Video Gaming/Cognitive SkillsVideo Gaming/Cognitive SkillsVideo Gaming/Cognitive SkillsVideo Gaming/Cognitive Skills

Presented By:Presented By:

Dave CogswellDave Cogswell

Heidi DeveauHeidi Deveau

Teri MillerTeri Miller

Kate FaheyKate Fahey

“A popular hypothesis in research on video game environments is that cognitive skills learned in these environments will transfer to other, non-game environments.”(Roblyer M.D. and Doering A.H., 6th Ed)

Cognitive SkillsYou are taught something new.

You think about it.

You talk about it in your own words.

You notice how this new information fits with what you already know.

http://www.oxfordlearning.com/cognitive/

“The ability to learn and make sense of new information is crucial to successful learning… and that’s why developing cognitive skills is so important.”

“That’s what we do.”

http://www.oxfordlearning.com/cognitive/

Do you think cognitive skills learned from gaming will transfer automatically to non-game environments? Take a few minutes to discuss this at your tables.

This is what we found:• Children learn the cognitive skills that they

rehearse in games, and studies have found increases in working memory (Thorell,Lindqvist, Nutley, Bohlin, & Klingberg, 2009); mental rotation accuracy(DeLisi & Wolford, 2002); and spatial rotation, iconic skills, and visual attention (Subrahmanyam, Greenfield, Kraut, & Gross, 2001) in young game players.

Digital games can be educationally effective with young children (Calvert & Wilson, 2008; Clements, 2002; Lieberman, 2006; Swing &Anderson, 2008), and comparison studies find that well-designed educational games can be more motivating and lead to more learning than traditional teaching methods (Sakamoto, 1994).

Young children are intrinsically motivated to play and explore, and play is one of the main ways they learn (Singer & Singer, 2005; Van Hoorn, Nourot, Scales, & Alward, 1993).

Play provides opportunities for exploration, experimentation, and manipulation that are essential for understanding basic concepts and constructing knowledge (Bredekamp & Copple, 1997).

Play also helps children develop imagination and creativity, which are key building blocks for future cognitive and emotional development and academic success.

When it comes to particular cognitive skills, say the authors, researchers have found that electronic media, particularly video games, can enhance visual spatial skills, such as visual tracking, mental rotation, and target localization. Gaming may also improve problem-solving skills.Researchers have yet to understand fully the issue of transfer of learning from electronic media.Studies suggest that, under some circumstances, young people are able to transfer what they learn from electronic media to other applications, but analysts are uncertain how such transfer occurs.

Publicity materials for games such as Winnie the Pooh, Elmo, Dora the Explorer, and Little Einsteins often claim that they enhance young children’s cognitive development and academic skills; yet there is very little published research on the effects of these particular games, or games that are similar to them, on young children’s cognitive development, academic skills, learning, or social development (Garrison & Christakis, 2005; Vandewater et al., 2007; Wartella et al., 2002; Wartella & Robb, 2007).

If materials for play and learning—including digital games—are designed to serve children’s interests and abilities, their desire to play and explore, and their internal need to know, young learners will be more likely to develop and strengthen their initiative, curiosity, attention, self-direction, industriousness, competence, and love of learning (Bredekamp & Copple, 1997; California Department of Education, 2000; Dodge, 2004; Kagan, Scott-Little, & Frelow, 2003).