This document provides a literature review on the negative and positive impacts of video games on student development. It discusses how video games can positively impact student motivation, collaboration, brain-based learning, and academic achievement when appropriately designed and integrated into the classroom. However, excessive video game play that replaces other activities can negatively impact student behavior through increased social isolation, dependency, or aggressiveness. The document concludes that video games have the most benefit when designed for the curriculum, student abilities are monitored by parents and teachers.

1. The Negative and Positive Impacts of
Video Games on Student
Development
A Literature Review
Presented by Brad Gibbons

2. Rationale
• Connecting with the Digital Native
• Understanding Video Games
• Impact of Games on Students
• Implementation, Design and Monitoring of
Video Games

3. Connecting with the Digital Student
• Stereotyped as having poor attention spans
• They have a relationship to knowledge gathering
which is alien to their parents and teachers
• different style of learning due to evolving technology
causing the brain to reorganize itself and unfold new
cognitive skills – this phenomenon is referred to as
“Neuroplasticity”

4. • Green & Hannon (2007, p. 25) suggest:
recognise and value the learning that goes on outside
the classroom
support this learning by providing a space to reflect on it
develop it so students can recognise and transfer those
skills in new situations and contexts

5. • The Institute of Research Learning (2000) indicate
the individual learns 20 percent formally and 80
percent informally
• Andreatos (2007), the informal information students
gather from virtual communities (VC) concerning
practical subject matter may possibly be superior to
traditional and academic sources such as books

6. • The PEW Internet Research Project 2008 findings
indicate:
97% of teens play video games
three-quarters of teens play games with
others
35% of girls and 65% of boys are daily
gamers

7. Understanding Video Games
• Form of entertainment
• It is multifunction interactive media tool
• Educational Software is “Edutainment”

8. What is a Video Game?
• Computer type of device and input devices
• Designed for one or more players
• Contains elements of
rules, goals, challenges, mystery, curiosity, co
mpetition, skill and/or conflict
• A wide assortment of genres and mixed
genres

9. • Types of game genres include:
Multi-user Virtual Environment (MUVE)
Virtual communities VC
Virtual Learning Environment (VLE)
Role playing RPG
shooter games
strategy games

10. • Types of games include:
 Educational
 Consumer off-the-shelf (COTTS)
• Ratings associated with COTTS
include:
Early childhood
Everyone
Teen
Mature
Adult subject content

11. Impact of Video Games on Students
• There are several areas where Video Games
may have an impact on students which
include:
Motivation
Collaboration
Behaviour
Brain-based learning
Academic Achievement

12. Motivation
• Students are unengaged by traditional teaching
delivery methods
• The majority of the research indicate games as a
leverage for motivation for all students and helps
those of lower abilities become more successful.
• Motivation appears to trigger and instill confidence

13. • Exergames motivated disengaged students or low
self-confidence students to participate in Physical
education.
• Inspires students to relate their gaming experience to
various subject areas
• increase in self-esteem and uncertainty in certain
math concepts did not detract from their enjoyment
or engagement

14. • Motivation factors are dependent on the
following:
 Sufficient time to complete game
 Integrating game time with classroom and computer
lab activities
 Design specifically for course, student ability, and
opportunities for collaboration

15. Collaboration
• important for students with lower prior math
knowledge
• 75% of middle-school students prefer to play
multiplayer video games, enjoy achieving the goals
together, and like teaching each other different skills.

16. Behaviour
• Behaviour issues that may arise from video
game play include:
 Social Isolation
 Dependency
 Aggressiveness

17. • Social Isolation
 Excessive game play may take students away time from
other typical activities students normally engage in on a
daily basis.
 Hofferth’s (2010) study did not indicate any relation
between gameplay and isolation, but rather promoted
socialization through multiplayer games.

18. • Dependency
 Too much game time can negatively impact student
achievement.
 Too much game time takes away from studying,
reading, and reflecting.

19. • Aggressiveness
 Violent games can lead to aggressiveness mainly for boys
 Violent games are less likely to cause aggressiveness
in girls.
 Other variables such as socioeconomics and parental
monitoring may play a factor in aggressiveness

20. Brain-based Learning
• Video games can foster brain-based learning
• appeases the new way of thinking or brain
development of the digital native
• Highly engaged activities such as video games
promotes neuroplasticity causing the brain to
reorganize itself and promote higher-order thinking.

21. • Key stages in human learning development may be
an opportunity to take advantage of video games as
a learning tool
• Myelinisation is a component of brain development
and is influenced by learning and experience
• This is an important component in learning response
and efficiency to environmental change

22. • Appropriately designed video games promotes
attributes associated with neuroplasticity.
• Video games involving problem solving and real
world scenarios encourage higher order thinking.

23. Academic Achievement
• seems to have positive implications
• appropriately designed video games may foster
student achievement
• problem solving, fact/recall processes, cognitive,
metacognitive, motor and spatial skills, and
collaboration are some of the positive effects
associated with a well-designed game

24. • Connections made between informal learning
through video games to formal learning in the
classroom
• Positive changes in the students’ attitudes, self-
confidence and self-efficiency

25. Conclusion
• Video games can motivate and have a positive
impact on students given the following criteria:
 they are designed properly
 Given sufficient time to play
 Meets the abilities of the students
 Integrated with curriculum and classroom activities
 Monitored by parents and teachers

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