Virtual Worlds

Virtual Worlds

            According to Dr. Howard- Jones, gaming exerts a special influence on the brain.  Also teaching /learning through gaming requires technology plus new understanding and pedagogy.  With that said, video games affect the brain in various ways.  It fosters brain activity to build knowledge and memory.  Certain types of games help build skills, as in problem solving, speed, memory, accuracy, etc.  It builds the skills for the better, it requires you to think.  Long periods of game playing can affect the brain in reverse.  Meaning it isn’t good to play video games for hours.  It not only affects your brain power but also other parts of your body.  You have a short attention span to pay attention to games, but your adrenaline and need to play sometimes over powers other ideas of needing to stop or take a break. 

            Virtual world affect the brain by creating a world outside of the real world.  It gives you an avatar that you can create however you want.  It doesn’t have to look like you in real life.  Virtual worlds can build a community that gives you a sense of belonging.  Many people turn to virtual worlds because it makes them happy, it gives them a high or enjoyment versus their real life.  Virtual worlds do represent real life scenarios but it doesn’t bring in the drama or issues that one may be going through in the real world.  For example, gamers can build homes, communities, lands, etc. But most of those things don’t cost real money so you can build the biggest home or nicest car that you may even want in real life.  This affects the brain by using problem solving skills and flexibility to understanding that it is a game and it’s not real.  Virtual worlds show promise as an engaging and immersive platform for use in an educational setting. A study conducted by researchers at California State University, evaluated the educational effectiveness of different mediums for teaching visual communications (Lester & King, 2009) (In Young, W., Franklin, T., Cooper, T., Carroll, S. & Liu, C, 2012). 

            According to Antonacci & Modress (2008), educational games and simulations can engage students in higher-level cognitive thinking, such as interpreting, analyzing, discovering, evaluating, acting, and problem solving.  The possibilities for virtual worlds in educational context are promising.   They build skills needed to succeed in life.  The earlier children learn the skills the farther they will go in the world.  It will also help with building their education as they move on in school.  Children are learning new things daily and to add technology to the knowledge will benefit the education of the child. According to Young, Franklin, Cooper, Carrol, &Lui (2012) work is currently being conducted regarding a variety of subjects in game-based research. A specific area of interest is the potential learning benefits of game-based learning when compared to traditional classroom teaching.   In my profession, I haven’t used virtual worlds in my classroom thus far.  After playing around in the different ones that were posted, I found that avatar story tellers would be a great asset in my classroom.  This would help my children build story telling skills and writing stories or skills.  Research lends more proof to the notion that the right kind of brain training can improve cognition, change the brain, and have positive impacts on young peoples’ lives. (Hardy, J & Scanlon, M., 2009).  

References:

Antonacci, D.M. & Modress, N. (2008). Envisioning the Educational Possibilities of User-Created Virtual Worlds. AACE Journal, 16(2)

Hardy, J & Scanlon, M. (2009).  The science behind lumosity. Lumosity.com

Howard-Jones, P. Neuroscience, gaming and learning. Youtube.com

Young, W., Franklin, T., Cooper, T., Carroll, S. & Liu, C. (2012). Game-based Learning Aids in Second Life. Journal of Interactive Learning Research, 23(1), 57-80. Chesapeake, VA: AACE.