Video Game Industry Statistics published by WWW.INFOGRAPHICLIST.COM in Feb 2013 shows that 67% of US households play video games, 49% of gamers is in the age group 18-49 and 40% of all gamers are women. In recent years, researches turned to video games to explore how to use the engaging power of games in the learning process. When we play games, depending on the settings, we learn about geography or history and we also increase our attention. Games introduce us to complex issues gradually, by allowing us to master level by level. The experiment carried out by researchers in the University of Wisconsin-Madison showed, that students who were firstly engaged in the learning process through video games and subsequently were given standard written material scored better on the levels of understanding than students, who firstly read the written material and then played a video game (Source: Video Games and Learning, Coursera). We therefore decided to search a web for you and bring you games that will be not only entertaining but will draw you into the learning process, too. If you would like to find out more on the current research, have a look at this article in the Education Week, published in August 2013. There is also a number of organisations who are exploring this field, among the most interesting ones are Learning Games Network or Games+Learning+Society. Thanks to the Coursera and University of Wisconsin-Madison you can also try the course "Video Games and Learning". |
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Shapes and Colours Exercise your Memory, Attention and Visual-spatial function. This game has two modes - shapes and colours. Firstly, you'll be presented by 6, 8 or 10 various shapes in various colours. In the second step, you need to recognize either shape or colour (depending on your settings) among the rows of different ones. Feel free to play here. Right Word
Game to develop your Language and Memory skills. You will be shown definition of the words and the beginning of the expression and asked to fill the missing letters. Which is not as easy as it seems, because although the definition reminds you something, actual retrieval of the word from memory may be quite a challenge. We all experience situations when the word is on top of your tongue, but you just can't figure it out completely. The game trains your brain to retrieve the words more quickly and effectively. Give this game a go here. Writing in the Stars Improve the Executive function of your brain and Attention. Easy game for a start: in this game which is kind of a type of good old cross-word, you are given 9 words which of 6 can be used. The words are connected in overlapping patterns to form a six point star. To play a game, click here. Countdown
This game helps you to train Executive and Visual-spatial functions, Memory and Attention, so make sure you don't miss this one. Put away a calculator and use combination of 3 to 6 numbers and mathematical functions +, -, x and / to get to the target number. If you really want to challenge yourself, you can setup your response time to 1 or 2 mins (unlimited is also an option). Test your skills here. Private Eye This game helps you to develop Attention, Visual-spatial and partially also Executive functions. You will be presented by the grids of symbols or letters and you have to find an odd one. As you can choose from 10 different levels, it will not always be easy to spot one symbol quickly, before the clock runs out, so you need to attend this task selectively. Scan the visual field and focus attention on locating the symbol that is different. You can play for free here. Entangled Figures
This game helps you to develop Attention and Visual-spatial function. In sequence, you will see three entangled objects, like fish, geometrical objects or flowers. Look carefully at the object and try to memorise it, as in the second step, you will be shown a number of choices which are possible components of the object. To choose the correct components, you need mentally deconstruct the complex figure into the single parts. Play here. |