Learning from Video Games
Can we learn from videogames? Can we get better eye-hand coordination? Can we get smarter? I believe so and research has shown that this happens. We know that three things matter when it comes to learning from video games thanks to a study by Doctor Edward Downs. The first thing that matters is the control, to be able to develop a short-term muscle memory the control with matter so it will fit the ergonomics of a person. To be able to build a muscle memory you need to repeat your routine as many times as possible, the more you do a thing the stronger your muscle memory will get. You can learn through two ways; the first is implicit learning and that is when you learn something without knowing that you are learning. The second is explicit learning and that is when you consciously do something to learn it. You have a motive to do something right. The second thing that matters is presence; how are things presented to you? If you learn together with more attributes from the modality that I talked about earlier in my blog you will learn faster and more efficient. The more things that speak to your senses will help you to learn instead of just one attribute such as sound or just feel. The third thing that matters is liking; you would have to like what you are doing or else you are not going to do it, and if you don’t do it you will not learn from it. If a video game is more realistic there is a bigger chance that you will learn from video games.
The ESRB
The ESRB was established in 1994 because of parents were concerned with what their children were watching. They were also concerned that the government would take the privileges away from playing video games. The ESRB stands for Entertainment Software Rating Board and what it tries to do is “To empower parents with the ability to make informed decisions about the computer and video games they choose for their families through the assignment of age and content ratings, and to hold the computer and video game industry accountable for responsible marketing practices” (www.esrb.org).