Argumentative Essay On Games And Learning

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Nowadays video games are a very prominent part of our society, being one of the biggest entertainment markets out there, despite how large the gaming market is, people mostly only view games as entertainment with little benefits aside from passing the time. Games are not just a fun way to whittle away time, but they are one of the most effective mediums to train our brain and skills. Video games are one of the most effective ways to transmit knowledge yet the public only sees educational games for this purpose, while others see the rest of the gaming industry transmitting harmful habits. Since gaming is such a major market having such views about games is harmful to the evolution of games. Video games are valuable tools that can be very beneficial …show more content…

Games have been used as a learning tool dating back to the Middle Ages with using Chess to teach noblemen war strategies and scholars argued that old methods of learning functioned off of verbal play. Though games have been integrated into learning for such a long time, it wasn’t until around the mid twentieth century that a tie between games and learning began to be recognized by the public. Many scholars reporting on how games play a vital part in learning; Jean Piaget, the Swiss psychologist, connected a child’s moral judgement development to their ability to understand game rules (“History of Games & Learning | Institute of Play,” n.d.). Two analysts, A.M. Mood and R.D. Specht (1954), released the paper, “Gaming as a Technique of Analysis.” Which found: “A virtue of gaming that is sometimes overlooked by those seeking grander goals is its unparalleled advantages in training and educational programs. A game can easily be made fascinating enough to put over the dullest facts. To sit down and play through a game is to be convinced as by no argument, however persuasively …show more content…

These negatives range from public misconception to legitimate concerns that need to be addressed. Starting with the public misconception which there are many, the first is that violent games link to youth aggression. This statement is massively misleading and purposefully vague since there has been no information for a causal effect between them (“The Video Game Revolution: ‘Eight Myths About Video Games Debunked’ by Henry Jenkins | PBS,” n.d.). Of all the studies done on aggression there was only ever a correlation which is not causation. While it is true that violent games can lower empathy, this was consistent with the study done by Harrington and O’Connell (2016), this cannot be equated to “violent games teach violence”. There can be many explanations for the correlation such as “violent people like violent games” but going to statements such as “violent games teach violence” is both misleading and

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