Video games stimulate learning and creativity

New technologies focused on stimulating learning: do they really work?

During the evolution of the human being, the learning methods he has been using have been changing, as well as the tools he uses to carry out this purpose.

These methodologies and tools have evolved at the same pace as human beings have evolved.These methodologies and tools have been evolving at the same pace as the human being, going from having very archaic and questionable characteristics to being involved in technology and modernism, with its consequent complexification.

Learning and its evolution with the emergence of new technologies

We could say that until relatively recently, the only teaching method for children of infant age and older age groups was the directive methodology taught in conventional schools that everyone knows. At the same time, for several years now, a much less directive and more free type of education based on the needs and preferences of each child is beginning to be normalized and established, in which experience prevails.in which experience takes precedence.

This type of education has both advocates and detractors. The latter claim that this type of education is neither serious nor productive because it does not give as much importance to purely academic and book learning, despite all the scientific research that supports this new methodology.

The fact that mankind has always feared the new is no mystery. This phenomenon of aversion to the new or resistance to change, in this case to learning with new technologies, produces strong debates for a long time until the new paradigm ends up being accepted, leaving behind a trail of polarized research and a feeling of obviousness in the face of the new paradigm. It is simply a cultural change that, sooner or later, will take place..

New tools for teaching and learning: video games

A strong debate is currently being generated in relation to a new paradigm that is being created and established little by little: the normalization of the use of new technologies from a very early age. This paradigm encompasses the whole phenomenon that is occurring in relation to the high "technologization" that society is experiencing in the most developed countries.

As in the case we have previously commented on the new learning methodologies at school ages, a similar situation is now occurring, but this time, in relation to the tools used to carry out teaching or learning. In this case, we are we are talking about the use of video games as tools to carry out learning or to promote it. and is currently undergoing an increasingly broad debate within the discipline of psychology.

Technologies that are here to stay

Before making any judgment against the use of video games as a tool through which to learn, we should seriously take into account the context in which we find ourselves in the most developed countries and analyze the evolutionary process that humanity has followed, since electronic devices (as did the analog ones in their day) are part of the daily life of the new generations dubbed "digital natives".

These same generations are growing up from almost the first moment surrounded by smartphones, tabletstablets, consoles and a host of electronic devices that lay the foundations for their growth in the information age. Thus, it could be almost absurd to try to look the other way and deny a natural evolutionary processIt would be almost absurd to try to look the other way and deny a natural evolutionary process, discrediting forms and ways of learning that may be much closer to the young people of today's society and defending other methodologies and tools that did their job well for years, but that over the years may be becoming obsolete because the subjects to whom they are dedicated do not feel identified with them.

Video games are excellent creativity boosters

For us, as a company specialized in the psychological analysis of video games and their therapeutic and educational use, one of the areas of learning to which we give more value is that of creativity, since it is an area that allows the development and enhancement of autonomous learning.

Video games such as the famous Minecraft become powerful tools to foster creativity because they can be used to develop and enhance autonomous learning. allow the player to enter a world where they can create highly complex architectural works while experiencing a while experiencing an adventure in which they must survive from hordes of enemies and gather food.

The fact of joining the construction with the adventure becomes a way for the player to learn basic rules of construction and architecture, as well as allowing him to unleash all his creativity, which will be enhanced and polished as he spends more hours playing the game. We could even say that Minecraft is a 3D creation tool under a gamified approach and dedicated to people without programming or 3D modeling knowledge. or 3D modeling; so it is an interesting and useful way to bring these possibilities to the youngest and learn by knowing and experimenting in a more playful way.

"Serious Games: video games made for teaching

Other examples of video games with great educational power are the "Serious Games", which are developed explicitly to provide an educational experience in which to learn all kinds of things depending on their subject matter and which become tools created with the clear intention of promoting autonomous learning in a playful way and adapted to the youth of the current era.

These and many more are some of the video games that are currently used in some classrooms around the world to teach academic content and also motivate students to learn them in an innovative and fun way. Society advances and with it technology, and change, which is inevitable, forces adaptation and brings with it new ways of learning, among many other things..