Prompt's TechBlog

Who said games aren't good for you?

A study by government educational body Learning and Teaching Scotland (LTS) has concluded that a daily 20 minute game of 'Brain Training' on the Nintendo DS seems to improve children's learning and behaviour skills.

The Register reports that LTS conducted a 10 week study at a primary school in Dundee. Children between five and six spent 20 minutes at the start of each school day playing 'More Brain Training with Doctor Kawashima' on Nintendo DS Lites. Teachers noted that there were improvements in their students' behaviour - they co-operated with each other and were more focused on lessons.

The students also demonstrated improvements in mental arithmetic, concentration levels, behaviour and ability to handle tasks on their own. The trial was such a success, LTS is talking about implementing daily sessions with the software in other schools (which I'm sure will work fine until the kids start secretly bringing in their own copies of Mario Kart and spend the mornings indulging in multi-player racing fun).

I'm all for integrating gaming with education. Anything on a screen will automatically be seen as more fun by young 'uns, and I know from experience that starting the day with anagrams or mental arithmetic tests is a great way to get the brain warmed up. Who knows, perhaps the DS can be used in other ways too. Maybe text-heavy adventure games in the style of Hotel Dusk or the Ace Attorney series could be used to promote reading skills, or rhythm games like Elite Beat Agents could be used as 10 minutes of fun in music classes.

Of course, this is entirely personal speculation, and no machine will ever be a substitute for a good teacher. But, as LTS found, by introducing the right computer games into schools, they could prove to be a great supplement to traditional teaching.