Why Games?

​More and more research on games in the classroom, "gamification" of the classroom, and the impact of gaming on students' development tells us that games will only continue to become more and more important.

1.     Students love games.  Take any boring subject, make it into a game, and the student response is dramatically different.  Having them create their own gaming experiences for other students helps them share their love of games with others.

2.     Games provide authentic, structured competition, recreation and intellectual challenge.

3.    Games are fun.  Fun will keep students engaged.

4.     Games develop students' social skills, enhance the affective need for friendship and socialization, academic skills, and collaboration among peers. 

5.     The importance of play has been championed in this era of testing and standardization.  Giving students intellectual and creative freedom is critical to their development.

7.     Games and game design can be aligned to curriculum standards.  Specific games can address content from various historical periods, for example, and reading and writing rules address a plethora of common core standards.

8.    Games develop higher-order thinking skills as players must carefully analyze and apply strategies, negotiate, and plan for long-term strategies.  

9.  Games teach students how to resolve conflict.   Playing games helps students communicate, collaborate (play nice, win nice, lose nice).   Students learn how to accept loss and victory.  Especially with students who have difficulty in social situations, games provide a less stressful way to interact socially with their peers and helps those peers develop empathy overall.