase the chalkboard, or flip a chair upside down.

Fun Classroom Games for Kids (Continued)

3) hot potato.

  For this recess classic, students pass around a ball or stuffed animal. Play some music as they pass this “potato,” and when the music stops, they stop. Whoever is holding the ball when the music stops must answer a question.

4) Break out the board games

  Divide the classroom into sections in which students can move around to play different well-known board games (or board game equivalents), such as checkers, chess, scrabble, or Bananagrams . Have students rotate as you see fit. Those not playing themselves can draw or cheer on their friends.

5) Make your own board games

  To combine board games with art (as well as critical thinking and problem-solving skill development), have your students design their own board games in small groups using classroom materials. They can teach others their games, and favorites can be saved for later rainy days

6) Human knot

  Have your students stand in a circle and hold hands, before they tangle the circle into a messy clump, or “knot,” still holding hands. Then, try to reverse and make it back to the circle from before.

7)  Balloon volleyball

For a safe way to get your students moving even though they can’t go outside, push the desks aside and see how long the balloon (or 2, 3, or 4 balloons) can stay in the air. This can also be done with students seated at their desks for a calmer activity with less setup.

8)  Tunnel ball

This game teaches coordination and collaboration. Student teams line up and pass a ball through their legs and then the last person to receive it walks quickly to the front of the line. The team with the most rounds completed in 5 minutes wins.

9) Card games :

Similar to board games (but taking up less space) pull out some kid-friendly card games and set them up around the classroom. Some great examples include Go Fish, War, Memory, and Uno.

Educational Games

10) stop the bus.

  Write 4 different categories on the board, such as “animals,” “colors,” “cities,” and “foods.” In pairs or teams, students copy these categories onto paper. The teacher says a letter and all the students must fill in each category with that letter. For example, if the teacher says “B,” the students might write “beaver,” “blue,” “Baltimore,” and “banana.” Whichever team finishes their categories first calls out, “Stop the bus!” and the rest of the class must stop writing. Teams earn points depending on how many words they write. This is a great vocabulary development game, and it’s commonly used by ESL teachers.

11) Review bingo

  Draw a 5×4 grid on the board (or larger, depending on how much time you have). Ask students to open their textbooks to the current unit and help to fill the squares with words relevant to the unit. As they tell you the words, put one in each square of the grid. Then, have them draw their own grid and write each of the words, but in a different order. Then, play bingo by randomly calling out words for your students. As a challenge for older students, you can also give hints instead of naming the word itself.

12) Memorizing objects

  For a great way to introduce a science unit, place 10 objects on a table and ask students to observe and memorize them for 1 minute. Afterward, cover certain objects and ask students to recall details about them and guess their purpose. This activity also be done with images on a projector.

13) Jeopardy!

  Review lessons in any subject through a fun game of Jeopardy!, in which points are earned depending on difficulty. You can create your game using a number of different online jeopardy creators and project them for the class. This is a great way to prepare for a test while emphasizing teamwork.

14) Fizz buzz

  With a goal number in mind (say 50), students go around the room to count to that number. However, if a number is a certain multiple of 5, students must say “buzz.” If it’s a multiple of 7, they must say “fizz.” So, counting would go something like: 1, 2, 3, 4, buzz, 6, fizz, 8, 9, buzz, 11, 12, 13, fizz, buzz, 16…. etc. When someone messes up, the counting restarts.

15) Replace the number

  For a related focused counting game, have students replace different numbers with different words or sounds. As the game continues, more numbers become replaced and they become more difficult to remember. By the end of the game, the counting might sound like “rabbit, 2, BOOM, hisssssss, 5, 6, apple, penguin, Batman, ahhhhh, 11…” (and so on).

16) Pass the object

  Students pass a soft object (such as a stuffed animal or squishy ball) in small groups, each answering a question before passing it to another student for the next one. If each member of a group answers a question correctly, the group earns a point for the round. This game is perfect for quick math practice or science/history trivia.

17) Invent a solution

  Announce a problem that students can solve using only 3 provided objects. The problem can range from saving the world from a giant monster to retrieving a book from the top shelf at the library. Each group has 5 minutes to figure out a solution (funny or realistic) and present it to the class.

18) Flashcard duel

  Students each have a set of flash cards. In pairs, they show each other the cards one at a time. If right, the student keeps the card. If wrong, their partner keeps the card. The “duel” continues until the cards have all been used.

Quick classroom games

 19) human tic-tac-toe.

Using simple masking tape, create a giant tic-tac-toe board on the floor of the classroom and have students wearing different colors be stand-ins for X’s and O’s.

20) 20 questions

  This one might already be familiar to many of your students. It can be played as a whole class or in small groups. One student (or the teacher) comes up with a word (animal, vegetable, or mineral), and others must guess the word by asking “yes or no” questions.

21) Freeze-danc e break

  For a fun and quick pause in class, choose a great song, turn it on, and have everyone start dancing. When you pause the music, the students must freeze. Those who keep moving are eliminated.

  Divide your students into groups and get a timer ready. Name a category, and in a minute or less, ask your students to write 5 things in that category. Categories can be as simple as fruits/colors/countries, or as complicated as vocabulary words for a unit of study. To make the exercise more difficult, ask for more than 5 words. Each group that succeeds earns a point.

23) Duck-duck-goose

  Perfect for your younger students, students sit in a circle as one student “tapper” goes around and taps the others’ shoulders, saying “duck, duck, duck duck…” Eventually, this student says “goose!” and the sitting student must chase the tapper around the circle as the tapper rushes to take this student’s spot before being tagged. If they sit down in time, the tapped student becomes the tapper.

24) Fix-it relay

  In groups of 4 to 6, have your students solve sentences with errors (either grammatical or factual). The first student in each line chooses a card and fixes its mistake (or mistakes), and then passes it to the next student to check for more errors. When each student on the team has checked the card, one team member runs it up to the front desk to complete the relay. This can be done with as many cards as you have time for.

25) Word scramble

  Each student or group has an assigned word, and they must pull as many other words out of it as possible within a time limit.

26) “Snowman”

  The leader draws a spot for a “snowman” (a less violent form of the classic “hangman” game) and adds spaces for letters of a particular word or phrase. Students guess letters and words, and whoever correctly guesses the word or phrase wins. However, for each wrong answer, a body part is added to the snowman. If the snowman is completed before the word/phrase is guessed, the leader wins. This take on a classic game is perfect for using extra time at the end of class while reviewing words relevant to your curriculum.

27) Odd one out

Prepare sets of words or phrases written on pieces of paper. Students work in pairs or small groups to categorize the words/phrases as they relate to one another, eventually finding the “odd one out” (the word/phrase that doesn’t relate to the others). Categories can range depending on subject and grade level, from U.S. presidents, to chemical elements, to parts of speech, to colors or animals.

Games to calm or focus the class

28) counting the class.

  This counting game requires a bit of patience, so it can be useful for refocusing the class. The goal is to count to 20, or however many students are in your class. Your students begin standing, and without indicating who should go first, a student says “1” and sits down. Another says “2” and sits down. It goes like this, counting without knowing who will go next. As the numbers become higher, it usually becomes more difficult for students to speak one at a time.

29) Mad Libs

For a calm and humorous partner activity, put students in pairs or small groups to fill out Mad Libs. Have them present the Mad Lib stories to the class at the end of the activity.

  This popular internet game is great for completing as a class, and can also be a perfect daily brain warm-up for small groups. While the New York Times Wordle is the most popular, the exercise can also be customized with your own words to fit lesson plans.

31) Silent ball

  In a circle, students pass a ball back and forth without saying a single word while a timer runs. If a student talks or drops the ball, they are out. The winners are those still standing when the timer goes off.

32) Create a sculpture

  For a class collaboration, have students take turns adding objects to a class sculpture in whatever way they find most beautiful or interesting. This can also be done in small groups.

33) Collaborative drawing

  Students sit in a circle and draw quietly on their own pieces of paper for 30 seconds. When the timer goes off, they pass their papers clockwise, for another student to draw on the same page for 30 seconds. This continues until each artwork returns to its original owner. Display these works of art at the end of class for others to admire.

34) Story sharing

  Use free time to help students connect with each other through stories. Give a prompt for a personal anecdote (for example, “describe a time you learned something new,” or, “tell a story about overcoming a challenge”). Have students pass around a ball of yarn, telling their stories and taking hold of a piece of the string as they pass it to the next storyteller.

35) Secret leader

  Choose a student (the investigator) to leave the classroom and another student (the secret leader) to coordinate the other students in actions like clapping, chanting, or mimicking movement, which can change about every 30 seconds. The investigator enters into the classroom and uses reasoning skills to determine who the secret leader is.

36) Secret hand tap

  3 students are chosen to go around the class and lightly tap 1-2 of their classmate’s hands, as the others close their eyes with hands on desks. Afterwards, those with their hands tapped guess who tapped their hands. They switch roles if their answers are correct.

Games to energize the class

37) back to the board.

  Write some vocabulary words on the board and split students into teams. A student from each team comes up and faces their back to the board, and you circle one of the words. Without using the word itself, each team tries to get their representative to guess which word you’ve circled. Whoever guesses first earns their team a point. This game can become more active (and quieter) if each team is only allowed to use gestures to help their representative guess the word.

38) Apple pie

One student comes to the front of the class and faces their back to the other students. One at a time, the students say “apple pie” and the student at the front tries to guess who spoke. Students can try to trick the guesser by moving around and changing voices. This game often involves a fair amount of laughter, so it’s great for waking up a sleepy class.

39) Speed Mad Libs

  If you need an energizing and quick break in-class activities, try Mad Libs but this time, at a rapid pace. Project a Mad Lib on the screen and quickly go around the room asking students to choose adjectives, nouns, colors, etc. with only 5 seconds to say each word. Read the result as a class for a nice laugh.

40) Zip zap zoom

  For another classic game that’s sure to wake up your students, try zip zap zoom. In a circle, students pass around an imaginary “ball” of energy. They say “zip” when passing it clockwise, “zap” when passing it counterclockwise, and “zoom” to send it to someone across the circle. Students try not the ones holding the ball of energy when the 2-minute timer goes off.

41) Musical chairs

  For this classic game, line up some chairs back-to-back, several fewer than the number of students in your class. Put on some great tunes, and have them scramble for a chair when the music stops. Each round, eliminate 1 or 2 chairs, until there’s only 1 chair left and 2 students.

42) Four corners

  This game is perfect if you want to get your students moving, and if you have a fair amount of space in your classroom. Teachers assign names to each of the four corners of the classroom, and students have 20 seconds to choose which corner to stand in. Pick out of a hat to announce one of the four corners. The students standing in the corner you call are eliminated until the next round. The last student standing wins.

43) Who am I?

  Each student gets a card taped to their forehead with the name of a topic, historical figure, or book character written on it. The students circulate to ask questions and try to figure out who/what is taped to them.

44) Pictionary

  Create cards naming class topics that students can visualize, ranging from historical events, to vocabulary words, to science concepts. In small groups, one student chooses a card and works to draw an image that the other team members use to guess the word. For an extra challenge, add a timer. For more assistance, allow them to include a letter or two in the drawing.

45)  Minute-to-win-it  

For an energizing break, have students compete in small tasks that can be completed in under a minute. Common minute-to-win-it exercises include stacking cups, transferring small objects with chopsticks, and passing a balloon around a circle without using hands.

Fun Classroom Games for Kids – Further Reading

As you can see from this list, classroom games can be quite versatile. Teachers can use them for a range of purposes, from reviewing class material, to developing collaboration skills, to waking students up, to calming them down. For more classroom resources, we recommend the following blog articles:

• 124 Good Icebreaker Questions for Students/Adults
• 141 Fun, Weird, & Interesting Facts—2024
• 60 Easy Science Experiments for Kids
• Best Teacher Intro Letter to Parents—with Examples
• 30 Writing Activities for Preschoolers and Kindergarten
• 55 Best Short Stories for Kids and Middle Schoolers
• 60 Team-Building Activities for Kids & Middle/High School Students
• Teacher Tools

Sarah Mininsohn

With a BA from Wesleyan University and an MFA from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Sarah is a writer, educator, and artist. She served as a graduate instructor at the University of Illinois, a tutor at St Peter’s School in Philadelphia, and an academic writing tutor and thesis mentor at Wesleyan’s Writing Workshop.

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• School Education /

My Favourite Game Essay in 150, 200, and 300 Words in English

• Updated on  
• Jun 14, 2024

What game do you enjoy the most? Is it an aggressive and athletic outdoor sport like football? Or do you prefer video games like BGMI or GTA V? Favourite games vary from person to person. Some like outdoor sporting events, while others prefer mental ability games like chess or sudoku. You surely know more about your favourite game. Isn’t that the reason it is called ‘favourite’? Let’s look at my favourite game essay samples for school students.

Table of Contents

• 1 My Favourite Game Essay 150 Words (Chess)
• 2 My Favourite Game Essay 250 Words (Football)
• 3 My Favourite Game Paragraph
• 4 Top 10 Benefits of Playing Games

My Favourite Game Essay 150 Words (Chess)

Quick Read: Essay on Playground for Children

My Favourite Game Essay 250 Words (Football)

Quick Read: Essay on My Favourite Sport

My Favourite Game Paragraph

Quick Read: Essay on Badminton

Top 10 Benefits of Playing Games

Playing games, indoors and outdoors, offers several benefits. Where outdoor games help keep our physical and mental health in shape, indoor games and video games enhance our strategy-making and teamwork skills. Here are 10 benefits of playing games we all should know about.

• Improves Cognitive Skills

Games like sudoku, puzzles, and chess enhance memory, problem-solving skills, and critical thinking.

• Enhances Coordination and Motor Skills

Physical sports improve hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills. For example, running after a ball or chasing a player will enhance your stamina and keep you fit.

• Social Skills

Many games, especially multiplayer ones, encourage teamwork, communication, and cooperation. Playing with others helps develop social skills and build friendships.

• Reduces Stress and Anxiety

Playing games can be a great way to relax and unwind. Engaging in a fun activity helps reduce stress levels and improve overall mental well-being.

• Promotes Physical Health

Outdoor games and sports help keep the body active, improving physical fitness, strength, and endurance. Even active video games can encourage movement and exercise.

• Teach Discipline and Patience

Games often require practice and perseverance. Players learn to be patient, disciplined, and determined to achieve their goals, which are valuable life skills.

• Encourages Strategic Thinking

Many games involve planning and strategy. Players learn to think ahead, consider different outcomes, and develop tactics to succeed, which enhances strategic thinking abilities.

• Provides Educational Value

Educational games can teach various subjects, such as math, science, and history, engagingly. Even non-educational games can improve reading skills and expand vocabulary.

• Improves Concentration and Attention

Playing games requires focus and concentration. Players must pay attention to details and stay engaged, which helps improve attention span and concentration skills.

• Fosters Creativity and Imagination

Many games, especially those with open-world environments or creative building elements, encourage players to use their imagination and creativity. This fosters innovative thinking and creative problem-solving.

Quick Read: Essay on Importance of Sports

Ans: My favourite game is football. It is an outdoor game played between two teams. In a professional football match, there are 11 players in each. I like playing football because it helps me stay fit and athletic. In some places, it is also known as ‘Soccer’. My friends and I play football each day in the nearby park. According to records, Football originated in England in the 19th century and since then, it has become a global sport, with various international bodies responsible for organising events like FIFA, UEFA, La Liga, Copa America, etc. Every football match I play and watch gives me goosebumps. My favourite football players are Lionel Messi and Christiano Ronaldo.

Ans: My favourite game is Cricket. This game is played between two teams, where each team includes 11 players. Playing Cricket is very exciting and helps me reduce stress and anxiety. Every evening, after completing my homework, I walk to the city park and play a match of cricket with my friends. We all should play cricket not just for fun but also because it offers an opportunity to become a professional. My favourite Cricket player is Virat Kohli. He is currently the highest-scoring batsman in the world. He is the captain of the Indian cricket team and when it is on the field, I cheer for him with all my heart.

Ans: Here are 10 favourite games for children they should play: Football/ Soccer Tennis Hide and Seek Simon Says Red Light, Green Light Chess Musical Chairs Cricket Badminton Ludo.

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Shiva Tyagi

With an experience of over a year, I've developed a passion for writing blogs on wide range of topics. I am mostly inspired from topics related to social and environmental fields, where you come up with a positive outcome.

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Teaching AI about social intelligence through Minecraft

ASU researchers generate largest publicly available human-AI team research dataset in history using the popular video game

Using Minecraft allowed researchers to design complex and highly dynamic tasks in a simulated urban search and rescue mission — such as a fire sweeping through a small town. Illustration by Andy Keena

Despite all the mind-blowing things artificial intelligence already can do — from writing essays and creating visual art to assisting doctors with diagnosing disease — it still lacks a basic understanding of what makes humans tick.

AI can make quick, lifesaving decisions — such as finding the fastest route to victims in a collapsed building — but it cannot understand why the rescue team diverts from that route or predict how the team might act in certain situations. 

Current AI is a good tool but a poor teammate, because of its lack of human understanding.

That is why the research and development arm of the U.S. Department of Defense, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), is exploring new ways to build social skills in AI systems that would allow humans and machines to work effectively together. 

And clues on how to create machines with social intelligence have been found in an unexpected place: the popular video game Minecraft.

Arizona State University researchers teamed up with Aptima — a company that develops solutions to optimize and improve human performance in mission-critical, technology-intensive settings — during a four-year program funded by DARPA called Artificial Social Intelligence for Successful Teams, or ASIST. The project aims to improve the social intelligence of artificial intelligence and make it better able to assist teams of humans working in complex environments, including national security missions.

Researchers from the  Center for Human, Artificial Intelligence, and Robot Teaming , or CHART —part of ASU’s  Global Security Initiative — generated data from 1,160 Minecraft games, which represents the largest publicly available human–AI team research dataset in history.

Building teams of the future

CHART is at the forefront of a new science of human, AI and robot teaming. It synthesizes research across computer science, robotics, law, art and social science to create human-machine systems that will revolutionize how we ensure national security.

“Typically, team research is statistically underpowered because it’s hard to schedule and convene participants at the same time,” says  Nancy Cooke , CHART senior scientific advisor and principal investigator on ASU’s portion of the project. “But we found special ways of recruiting participants by hosting Minecraft competitions and virtual hackathons and giving awards to high performers.”

More than 200 participants — including representatives from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Cornell; the University of Southern California; and Carnegie Mellon University — played a role in the ASIST research. ASIST is one component of a broader DARPA initiative called AI Forward, which is taking a deep look at how to reliably build trustworthy AI systems by examining AI theory, AI engineering and human-AI teaming. 

One aspect of this approach centers on developing AI machines that function more as colleagues than just tools to execute human-programmed rules.

To envision AI as a colleague versus a ChatGPT answer box, consider the "Star Trek" character Data, a self-aware and sentient android who serves as the second officer and chief operations officer aboard the starship Enterprise.

“Data can interact with human beings, kind of understand their feelings and anticipate what they’re asking for,” says  Jamie Gorman , CHART director and professor of human systems engineering in  The Polytechnic School . “Getting AI to where it’s almost thinking like a human in a certain way is a problem that really can’t be addressed using current science and requires key theoretical and technical innovations — a major leap forward.”

One of the things CHART does really well is taking an interdisciplinary approach. Not only human factors engineering, but also pulling in psychological perspectives and understanding the computational and AI side of things. They’re very willing to embrace innovative methods. The way we pivoted and ended up using a large-scale online game competition was something few academic labs could have accomplished. Adam Fouse Principal research engineer and senior director of the Performance Augmentation Systems Division at Aptima

Creating artificial social intelligence

Teaching machines social intelligence is no small feat. As humans, we have a skill called the theory of mind. It involves understanding that other people have intentions, desires, beliefs, perceptions and emotions that may be different than our own and can affect their actions and behaviors. People use theory of mind when analyzing, judging and inferring others’ behaviors — a crucial skill for success in everyday social interactions and effectively collaborating in a team.

“If you want AI to function as a teammate, it needs to have social intelligence,” Cooke says. “It needs to understand the intent of human teammates, what they’re doing and if they need help. But AI is a completely different type of intelligence. Humans have a lot of experience understanding their fellow humans, and they can empathize with what’s happened to them and what they need. AI doesn’t have that kind of social and emotional intelligence.”

To bridge the gap between man and machine, DARPA envisions computer-based agents that can observe the human team and their environment, infer teammates’ goals and plans, and advise the team in ways that fit the human perspective as conditions change.

It’s a tall order, so how could the popular video game Minecraft, with more than 166 million active players, provide answers?

Mining Minecraft

“At the time we started human subjects testing, it was 2020, right in the middle of COVID,” says  Myke Cohen , an ASU graduate research associate and PhD student who worked on the project. “We couldn’t do in-person data collection. We couldn’t develop our own systems. Part of the solution was to look at Minecraft because it’s not just a very popular game, it’s a very easily customizable game, and we were able to collect the data we wanted from it.”

“One of the things CHART does really well is taking an interdisciplinary approach. Not only human factors engineering, but also pulling in psychological perspectives and understanding the computational and AI side of things. They’re very willing to embrace innovative methods," says Adam Fouse, principal research engineer and senior director of the Performance Augmentation Systems Division at Aptima. "The way we pivoted and ended up using a large-scale online game competition was something few academic labs could have accomplished.”

Minecraft allowed researchers to design complex and highly dynamic tasks in a simulated urban search and rescue mission. In one scenario, a fire sweeps through a small town, putting people’s homes and lives at risk. The response team arrives and must operate as a unit to make quick, lifesaving decisions.

But what happens if one member of the team is not a person, but a virtual agent? ASU researchers transformed the experiment data into useful data stories that shed light on the state of artificial intelligence as a team member.

“Through ASIST, we saw the ability of AI to dynamically inject the right information at the right time was a bit limited,” Fouse says. “Having AI be a real-time dynamic team member is something that is still in the future of AI.”

The dataset that the ASIST project yielded will fuel future research for government, academia and industry alike.

“One of our successes was establishing a model for looking at human-AI teams,” Fouse says. “We combined researchers from many different areas: AI, computer science, social science and human factors, engineering and psychology. ASIST is a resource for future study because there’s a lot of richness to the datasets that haven’t been explored.”

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Playing Gali Fakta inoculates Indonesian participants against false information

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Although prebunking games have shown promise in Western and English-speaking contexts, there is a notable lack of research on such interventions in countries of the Global South. In response to this gap, we developed Gali Fakta, a new kind of media literacy game specifically tailored for an Indonesian audience. Our findings indicate that participants who engaged with Gali Fakta exhibited significantly greater skepticism toward false news headlines and expressed a reduced likelihood of sharing them. Importantly, playing Gali Fakta did not lead to increased skepticism or decreased sharing intent for factual headlines. These results suggest that Gali Fakta holds promise as a scalable media literacy intervention in Indonesia.

Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Notre Dame, USA

Department of Psychology, UIN Sunan Kalijaga, Indonesia

Research Questions

• Can playing Gali Fakta improve participants’ accuracy in assessing false news headlines?
• Does playing Gali Fakta reduce the intent to share false news headlines?
• Does playing Gali Fakta lead to an increase in self-reported media literacy?

Research note summary

• We created a WhatsApp-inspired media literacy game tailored for Indonesian users.
• We conducted a randomized controlled trial involving N = 1,006 Indonesian participants to assess the impact of playing Gali Fakta. The study aimed to determine if the game could enhance participants’ ability to evaluate the accuracy of false news headlines, reduce their inclination to share false news headlines, and improve self-reported media literacy.
• Results showed that participants who engaged with Gali Fakta were significantly more inclined to perceive false headlines as less accurate and were less likely to share them. Notably, playing the game did not affect the accuracy or sharing intent regarding factual headlines. However, no improvement was observed in self-reported media literacy scores following gameplay.

Implications

Gali Fakta is a media literacy game inspired by WhatsApp, specifically designed for an Indonesian audience. Its name, “Gali Fakta,” translates to “dig up the facts,” and it was developed through a collaboration between technology experts at Moonshot and researchers at the University of Notre Dame (see Figure 1). The design of the game draws inspiration from the Learn to Discern Program by IREX.

The game is quick to play, taking only about five minutes, and it simulates a group chat with family and friends on a messaging app. Throughout the game, players are tasked with protecting their loved ones from falling for hoaxes. Players can select from three different content areas—health, news, or finance—which prompt people to message them and share various types of content. Each content area provides lessons on safeguarding oneself and others against four types of misinformation: fake social media accounts, confirmation bias, untrustworthy social media sources, and algorithmically-generated filter bubbles.

During gameplay, when players observe their fictional friends or family members sharing misinformation from the mentioned categories, they are presented with two response options. For instance, if a character messages the player about a favorite musical artist requesting money on social media, the player must decide whether the post is factual. In this example, the absence of a verification symbol indicates the post is false. If the player answers incorrectly, they receive a prompt explaining the correct response (see Figure 2). Throughout the game, players engage in conversations with fictitious family members, offering ten different responses and opportunities to learn about misinformation techniques. Before its release, the game script underwent review and revision by Indonesian subject matter experts.

Gali Fakta aims to create psychological inoculation by first providing a forewarning that the user’s friends and family may be spreading misinformation and then exposing the user to misinformation shared by fictitious friends and family members in the simulated WhatsApp environment along with lessons on how to detect such misinformation. We hypothesized that after playing Gali Fakta participants would become more conscious of their social media behavior and more discerning when encountering false information. The false information in our study was a variety of false headlines, some of which were politically charged and sensationalist. Others were simply factually inaccurate (see Appendix B for details). Our study revealed that playing Gali Fakta was associated with higher accuracy in evaluating false news headlines and a decreased self-reported intention to share false headlines.

Media literacy, prebunking, and Indonesia

Indonesia ranks as the world’s fourth-largest country, with a rapidly increasing number of citizens gaining digital access. Currently, around 77% of the population is online, and this figure is projected to reach 90% by 2025 (Kemp, 2023; Nurhayati-Wolff, 2023). This growing online presence also creates a vulnerability to online misinformation. Researchers have found that misinformation was evident during the 2019 Indonesian general election, particularly on social media platforms (Theisen et al., 2021). Besides political misinformation, misinformation related to health and finance also circulates widely in the Indonesian information ecosystem (McRae et al., 2022; Mujani & Kuipers 2020; Nasir & Nurmansyah, 2020). Research has also indicated that students in Indonesia face challenges in distinguishing between false and factual news (Syam & Nurrahmi, 2020). A 2020 report by GeoPoll found that over 40% of Indonesians admitted they only read the headline and “rarely” or “never” read the article before sharing it on social media (McDonnell & MacKinnon, 2020). More research is needed to determine the most effective media literacy tools for different countries as well as different types of misinformation. Notably, misinformation and disinformation disproportionately affect individuals with lower levels of media literacy (Jalli & Idris, 2019).

To combat this issue, prebunking games based on inoculation theory have shown promise in helping individuals discern fact from fiction and reducing their inclination to share misinformation (Basol et al., 2020). Inoculation theory involves building resistance to misinformation by exposing individuals to small doses of false or misleading information in a controlled setting (Compton et al., 2021). However, these prebunking games have limitations, such as potentially increasing skepticism towards both factual and false information (Modirrousta-Galian & Higham, 2022). Additionally, individuals may still share false information due to social or political motives, despite possessing higher levels of media literacy (Sirlin et al., 2021). Moreover, most prebunking games and media literacy interventions have been tailored to Western, English-speaking audiences and may not be culturally relevant to other populations. Iyengar, Gupta, & Priya (2022) found that participants from India increased their ability to detect misinformation after playing the Western-based media literacy intervention Bad News Game. However, the authors note that their English-speaking and highly educated sample was not representative of much of the population of India. Harjani and colleagues (2022) created a media literacy game that was designed for participants in India and tested its effectiveness with a sample of participants from north India. Unfortunately, they did not find that their game improved participants’ ability to evaluate misinformation or reduced willingness to share misinformation with others. The authors note that future work may benefit by partnering with local researchers and universities in order to better adapt interventions originally designed with a Western audience in mind. They also note the importance of considering the potential lack of digital literacy of a rural audience, which could limit the effectiveness of playing an online media literacy game.

Recognizing the popularity of WhatsApp in Indonesia and its susceptibility to misinformation due to the ease of forwarding messages without fact-checking, we designed Gali Fakta to mimic the WhatsApp interface (Banaji et al., 2019; de Freitas Melo et al., 2020; Neyazi et al., 2022; Yustitia & Asharianto, 2020). Political groups have also exploited WhatsApp during the 2019 Indonesian election to disseminate misleading or false information through political memes (Baulch et al., 2022). Our aim was to develop a game that aligns with the information environment of its players to enhance prebunking effectiveness. We partnered with Indonesian scholars and media experts during the development of the game to constantly improve the feel, aesthetics, and clarity of our lessons. For example, there are laws against spreading false information in Indonesia (Lamb & Teresia, 2022) and neighboring Malaysia (Sipalan, 2021). Therefore, we aimed to avoid any negative associations with learning about misinformation through a game that might unintentionally glorify misinformation spreading. Instead, Gali Fakta focuses on empowering users to protect their friends and family from hoaxes. We conducted an evaluation to assess whether playing Gali Fakta could enhance the ability of Indonesian participants to identify false headlines, reduce their likelihood of sharing false headlines, and improve their self-reported media literacy habits.

Finding 1: Playing Gali Fakta significantly increased participants’ skepticism for false news headlines but not for factual headlines.

We conducted a series of ordinary least squares (OLS) regressions to investigate whether playing Gali Fakta predicted participants’ tendency to rate false news headlines as more inaccurate, indicating increased skepticism. OLS regressions identify relationships between variables by minimizing the sum of squared errors.

Participants in the Gali Fakta condition significantly rated false news headlines as more inaccurate compared to those in the control condition while controlling for age, gender, education, media literacy, urban versus rural residence, religiosity, income, and political ideology ( p < .001). Notably, engaging with Gali Fakta did not lead to a significant increase in inaccuracy ratings of factual headlines ( p = .173). Thus, playing Gali Fakta effectively enhanced participants’ discernment of false headlines, but this heightened skepticism did not extend to factual headlines. Full regression tables, means, and effect sizes are provided in Appendix A.

Finding 2: Playing Gali Fakta significantly reduced participants’ intent to share false headlines but not factual headlines.

In the subsequent analysis, we conducted a series of OLS regressions to assess whether playing Gali Fakta was associated with a decreased intent to share false headlines. Figures 3 and 4 illustrate the effects of playing Gali Fakta on evaluating both factual and false headlines.

Results revealed that engaging with Gali Fakta significantly predicted a reduced intent to share false headlines even when controlling for age, gender, education, media literacy, urban vs rural residence, religiosity, income, and political ideology ( p = .002). The regression coefficients for playing Gali Fakta were 0.192 for rating false headlines and 0.215 for sharing false headlines. This means that participants who played our brief media literacy game rated false headlines as more inaccurate by about 0.2 of a point on a 1–5 scale point and decreased their likelihood to share by about 0.2 on a 1–5 scale. Notably, playing Gali Fakta did not lead to a significant decrease in sharing intent for factual headlines ( p = .114). Once again, these findings underscore the effectiveness of our media literacy game in fostering skepticism and caution regarding misinformation, while not affecting the sharing intent for accurate information.

We also analyzed to what extent participants differentiated between factual and false headlines.  As a robustness check, we analyzed discernment (i.e., the difference in ratings between factual and false headlines) and still found that playing Gali Fakta significantly improved both headline accuracy discernment and sharing discernment (see Appendix A). While our results demonstrate that playing Gali Faktaimproves participants’ ability to discern factual headlines versus false news headlines, it is unclear if playing Gali Faktawould impact social media behavior or override social and political motives to share misinformation. We do find it encouraging that these positive effects hold while controlling for education, media literacy, and political ideology.

Finding 3: Playing Gali Fakta does not impact self-reported media literacy.

In addition to assessing headline ratings and sharing intention, we also examined whether playing Gali Fakta would lead to an increase in self-reported media literacy. Our analysis did not reveal a significant increase in participants’ self-reported media literacy following engagement with Gali Fakta ( p = .622). This null result may be attributed to limitations inherent in self-report media literacy scales, as they may not comprehensively measure individuals’ actual media literacy skills (Jones-Jang et al., 2021). Alternatively, it is possible that Gali Fakta may not prompt participants to reflect on the specific types of questions posed in the media literacy scale used.

Future studies could explore more targeted inquiries, such as assessing participants’ confidence in correcting misinformation shared by others online, which aligns more closely with the tasks undertaken in Gali Fakta. While playing Gali Fakta did not influence self-reported media literacy scores, we found that participants who played the game versus a control group were significantly better able to evaluate the accuracy of false news headlines and also reported a reduced likelihood of sharing false news headlines. Future work can also investigate the duration of this effect along with whether Gali Fakta can be successful in different country-level populations after translations. Finally, we measured the ability to evaluate false text-based headlines as our measure of misinformation. However, this is only one type of misinformation, and it does not capture the ability to evaluate more complex types of misinformation, such as hyperpartisan misinformation and misleading information from mainstream news that is not completely false. Future research could develop media literacy interventions that are specifically designed to teach individuals to identify these more complicated types of misinformation.

While our effect sizes are small, we believe these positive results are encouraging from playing a brief media literacy game. Gali Fakta is an extremely scalable intervention, and small effects could have more meaningful cumulative effects if the game is shared widely in public campaigns and in educational settings. Large social media accounts can simply share Gali Fakta with their audience and encourage their followers to play the game and share it with their friends and family. Additionally, Gali Fakta offers a fun and simple exercise to add to media literacy curriculums. Gali Fakta is freely available in both its original Bahasa Indonesian version 1 https://literata.id/game/ as well as the translated English version. 2 https://galifakta.com/

Participants

We recruited 1,006 Indonesian participants through Bilendi & Respondi’s survey platform, with 495 assigned to the Gali Fakta condition and 511 to the control condition (see Appendix A for power analysis).  Participants from Bilendi & Respondi’s database have enough digital literacy to sign up for an online survey platform, which may yield an important baseline of digital literacy that is required to understand and learn from our game. Data was collected in February of 2023. We excluded 191 participants who did not respond to the question about political ideology, aiming to control for politics given the political nature of some headlines. The average age of participants was 38.53 ( SD = 11.43), with 52.89% male and 81.51% residing in urban areas. On a religiosity scale ranging from 1 (not religious at all) to 5 (very religious), the average score was 3.80 ( SD = 0.81). The average level of conservatism, rated on a scale from 1 (very liberal) to 5 (very conservative), was 3.37 ( SD = 1.01). Regarding education, 74.85% completed tertiary school, and 99.7% completed secondary school. The average annual income was 133,401,566.79 Indonesian Rupiah or 8,357 USD ( SD = 544,834,772.12 for IDR and 34,133.90 for USD).

Participants were randomly assigned to play either Gali Fakta or Tetris (see Figure 5), a game chosen as an effective control condition due to its comparable time and cognitive demands (Roozenbeek & van der Linden, 2020). After playing the assigned game, participants evaluated seven factual and seven false headlines covering topics of climate change (two headlines), COVID-19 (three headlines), and non-political matters (two headlines), such as money-saving techniques (see Appendix B for headline list).

The topics were equal across both the factual and false headlines. Headlines were chosen from actual headlines circulating on Indonesian social media during February 2023 that provided a mix of political topics (climate change and COVID-19) as well as nonpolitical topics. In addition to being politically charged topics, false information about climate change and COVID-19 was spread by disinformation campaigns throughout Indonesia (Kurnia et al., 2024; Muzykant et al., 2021). Disinformation surrounding these topics also represents attempts to discredit scientific expertise. Participants rated the accuracy of each headline and their likelihood of sharing it on a 1–5 Likert scale. Additionally, participants completed an 11-item media literacy scale from Austin et al. (2021) counterbalanced with the headline questions. This scale assessed media literacy regarding news source credibility and critical evaluation of news content (see Appendix B). Finally, participants provided demographic information, including age, gender, education, geographic location, religiosity, income, and political ideology.

• / Media Literacy

Cite this Essay

Facciani, M. J., Apriliawati, D., & Weninger, T. (2024). Playing Gali Fakta inoculates Indonesian participants against false information. Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) Misinformation Review . https://doi.org/10.37016/mr-2020-152

• / Appendix B

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Portions of this work were supported by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Cooperative Agreement Number 7200AA18CA00059.

Competing Interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Data collection methods were evaluated and approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) of The University of Notre Dame. All subjects verbally consented to participation in this survey and to receive follow-up SMS messages to their mobile phone.

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided that the original author and source are properly credited.

Data Availability

All materials needed to replicate this study are available via the Harvard Dataverse: https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/BKXRNQ

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank USAID, Moonshot, Brave Factor, and IREX for their help during this project.

Attacks on Walz’s Military Record

By Robert Farley , D'Angelo Gore and Eugene Kiely

Posted on August 8, 2024 | Updated on August 12, 2024 | Corrected on August 9, 2024

Este artículo estará disponible en español en El Tiempo Latino .

In introducing her pick for vice presidential running mate, Kamala Harris has prominently touted Tim Walz’s 24 years of service in the Army National Guard. Now, however, GOP vice presidential nominee JD Vance and the Trump campaign are attacking Walz on his military record, accusing the Minnesota governor of “stolen valor.”

We’ll sort through the facts surrounding the three main attacks on Walz’s military record and let readers decide their merit. The claims include:

• Vance claimed that Walz “dropped out” of the National Guard when he learned his battalion was slated to be deployed to Iraq. Walz retired to focus on a run for Congress two months before his unit got official word of impending deployment, though the possibility had been rumored for months.
• Vance also accused Walz of having once claimed to have served in combat, when he did not. While advocating a ban on assault-style weapons, Walz said, “We can make sure that those weapons of war that I carried in war, is the only place where those weapons are at.” Update, Aug. 12: The Harris campaign says that Walz “misspoke.”
• The Republican National Committee has criticized Walz for misrepresenting his military rank in campaign materials. The Harris campaign website salutes Walz for “rising to the rank of Command Sergeant Major.” Walz did rise to that rank, but he retired as a master sergeant because he had not completed the requirements of a command sergeant major.

A native of West Point, Nebraska, Walz joined the Nebraska Army National Guard in April 1981, two days after his 17th birthday. When Walz and his wife moved to Minnesota in 1996, he transferred to the Minnesota National Guard, where he served in 1st Battalion, 125th Field Artillery.

“While serving in Minnesota, his military occupational specialties were 13B – a cannon crewmember who operates and maintains cannons and 13Z -field artillery senior sergeant,” according to a statement released by Army Lt. Col. Kristen Augé, the Minnesota National Guard’s state public affairs officer.

According to MPR News , Walz suffered some hearing impairment related to exposure to cannon booms during training over the years, and he underwent some corrective surgery to address it.

On Aug. 3, 2003, “Walz mobilized with the Minnesota National Guard’s 1st Battalion, 125th Field Artillery … to support Operation Enduring Freedom. The battalion supported security missions at various locations in Europe and Turkey. Governor Walz was stationed at Vicenza, Italy, during his deployment,” Augé stated. The deployment lasted about eight months.

“For 24 years I proudly wore the uniform of this nation,” Walz said at a rally in Philadelphia where he was announced as Harris’ running mate on Aug. 6. “The National Guard gave me purpose. It gave me the strength of a shared commitment to something greater than ourselves.”

Walz’s Retirement from the National Guard

In recent years, however, several of his fellow guard members have taken issue with the timing of Walz’s retirement from the National Guard in May 2005, claiming he left to avoid a deployment to Iraq.

Vance, who served a four-year active duty enlistment in the Marine Corps as a combat correspondent, serving in Iraq for six months in 2005, advanced that argument at a campaign event on Aug. 7.

“When the United States of America asked me to go to Iraq to serve my country, I did it,” Vance said. “When Tim Walz was asked by his country to go to Iraq, you know what he did? He dropped out of the Army and allowed his unit to go without him, a fact that he’s been criticized for aggressively by a lot of the people that he served with. I think it’s shameful to prepare your unit to go to Iraq, to make a promise that you’re going to follow through and then to drop out right before you actually have to go.”

In early 2005, Walz, then a high school geography teacher and football coach at Mankato West High School, decided to run for public office. In a 2009 interview Walz provided as part of the Library of Congress’ veterans oral history project, Walz said he made the decision to retire from the National Guard to “focus full time” on a run for the U.S. House of Representatives for Minnesota’s 1st Congressional District (which he ultimately won in 2006). Walz said he was “really concerned” about trying to seek public office and serve in the National Guard at the same time without running afoul of the Hatch Act , which limits political speech by federal employees, including members of the National Guard.

Federal Election Commission records show that Walz filed to run for Congress on Feb. 10, 2005.

On March 20, 2005, Walz’s campaign put out a press release titled “Walz Still Planning to Run for Congress Despite Possible Call to Duty in Iraq.”

Three days prior, the release said, “the National Guard Public Affairs Office announced a possible partial mobilization of roughly 2,000 troops from the Minnesota National Guard. … The announcement from the National Guard PAO specified that all or a portion of Walz’s battalion could be mobilized to serve in Iraq within the next two years.”

According to the release, “When asked about his possible deployment to Iraq Walz said, ‘I do not yet know if my artillery unit will be part of this mobilization and I am unable to comment further on specifics of the deployment.’ Although his tour of duty in Iraq might coincide with his campaign for Minnesota’s 1st Congressional seat, Walz is determined to stay in the race. ‘As Command Sergeant Major I have a responsibility not only to ready my battalion for Iraq, but also to serve if called on. I am dedicated to serving my country to the best of my ability, whether that is in Washington DC or in Iraq.'”

On March 23, 2005, the Pipestone County Star reported, “Detachments of the Minnesota National Guard have been ‘alerted’ of possible deployment to Iraq in mid-to-late 2006.”

“Major Kevin Olson of the Minnesota National Guard said a brigade-sized contingent of soldiers could be expected to be called to Iraq, but he was not, at this time, aware of which batteries would be called,” the story said. “All soldiers in the First Brigade combat team of the 34th Division, Minnesota National Guard, could be eligible for call-up. ‘We don’t know yet what the force is like’ he said. ‘It’s too early to speculate, if the (soldiers) do go.’

“He added: ‘We will have a major announcement if and when the alert order moves ahead.’”

ABC News spoke to Joseph Eustice, a retired command sergeant major who served with Walz, and he told the news organization this week that “he remembers Walz struggling with the timing of wanting to serve as a lawmaker but also avoiding asking for a deferment so he could do so.”

“He had a window of time,” Eustice told ABC News. “He had to decide. And in his deciding, we were not on notice to be deployed. There were rumors. There were lots of rumors, and we didn’t know where we were going until it was later that, early summer, I believe.”

Al Bonnifield, who served under Walz, also recalled Walz agonizing over the decision.

“It was a very long conversation behind closed doors,” Bonnifield told the Washington Post this week. “He was trying to decide where he could do better for soldiers, for veterans, for the country. He weighed that for a long time.”

In 2018, Bonnifield told MPR News that Walz worried in early 2005, “Would the soldier look down on him because he didn’t go with us? Would the common soldier say, ‘Hey, he didn’t go with us, he’s trying to skip out on a deployment?’ And he wasn’t. He talked with us for quite a while on that subject. He weighed that decision to run for Congress very heavy. He loved the military, he loved the guard, he loved the soldiers he worked with.”

But not all of Walz’s fellow Guard members felt that way.

In a paid letter to the West Central Tribune in Minnesota in November 2018, Thomas Behrends and Paul Herr — both retired command sergeants major in the Minnesota National Guard — wrote, “On May 16th, 2005 he [Walz] quit, leaving the 1-125th Field Artillery Battalion and its Soldiers hanging; without its senior Non-Commissioned Officer, as the battalion prepared for war. His excuse to other leaders was that he needed to retire in order to run for congress. Which is false, according to a Department of Defense Directive, he could have run and requested permission from the Secretary of Defense before entering active duty; as many reservists have.”

“For Tim Walz to abandon his fellow soldiers and quit when they needed experienced leadership most is disheartening,” they wrote. “When the nation called, he quit.”

Walz retired on May 16, 2005. Walz’s brigade received alert orders for mobilization on July 14, 2005, according to the National Guard and MPR News . The official mobilization report came the following month, and the unit mobilized and trained through the fall. It was finally deployed to Iraq in the spring of 2006.

The unit was originally scheduled to return in February 2007, but its tour was extended four months as part of President George W. Bush’s “surge” strategy , the National Guard reported. In all, the soldiers were mobilized for 22 months.

Responding to Vance’s claim that Walz retired to avoid deploying to Iraq, the Harris-Walz campaign released a statement saying, “After 24 years of military service, Governor Walz retired in 2005 and ran for Congress, where he was a tireless advocate for our men and women in uniform – and as Vice President of the United States he will continue to be a relentless champion for our veterans and military families.”

Walz on Carrying a Weapon ‘in War’

Vance also called Walz “dishonest” for a claim that Walz made in 2018 while speaking to a group about gun control.

“He made this interesting comment that the Kamala Harris campaign put out there,” Vance said, referring to a video of Walz that the Harris campaign posted to X on Aug. 6. “He said, ‘We shouldn’t allow weapons that I used in war to be on America’s streets.’ Well, I wonder, Tim Walz, when were you ever in war? What was this weapon that you carried into war given that you abandoned your unit right before they went to Iraq and he has not spent a day in a combat zone.”

In the video , Walz, who was campaigning for governor at the time, talked about pushing back on the National Rifle Association and said: “I spent 25 years in the Army and I hunt. … I’ve been voting for common sense legislation that protects the Second Amendment, but we can do background checks. We can do [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] research. We can make sure we don’t have reciprocal carry among states. And we can make sure that those weapons of war that I carried in war, is the only place where those weapons are at.”

But, as Vance indicated, there is no evidence that Walz carried a weapon “in war.”

Update, Aug. 12: In an Aug. 10 statement to CNN, the Harris campaign told CNN that Walz “misspoke.”

“In making the case for why weapons of war should never be on our streets or in our classrooms, the Governor misspoke,” campaign spokesperson Lauren Hitt said in the statement. “He did handle weapons of war and believes strongly that only military members trained to carry those deadly weapons should have access to them.”

As we said, Augé, in her statement, said Walz’s battalion deployed “to support Operation Enduring Freedom” on Aug. 3, 2003, and “supported security missions at various locations in Europe and Turkey.” During his deployment, Walz was stationed in Vicenza, Italy, and he returned to Minnesota in April 2004, Augé said. There was no mention of Walz serving in Afghanistan, Iraq or another combat zone.

In the 2009 interview for the veterans history project, Walz said he and members of his battalion initially thought they would “shoot artillery in Afghanistan,” as they had trained to do. That didn’t happen, he said, explaining that his group ended up helping with security and training while stationed at an Army base in Vicenza.

“I think in the beginning, many of my troops were disappointed,” Walz said in the interview. “I think they felt a little guilty, many of them, that they weren’t in the fight up front as this was happening.”

In an Aug. 8 statement addressing his claim about carrying weapons “in war,” the Harris campaign noted that Walz, whose military occupational specialties included field artillery senior sergeant, “fired and trained others to use weapons of war innumerable times” in his 24 years of service.

Walz’s National Guard Rank

The Republican National Committee has criticized Walz for saying “in campaign materials that he is a former ‘Command Sergeant Major’ in the Army National Guard despite not completing the requirements to hold the rank into retirement.”

Walz’s biography on the Harris campaign website correctly says that the governor “served for 24 years” in the National Guard, “rising to the rank of Command Sergeant Major.” 

Walz’s official biography on the Minnesota state website goes further, referring to the governor as “Command Sergeant Major Walz.”

“After 24 years in the Army National Guard, Command Sergeant Major Walz retired from the 1-125th Field Artillery Battalion in 2005,” the state website says. 

Walz did serve as command sergeant major , but Walz did not complete the requirements to retire with the rank of command sergeant, Augé told us in an email. 

“He held multiple positions within field artillery such as firing battery chief, operations sergeant, first sergeant, and culminated his career serving as the command sergeant major for the battalion,” Augé said. “He retired as a master sergeant in 2005 for benefit purposes because he did not complete additional coursework at the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy.”

This isn’t the first time that Walz’s National Guard rank has come up in a campaign. 

In their 2018 paid letter to the West Central Tribune, when Walz was running for governor, the two Minnesota National Guard retired command sergeants major who criticized Walz for retiring before the Iraq deployment also wrote: “Yes, he served at that rank, but was never qualified at that rank, and will receive retirement benefits at one rank below. You be the judge.”

Correction, Aug. 9: We mistakenly said a 2007 “surge” strategy in Iraq occurred under President Barack Obama. It was President George W. Bush.

Editor’s note: In the interest of full disclosure, Harris campaign spokesperson Lauren Hitt was an undergraduate intern at FactCheck.org from 2010 to 2011.

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