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Researchers highlight positive effect of video games

Parents who fret about their kids playing video games may not have to worry so much after all, say some experts, as they might have positive effects on children.

The International Herald Tribune reported that a game-based play helps children to improve cognitive learning by as much as 12 percent, quoting the research by a Silicon Valley research team. Gaming also enhances hand and eye coordination, memory, as well as problem-solving, the paper said.

The study by Iowa State University also suggested that surgeons who played video games regularly had more accurate performance on operations. 

Moreover, a growing number schools are adopting video games such as “Minecraft” to educate students.

“They learn about city planning, environmental issues, getting things done and even how to plan for the future,” said Monica Ekmnan, a teacher of a school in Stockholm.

Minecraft is a video game created by a Swedish programmer Markus Persson in 2009. The game centers upon building, exploration, creativity and collaboration.

“Minecraft extends kids’ spatial resoning skills, construction skills and understanding of planning,” said Evri Klopfer, professor of MIT. “In many ways, it’s like a digital version of Lego.”


By Im Woo-jung, Intern reporter
(iwj@heraldcorp.com)