For many people, video games are Italy for children at best in a brain-rotting addiction at worst. The reality though is that video games have a lot more applications than we might know and I’ve grown to be a massive industry akin to the movie industry for a reason. Many studies have shown that video games have many benefits that we might have not expected at first and that could greatly help a lot of people. A lot of scholars doing education research have noticed that there are benefits to using video games in classes. So let’s take a deeper look to understand why more schools are introducing gaming courses in their establishments.
First and foremost it’s important to understand that when we are talking about gaming courses we are not talking about learning how to score a lot of headshots in Fortnite or the best way to start installing Escape from Tarkov hacks. We are of course talking about the strategies that come in when you are talking about creating video games but also the philosophy behind this kind of design. There is of course also the idea that certain video games are designed as educational tools that can be used within a class setting to not only educate but stimulate students to do better or potentially learn more interactively. Since at the end of the day, the ultimate goal here is to equip people with skills that will serve them in life as well as help them learn. Whether it is in elementary school or the university these classes can benefit people.
The idea behind elective gaming classes is to encourage people who are logically minded as well as creatively minded with an intent and a desire to create video games. The reality here is that a large swath of the young population enjoys and consumes video games daily and it would be foolish to forgo this opportunity to use this tool to help people learn. For example, the video game company Ubisoft has been developing video games that are parallel to their video game franchise Assassin’s Creed which is simply meant as a historical learning tool. This is why video games like Assassin’s Creed Valhalla Assassin’s Creed Odyssey have a completely separate title that offers teachers the experience of letting people play as somebody from the era the games are set in to explore and learn stuff.
The other great thing that comes from teaching people to develop gains is that you are helping them in their future endeavors in courts while also allowing them to learn practical skills like coding or 3D modeling which can push them forward when it comes time to choose a career. As you can imagine when it comes to careers there is a lot of opportunity in the video game industry and in anything tech-related, as we become more and more reliant on technology to sustain our quality of life. Therefore it is a very useful tool to put in someone’s toolbox for the future. Even though there is a lot of offer when it comes to people entering the market the reality is that there is still so much demand that we are not able to fulfill most of the jobs that are still open.
It’s important to mention too that a lot of schools are creating gaming courses as well as gaming diplomas because the video game industry is extremely large and profitable. So this means of course that many companies in the industry are looking to make sure that a lot of their labor comes already well-learned and well-trained. This is why you see companies like Electronic Arts as well as Ubisoft sponsor programs and classes in universities to make sure that there is a skilled pool of labor that comes out of universities whenever diplomas are issued. While many might say that they’re doing this out of self-interest the reality is that it isn’t that beneficial for many students who are looking to learn their craft. It is a net positive when you take into account the fact that a lot of this industry was built by people who had no actual training from university and had to learn by doing basically.
