Beyond play: How gaming fosters learning and skills development
Nowadays, gaming is not only a form of entertainment, but it can also be used as a strong educational tool. For the past years, the role of gaming has changed its influence in the user’s life, emerging as a powerful educational tool that has the ability to transform how we approach learning and skills development. While formal education is still playing a principal role in the learning environment, gaming could also offer interactive and engaging learning experiences that work in parallel with formal education approaches.
Video games provide a unique environment for developing multiple skills at the same time. Gaming experiences naturally improve cognitive abilities through complex problem-solving cases that require players to analyze situations faster and develop strategies in order to face them accordingly. The collaborative nature of modern online gaming platforms develops essential communication, teamwork, and leadership skills. As noted by Barr (2018), students demonstrate positive attitudes toward games-based skills development in higher education contexts.
photo by unsplash.com
Online games encourage persistence, goal-setting mindset, and resilience through reward systems. Historical applications, such as using games to teach history (Zirawaga et al., 2017), demonstrate gaming's adaptability across various sectors. Despite its documented benefits, challenges should be addressed for effective implementation. For example, screen time management represents a major concern, as excessive gaming can lead to negative health effects to its users.
Another example, especially referring to younger generations, in the article "Online game-based learning in mathematics education among Generation Z: A systematic review" by Hidayat et al. (2024) there is an examination on how online games are used to support mathematics education for Generation Z learners, who have grown up with digital technology, all over since their birth.
Through a systematic review of existing studies, the authors found that online game-based learning enhances student engagement, motivation, and understanding of mathematical concepts by providing interactive and enjoyable learning experiences. The review also underlines other challenges, such as designing quality educational games, ensuring technical access, and integration of games into teaching methods, and lastly, emphasizing the need for collaboration and further research to maximize the benefits of game-based learning in mathematics for Generation Z.
In another context, a study conducted in Malaysia by Ibrahim et al. (2018), tested an online game for learning programming with 180 Malaysian students. About 80% had a positive attitude, while 84% found it fun, and 75% said it helped with self-assessment. Nearly 85% wanted to use games for future learning, showing the potential of educational games in university courses.
Similarly, recent regulatory developments, as examined by Borgese (2023) in the European context, focus more on establishing frameworks for safe and effective use of gaming in educational settings, addressing content appropriateness and data privacy concerns.
Looking towards the future, gaming represents a crucial element of educational strategy that aligns with progressing into the learner’s needs and the demands of a progressive digital society. Finally, the skills developed through gaming digital literacy, collaborative problem-solving and adaptive thinking are directly relevant to modern workplace competencies.
References
Hidayat, R., Qi, T. Y., Ariffin, P. N. B. T., Hadzri, M. H. B. M., Chin, L. M., Ning, J. L. X., & Nasir, N. (2024). Online game-based learning in mathematics education among Generation Z: A systematic review. International Electronic Journal of Mathematics Education, 19(1), em0763.
https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1417485.pdf
Borgese, M. L. (2023). European strategy for regulating online video games and new digital markets: A comparison of emerging opportunities and the current Italian regulatory framework. Athens Journal of Law, 9(4), 667–676. https://doi.org/10.30958/ajl.9-4-10
Zirawaga, V. S., Olusanya, A. I., Maduku, T., & Faculty of Applied Science, Cyprus International University, Nicosia, Turkey. (2017). Gaming in Education: Using games as a support tool to teach history. In Journal of Education and Practice: Vol. Vol.8 (Issue No.15, pp. 55–56). https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1143830.pdf
Barr, M. (2018). Student attitudes to games-based skills development: Learning from video games in higher education. Computers in Human Behavior, 80, 283–294. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2017.11.030
Ibrahim, R., Rahim, N. Z. A., Wong, D. H. T., Yusoff, R. C. M., Maarop, N., & Yaacob, S. (2018). Student’s opinions on online educational games for learning programming introductory. International Journal of Advanced Computer Science and Applications (IJACSA), 9(6), 332–337.