Do computer games have education value?

Part 6.- You are going to read four extracts from articles about research into the educational value of computer games. For questions 37-40, choose from the extracts A-D. The extracts may be chosen more than once.

 

Do computer games have education value?

Four journalists consider some recent research findings.

 

A)      Yvonne Cheney

Nobody is claiming that computer games are going to solve the world’s problems, but even the most mindles of them taps into real human abilities and emtions. Gamers may not reflect on how the characters and scenarios they engage with could help to interact with others in the real world but recent research at the State University suggests that the gamers do perform such a function. In other words, far from retreating into another meaningful interaction and developing worthwhile skills. Leaving aside for a moment the issue of whether the games are addictive or not, or how much time gets devoted to them, this meticulous study adds more weight to the growing consensus that gaming may be good for us.

 

B)      Declan Morton

We have heard a great deal recently about the cognitive benefits of gaming. Playing computer games, even the most banal of them, would seem to keep the brain active and to replicate the kind of thought processes that are valuable in the real world. Researchers at the State University take this idea a step further, however, claiming that the games develop interpersonal skills as well as cognitive ones. Although I have no argument with the way the study was conducted, this conclusion, seems to be a step too far, and I can’t see many people taking it very seriously. The evidence that gaming can become compulsive behaviour, and not just in teenagers, is quite convincing and it seems perverse to suggest that such an individualistic pastime, that takes the players off into a world of complete fantasy, could ever promote interpersonal skills in the real world.

 

 

C)     Lydia Porter

New Research at the State University suggests that playing computer games may not be so bad for us after all. This is not the first study to suggest that gaming can have both social and cognitive benefits for the individual, and the claim that mental agility is promoted by gaming is well documented in the literature. Even the popular notion that gaming takes over people’s lives in a negative way, stiffing social development, is being questioned – and not before time. As one commentator nearly puts it. ‘For today’s teenager, the computer game is just as compelling and absorbing, but no more harmful, than the novels of Jane Austen, were for her grandmother at the same age.’ The current study would benefit from further work, however, as the researchers seem to be making quite sweeping claims on the basis of relatively thin evidence. Having said that, the idea put forward here that social skills may develop as a result of gaming is an intriguing one, that’s sure to spark some lively debate.

 

D)     Stig Strellson

For those of us who are both enthusiastic gamers and perfectly well-adjusted human beings, the accusation frequently heard that gaming is both addictive and harmful has always smacked of prejudice and ignorance in equal measure. Fortunately, recent studies into the cognitive and social benefits of gaming are now setting the record straight. The latest study, carried out at the State University, takes the argument further, claiming that gaming actively promotes real-world interpersonal skills. Although it is sure to attract quite a bit of attention, this study is clearly just scratching the surface of a big issue. The fact that only a small geographical area was studied detracts a little from the findings. It is nonetheless, a further step in the right direction inn terms of dispassionate debate on this emotive subject.

 

Which writer…

37.- has a different view from Cheney regarding the social benefits of gaming? ______

38.- doesn’t share Morton’s opinion about the addictive nature of gaming? ______

39.- agrees with Porter’s point regarding the researcher’s methodology? ______

40.- presents a different argument to the others regarding the likely impact of the research? ______