Are the benefits of gaming a myth or a reality?
It's not a secret that video games became an integral part of young people's lives and college students in particular. The video games variety is truly enormous, and there is virtually no field that a new video game hasn't been invented about. In the past, most sources dominated with the information that video games are only entertainment and that you should not spend a lot of time on them, because they can harm your educational or work activities. But now we can see more and more information about how they can affect players positively and what benefits they provide.
So let's figure out exactly what benefits college students can get and the positive impact these benefits may offer.
1. Reducing stress and relax
A student’s life is extremely busy. College students must skillfully combine various fields, among which are intensive studies, writing course and thesis papers, and creating their first projects. Sometimes it can seem like there aren't enough hours in the day to get everything done. In addition to studying, a college student’s life is also dating, hanging out, and having friendly meetings. So sometimes you just want to disconnect from everything, devote time only to yourself and your feelings, and immerse yourself in the virtual world.
No need to worry that you won't have time to complete something related to your studies. At any time, you can use the help of a professional Studyclerk essay maker who will provide qualified assistance and create quality papers while you enjoy your favorite video game and relax. Choose your writer with the best grades and enjoy the moment of nirvana when you immerse yourself in the world of games.
2.Ability to make quick decisions
When gaming, you definitely want to win or at least reach the next higher level of the game. For this, you have to think in advance of different options, skillfully evaluate different situations and make decisions that can lead to victory. All mentioned above require quick decision-making. This feature, in turn, is an important aspect of successful learning.
3.Multi-tasking skills
Playing video games, you need to be attentive and agile at the same time, and simultaneously react to those things on the screen that change with lightning speed. It's basically the multi-tasking you do to succeed in the game. Multi-tasking skills are really important in our present fast modern life and for college students lives in particular.
4.Teamwork and making friends
Many games are built on teamwork. In order to play a game or defeat an opponent, you create your own team or join an existing one. In this process you communicate in the chats, discuss the details of the next game moves and solve various issues together. All of this contributes to teamwork, as well as finding new friends based on interests.
5.Self-control and self-possession
Quite often games take a long time to complete. The process requires concentration and the ability not to give in to emotions. Although quick reactions and fast responses are often necessary, balanced actions will also help achieve better results. And this in turn educates endurance and self-control.
6.Strategic thinking
An experienced player always thinks strategically. After all, if he does not think in this way, the result of the game in most cases will be a loss. Therefore, he does not take certain actions mindlessly but thinks up different options for the development of events and his own moves in advance.
7.Cognitive abilities improving
When you play, you simultaneously follow instructions, react to rapidly changing actions on the screen, think about your actions, and execute them, all at the same time. All of the above-mentioned combinations have a very positive effect on the brain's cognitive functions.
8.Better spatial orientation
During the game, quite often you constantly move from one visual environment to another. You also simultaneously memorize a large number of different objects and their location. Such actions are a kind of brain training that helps you in such everyday activities as memorizing a new road for the first time, quickly orienting in a new area, etc.
The conclusions we can now draw
As we can see from all the arguments listed above, playing video games turned out to be more than just an element of entertainment or recreation. Such benefits like the ability to make decisions quickly, the team working, self-control, and strategic thinking are extremely important and not the only ones on the list of all the benefits that are obvious. Moreover, each of the points listed above and all together flow into metacognitive ability. This means that you acquire the skill to think consciously about your own thinking activity. And this will help you feel your strengths and weaknesses and derive your own techniques for solving difficult tasks. All mentioned above will obviously boost your academic performance.
Author’s BIO
Cory Shilling is the article and the studies’ author on the impact of non-traditional ways on college students’ academic performance. She is passionate about research in the field of education. Cory loves discovering new opportunities for students to help them understand their unlimited potential.