Serious Games In Primary Education – Its Benefits And Impacts
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Gone are the days when students had to face trouble while learning through ordinary approaches. The usage of serious games or gamification in the primary education curriculum can enhance their learning skills in the long run. However, many people argue that such games impact children adversely by exposing hostile characters and violence. On the contrary, such games act as a tool that helps users enjoy fun activities.
Furthermore, the rapid development of Serious Games is being utilized for several serious purposes like health research, education, therapy, and also simulation. According to research, serious games can be an effective and reliable tool when it comes to providing primary education to kids.
This article enlists some benefits and impacts of serious games in Primary Education.
What Are Serious Games?
Serious games or applied games are the games specifically designed for a primary purpose not just for entertainment. Here the ‘serious’ adjective is used to refer to video games that are utilized by different industries like education, defense, healthcare, city planning, politics, engineering, and many others. Such games are designed to solve problems in different areas and also involve challenges and rewards, using the entertainment component provided when the games are played by the users.
Game-Based Learning – What You Need To Know?
When it comes to game-based learning and education, these games are specifically used to teach certain subjects through gamified exercises and simulations. The unique feature of serious games is that they are entertaining, engaging, and also immersive. Some elements like learning strategies, structures, knowledge, and game-based elements are combined to teach students specific skills, attitudes, and knowledge. For instance, students learning maths or a new language with the help of games are categorized as game-based learning. It is the serious games that have promoted Immersive Learning in the primary education sector.
Impactful Benefits of Serious Games in Primary School Education
The survey of more than 1,600 practicing classroom teachers in English state primary and secondary schools, found that the majority of them are in the favor of using serious games for the cognitive development of children. Such games are being considered the key structures for educational practices over the coming years.
Here are some subjects that can be learned using serious games in the Primary Education sector:
1. Serious games Impacting reading and writing:
According to a recent study, video games have the potential to provide a framework for thinking about writing and the teaching of writing. Gamers tend to learn as they play, learning strategies, solving puzzles, and becoming immersed in reading and writing.
2. Serious games impact geometric and mathematical thinking
GeoCAL, a multimedia software program, was used to explore its learning effects on the geometric and mathematical thinking levels of kids. It has been researched that children using the structured activities of such software design are much more capable of recognizing geometric patterns, and shapes, and also can use verification, inferences, etc.
3. Serious games impact strategic and reasoning abilities
Mind games are known to foster transversal strategic and reasoning skills in children. Computer gaming in the composition classroom has the potential of providing a personalized learning experience to the students striving to improve their strategic and reasoning abilities.
How Serious games Can Affect Students’ Minds?
Serious games have emerged as a great tool for developing the mind of children. The below-mentioned points will let you know how serious games can impact a student’s mind:
Serious games impacting students’ memory
As per the gamified memory task result, students in the game group showed enhanced working memory compared to the students in the control group. Serious games have the potential of sharpening the memory of kids.
Serious games impact students with low attention level
Students facing poor attention skills or hyperactive and impulsive behavior find it difficult to learn things. A growing number of studies have shown that game applications enhance learning for attention difficulties, improve attention levels, enhanced Knowledge Retention, and academic performance of kids suffering from memory and development disorders.
Technologies Backing Gamification In Primary Level Education
Here mentioned are some technologies that are helping to gamify primary education:
1. Mixed Reality:
Mixed Reality Games allow the students to experience fun experiences in diverse learning contexts. MR learning games facilitate and foster the learning as well as teaching experience. The advanced technology blends in the usage of smart glasses, natural communication, gesture-based interaction, and more.
2. Virtual Reality:
Virtual Reality brings the immersive effect to serious gaming solutions. It is responsible for the in-depth perception of 2D or 3D games. VR acts as a bridge between the real world movements in virtual reality. It offers the most realistic learning experience driven by a fun environment.
3. Augmented Reality:
Augmented Reality helps incorporate gamification into curricula and create engaging educational material. AR superimposes a predefined gaming environment over the real-time world. It facilitates both simplicity and group fun gaming along with an immersive learning experience.
4. Robotics:
Robotics helps in imparting elementary learning concepts and helping in simplifying complex topics. The engaging educational robotics delivers a captivating experience on the physical devices. The idea of robotics in the education sector can help improve the learning experience of children suffering from autism or ASD.
Role of DMG Studio In Serious Games Development
DMG Studio understands that serious games have the potential to promote interactive learning and behavior change in the primary education sector. A recognized IT solution provider, DMG Studio can help you enforce the above-listed benefits of serious games by providing suitable solutions. We can be your reliable technology partner to deliver robust and featured solutions to simplify and enhance primary education.
Feel free to connect with our expert to discuss your requirement and new idea. Let’s create captivating and useful serious games for training or education purposes.
