How vidogames effect learing

Tyrice Ridley
Ms. Parks
English IV
April 24, 2014
The Future of Learning
Video games are very good at teaching us and even help us with certain skills. Thinks like reflexes, hand-eye coordination, and critical thinking. A common ‘technology’ associated with traditional educational environments is the chalkboard. The teacher stands in front of it and lectures to the students sitting in the classroom. Today’s students, though, are experiential learners who multitask and prefer to learn by “seeking, sieving, and synthesizing” (Dede, 2005, p. 7) rather than passively listening. These individuals learn by doing the activities themselves rather than school based stuff. Challenges in video game are a great example of learning in other way beside lectures. Students have tools like technology that help them more than the standard way of teaching now.
James Paul Gee could have used Good Video Games + Good Learning as a vehicle to examine educational games or the serious game movement. Instead, he concentrates on well-designed games and the ways in which they can become a context for learning. He could of said that game like Fallout, which make the player make tough options, that can lead to major problems solving skills. Throughout the game Gee also examines the lessons that can be learned from video games, including violent ones like Mortal Combat or Doom. While the media often focus on the violence in these games, Gee argues that they are just like any other technology – alone they are neither good nor bad. Moreover, he asserts, “Effects (good or bad) flow not from the game but from game + context” (p. 3).
The things Gee said is true but that is not his whole intention with his book, Gee’s intention is not to suggest that video games can, or should, replace books and teachers. In fact, he believes that “the immersive experiences touted by liberal education are not enough”.(Gee) In other words guidance is needed otherwise the learner is “simply left to an infinity of choices with no good way to tell them apart” (p. 79). Learning in video games is good but without something to back it up, it become up to the player to decide what is good or bad. This is not to say that Gee is advocating for a conservative education approach – one that focuses on the acquisition of facts and standardized tests. There are things that standard teaching can do that video games cannot. “prepare for action” (p. 80). This quote is very good because it explains a lot about life. Ever since you were born you have been developing to prepare for your future.
One of the strongest sections is Gee’s discussion of affinity spaces in Chapter 8. He describes the concept of affinity spaces as an alternative to “communities of practice” that are presented by scholars such as Lave (1996) and Wenger (1998). As Kling and Courtright (2003) astutely point out, the term “community” is one that is often uncritically used in layman’s terms to connote “a group which shares warm, caring, and reciprocal social relationships among its members” (p. 224). When you have a group of members that have certain things in common, that one thing they have in common can branch off in different topics that can be a learning experience. Gee agrees with this assessment, and asserts that one of the main concerns is that notions like communities and communities of practice imply that the intention is to label individuals – who is included and who is excluded. In contrast, Gee’s affinity space concept is one where, “people ‘bond’ first and foremost to an endeavor or interest and secondly, if at all, to each other” (p. 98). That quote from Gee is just proving the point that individual who stays close together tend to improves each other in various ways. A group will teach each great values that you would help you in your life.
Another section worth noting is the discussion on specialist language learning. In Chapter 9, Gee makes a distinction between everyday language, the “vernacular style,” versus speaking technically or the “specialist style” (p. 106). Through an example of a mother having a conversation with her child about how a women get pregnant, instead of the mother explain it, she could just let her kid play a game instead. Gee reinforces the notion that even native English speakers need language learning in order to acquire and apply specialist language. Therefore to really be good at explain something to someone you would have to get a better understanding of your own language first before you could explain it the best. He continues by stressing that until one has “played the game” the specialist language has no situated meaning. Further, Gee states, “School is too often about reading the manual before you get to play the game, if you ever do” (p. 116). Most school teach you all the tools you need in life before you even get to that point in life.
According to Gee, Chapter 10 is the “main piece in the book” (p. 6) in that it summarizes what he has been working on since his 2003 book, What Video Games have to Teach Us about Learning and Literacy. Gee hopes that this section will further the discussion and expand on the ideas presented in previous portions of this book. Unfortunately, Chapter 10 is repetitive not only in terms of his earlier work, but more importantly of this particular collection of essays. Gee acknowledges this and suggests that this review is designed to bring “together in one place the key themes, ideas, and issues” (p. 129). Because sections are copied verbatim from earlier chapters in this book, though, this style can be frustrating from a reader’s perspective. Therefore, those who “fear repetition” (p. 130) should take Gee’s advice and skip this portion of the book.
Gee suggests that gamers may agree that a particular game is good, but they “rarely think any one game is perfect” (p. 8). The discussion presented throughout this book, for the most part, is a good one, but like the video games Gee promotes, it is not perfect. While Gee’s assessment of video games is thought provoking, the substantial amount of repetitive content is disappointing, particularly to individuals who are familiar with his earlier work. Those who are new to this topic, however, may find this tactic helpful in reinforcing the fundamental concepts associated with games and learning. Overall, this book and the ideas presented within its covers are accessible to a wide audience; this includes practitioners, college students, and academics alike. Most people argue that video games are so bad and that they do nothing but cause violence. The question is how? A game like “Pac-man” how is that violent? What is so bad about Pac-Man that it makes people wane do violet things. Yeas video games can cause violnet behavior but most game that do that are rated by the and are rated M +17 for adults yet parents let their kids play toughs games. Most of the bad effects of video games are blamed on the violence they contain. Children who play more violent video games are more likely to have increased aggressive thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, and decreased prosocial helping, according to a scientific study (Anderson & Bushman, 2001). The effect of video game violence in kids is worsened by the games’ interactive nature. In many games, kids are rewarded for being more violent. The act of violence is done repeatedly. The child is in control of the violence and experiences the violence in his own eyes (killings, kicking, stabbing and shooting). This active participation, repetition and reward are effective tools for learning behavior. Indeed, many studies seem to indicate that violent video games may be related to aggressive behavior (such as Anderson & Dill, 2000; Gentile, Lynch & Walsh, 2004). However, the evidence is not consistent and this issue is far from settled. Many experts including Henry Jenkins of Massachusetts Institute of Technology have noted that there is a decreased rate of juvenile crime which coincides with the popularity of games such as Death Race, Mortal Kombat, Doom and Grand Theft auto. He concludes that teenage players are able to leave the emotional effects of the game behind when the game is over. Indeed there are cases of teenagers who commit violent crimes who also spend great amount of time playing video games such as those involved in the Columbine and Newport cases. It appears that there will always be violent people, and it just so happen that many of them also enjoy playing violent video games.
Too much video game playing makes your kid socially isolated. Also, he may spend less time in other activities such as doing homework, reading, sports, and interacting with the family and friends. Some video games teach kids the wrong values. Violent behavior, vengeance and aggression are rewarded. Negotiating and other nonviolent solutions are often not options. Women are often portrayed as weaker characters that are helpless or sexually provocative.
Games can confuse reality and fantasy.
Academic achievement may be negatively related to over-all time spent playing video games. Studies have shown that the more time a kid spends playing video games, the poorer is his performance in school. (Anderson & Dill, 2000; Gentile, Lynch & Walsh, 2004). A study by Argosy University 's Minnesota School on Professional Psychology found that video game addicts argue a lot with their teachers, fight a lot with their friends, and score lower grades than others who play video games less often. Other studies show that many game players routinely skip their homework to play games, and many students admitted that their video game habits are often responsible for poor school grades.
Although some studies suggest that playing video games enhances a child’s concentration, other studies, such as a 2012 paper published in Psychology of Popular Media Culture, have found that games can hurt and help children 's attention issues — improving the ability to concentrate in short bursts but damaging long-term concentration. Video games may also have bad effects on some children’s health, including obesity, video-induced seizures. and postural, muscular and skeletal disorders, such as tendonitis, nerve compression, carpal tunnel syndrome. When playing online, your kid can pick up bad language and behavior from other people, and may make your kid vulnerable to online dangers.
A study by the Minneapolis-based National Institute for Media and the Family suggests that video games can be addictive for kids, and that the kids ' addiction to video games increases their depression and anxiety levels. Addicted kids also exhibit social phobias. Not surprisingly, kids addicted to video games see their school performance suffer.
Kids spending too much time playing video games may exhibit impulsive behavior and have attention problems. This is according to a new study published in the February 2012 issue of the Journal of Psychology and Popular Media Culture. For the study, attention problems were defined as difficulty engaging in or sustaining behavior to reach a goal.
My conclusion is video games can do a lot for you when you let them. They help in many ways that can help you in real life situations like: Teaching, Accounting, Coding, Video Game Designing, and more. For all the downfalls for playing video games there are way more positive outcomes for video games than negative. Over all when it comes down to videogames you should play more but not too much were the negative effect start to kick in. The best thing that anyone can do is better there education and what better way to do that than play videogames.

Works Cited
“Video games.” PronCon.org 5 Feb 2014 Web-19 Feb. 2014
Huey, Erik. “Video Games don’t Cause Violence.” By Erik Huey Friday, March 22nd, 2013.
Ferguson J. Christopher. “Sandy Hook Shooting: Video Game Violence Isn’t To Blame” BY: Christopher J. Ferguson Dec. 20, 2012
Michael D. Gallagher. “Video Games Don’t Cause Children To Be Violent”. May 10, 2010.
Perry, Susan. “No clear link has been found between video games and violence”. September 24, 2014
Scharr, Jill. “Blaming Violence on Video Games Does More Harm than Good, Researcher Says “Tom’s Guide FEBRUARY 7, 2014.
Treacher, Jim. “Video games (still) do not cause violence”. DC Trawler September 23, 2013

Cited: “Video games.” PronCon.org 5 Feb 2014 Web-19 Feb. 2014 Huey, Erik. “Video Games don’t Cause Violence.” By Erik Huey Friday, March 22nd, 2013. Ferguson J. Christopher. “Sandy Hook Shooting: Video Game Violence Isn’t To Blame” BY: Christopher J. Ferguson Dec. 20, 2012 Michael D. Gallagher. “Video Games Don’t Cause Children To Be Violent”. May 10, 2010. Perry, Susan. “No clear link has been found between video games and violence”. September 24, 2014 Scharr, Jill. “Blaming Violence on Video Games Does More Harm than Good, Researcher Says “Tom’s Guide FEBRUARY 7, 2014. Treacher, Jim. “Video games (still) do not cause violence”. DC Trawler September 23, 2013