Unpredicted Educational Uses of Video Games
Abstract: Many computer games have recently been examined for educational benefits. The work presented here looks at popular video games that are not characterized as educational and suggests possible knowledge and skills that may be supported or enhanced by playing these games. A scoring process is presented to calculate the educational potential of a video game. The summarized results of applying this scoring process are presented with the potential educational areas for over 200 games. It appears that role-playing games may have the best potential for educational uses and that the top benefits are improving reflexes and planning and strategy skills. However, the data suggests that each game should be considered on a case-by-case basis for any potential educational purposes and benefits.
Presider: Chieu Vu-Minh, University of Michigan