It’s Official, Games can make you Smarter…

Source: UN, 9 June 2003
Submitted by Ann Light

Research conducted at the University of Rochester has shown that action video games can give a person the ability to monitor more objects in their visual field and do so faster than a person who doesn’t play such games. The study suggests that in addition to making game players more aware of their surroundings while performing tasks such as driving, action game playing might be a useful tool to rehabilitate visually impaired patients or to train soldiers for combat.

‘Players can process visual information more quickly and can track 30% more objects than nonplayers,” says Daphne Bavelier, associate professor of brain and cognitive sciences, and member of the Center for Visual Science ‘Several game players even achieved perfect scores on tests barely doable for non-game players.’

The link between visual attention and action games was first recognised when a student of Bavelier’s, Shawn Green, demonstrated exceptional proficiency at the visual tests Green and Bavelier were devising. Upon discovering that Green was an avid game player, the two embarked on a line of research to test if playing action games like “Grand Theft Auto3″, “Medal of Honor”, or “Half-Life”, could train the brain to better process certain visual information.

Aficionados of action games (all males since only a single fanatic female gamer could be found on campus) were presented with three tests. One flashed a small object on screen for 1/160th of a second, and the participant would indicate where it flashed. The slightest lack of attention and the brain would miss the appearance of the object completely. Gamers tended to notice the object far more often than non-gamers.

The second test presented one to 12 small objects on screen at once and the subject had to type how many objects they’d seen. Again, gamers saw the correct number of objects more often. The final test flashed black letters in extremely rapid succession. One letter was white, and it may or may not have been followed by a black ‘X’. Gamers again picked out which letter was white and whether or not an ‘X’ followed it better than non-gamers.

To guard against the possibility that their findings were merely the result of more visually attentive people naturally gravitating toward action games, Bavelier and Green tested non-gamers, both men and women this time. They set up nine of the group to play the action game “Medal of Honor” and eight to play “Tetris”, a puzzle-oriented game. After just an hour a day for two weeks, the action players showed a marked increase in their test performances, which the “Tetris” players did not.

‘It’s likely the sense of danger heightens awareness and trains the visual response of the brain, but other aspects might also contribute,’ says Green. ‘On the other hand, the “Tetris” players, while scoring low on our tests, might score well if testing for ability to rotate and organise objects.’

If the brain can be trained to have heightened visual attention as this study indicates, then it might be especially useful for helping patients with neurological visual impairments to see more normally. Often in stroke patients, for instance, a kind of blindness occurs in part of the visual field, but the impairment isn’t physical, it’s a result of the brain’s “inattentiveness” to that area. Current treatments are laborious, taking years for improvement, but Green and Bavelier’s research suggests that video games may provide a much more economical way of bringing the brain’s attentiveness back. If a healthy brain can improve in their tests after just 10 hours of game playing, perhaps similar results could be seen in patients.

Green and Bavelier point out that gaming is no substitute for building other areas of the brain, and that exercises that demand prolonged attention, such as reading or solving maths problems, are likely not helped at all by extensive game-playing.

As a next step in their research, the members of the team would like to design their own action video games that they can modify at will to see just what aspects of gaming allows such efficient learning . With that knowledge, Green and Bavelier would ultimately like to create non-violent action games that could help stroke patients recover their visual awareness.

http://www.usabilitynews.com/news/article1121.asp

I agree that constant video game playing doesn’t do much for mathematical skills.  That’s why I love Nintendo for releasing what I call the “smart games” like Brain Age, etc. for the DS.  Game designers are quickly figuring out what players are lacking.  And Wii game designers have caught on to the need for physical activity for young adults.

I have a point, I promise.  For the past five years or so, educators and researchers have been looking into the need for more educational video games.  This is not a new concept (remember Carmen Sandiego or Qwerty?) but it is one that has recently exploded with interest.  I have even read about teachers allowing their students to play brief segments of Final Fantasy games in the classroom to teach character or plot development.  The Medal of Honor games mentioned in the article have also been hailed for their historical accuracy, putting players in the midst of familiar WWII battles, and have even been used by History teachers to present students with an interactive and visual image of historic battles.  In addition, many of the games in the series have documentary clips, as well.  In the hands of trained and responsible educators, these games could have a lasting impact on student learning.

I’ve written before about the future of education and how technology is being used to teach skills that will be needed in order to prosper in a growing society.  Things are changing rapidly, for the better (in most cases) and for the worst (in some cases).  Teachers and researchers are catching on to the demands and growth of society and how school systems need to rise to this.

Until later — “There’s no turning back now that you opened up to your mind.”

It’s no surprise, then, that I’ve been fascinated with two things lately: Google Earth and a great photography web site Panoramio. Panoramio works along with Google Earth to upload photos of places around the world taken by visitors who join the site. I have already posted 164 pictures to the site of places in Nitro, St. Albans, Charleston, Erie Lake, and Myrtle Beach. The greatest thing is that every month or so, the site uploads pictures to Google Earth.

This causes a lot of gripes. One of the biggest complaints about Google Earth is the huge number of applications that can clutter the map itself with tiny icons. Panoramio has several hundred thousand pictures uploaded to Google Earth and its tiny blue dots can clutter the map. Here’s the solution. Turn the Panoramio feature off. If you’re not willing to learn how to do that, then you need to recheck your interest in Google Earth, since all of the applications that be activated and deactivated the same way. One click is all it takes.

Panoramio is great for the same reasons as Google Earth. Through their site, you can search any place in the world and view photos taken from that place. This is great for people like me who would love to travel around the world but may never get the chance (at least, not any time soon.) It has also changed the way I look at things around my community. It is easy to think of places and landmarks you see every day as uninteresting or not worth anyone’s time. Since I joined Panoramio, though, I’ve been trying to find ways to photograph things around the area and make them seem interesting. Much like these photos (go to my link below to see larger versions):

When I first browsed their site, there were maybe three photos taken from my home town. Now, however, there are about ten, thanks to Yours Truly. This site is also great for searching places you have been before and viewing pictures as a sort of reminiscence. I do this all the time with places like Kings Island, Cedar Point, etc.

One of the members of the site created a widget to upload to blogs, MySpace, etc., that displays a few of the pictures from a certain area. I had to find the lat. and long. of St. Albans, but I’ll post the widget below. Those of you from WV, you should enjoy seeing pictures of familiar places. If you’re not from WV, I hope my pics peak your curiosity and maybe you’ll visit our beautiful state. Here is the link to my photos:

http://www.panoramio.com/user/461591

The comments at the bottom are from people who have viewed my pictures and commented on them. There are also some responses to photos I viewed, as well. You don’t have to read them. I hope you enjoy the pics.

 Morse Code History

Morse code relies on precise intervals of time between dits and dahs, between letters, and between words. Here’s a chart that shows these relationships:  dit  1 unit of time  dah  3 units of time  pause between letters  3 units of time  pause between words  7 units of time The speed of transmitting Morse code is measured in WPM (words per minute). The word “Paris” is used as the standard length of a word. To transmit the word “Paris” requires 50 units of time. If you transmitted the word “Paris” 5 times, you would be transmitting at 5 WPM. An experienced Morse code operator can transmit and receive information at 20-30 WPM. Samuel Morse Samuel Finley Breese Morse, (1791-1872), was a famous American inventor and painter. Morse graduated from Yale in 1810 and went on to study painting in England. In 1815, he took up portrait painting and was quite successful in this field. Morse helped to found the National Academy of Design and served as its first president.In 1827, Morse became interested in electricity. In 1832, he began a 12-year period perfecting his version of an electric telegraph, for which he subsequently received the first patent for this type of device. Samuel F. B. Morse (1791 – 1872) In 1844, Morse demonstrated to Congress the practicality of the telegraph by transmitting the famous message “What hath God wrought” over a wire from Washington to Baltimore. He later experimented with submarine cable telegraphy. Samuel  Morse Telegraph Receiver Used to receive the message, “What hath God wrought” during the demonstration to Congress in 1844. Smithsonian National Museum of American History Electric Telegraph

Does any of that sound familiar?  How about, “… the Morse telegraph was successful for a number of reasons, including its simple operation and its relatively low cost.”  Computers have increased in popularity because they have decreased in price and although they have become more complex, they have become easier to use.

Let me know what you think.

Download Video: Posted by bionicteaching at TeacherTube.com.

Download Video: Posted by khokanson at TeacherTube.com.

I think I may start a series of videos on education and technology to post on this blog for anyone who has not seen them yet.  I’m not as frightened of the 21st century as many others are but I am also a fast learner when it comes to technology.  I think, though, one of the reasons so many people are worried is because now we have no choice but to learn and grow.

In The World is Flat:  A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century, Thomas Friedman interviewed Nandan Nilekani, CEO for Infosyst Technologies Limited.  Nadan said, “The playing field is being leveled” and that America is going to be challenged but “… the challenge would be good for America because we are always at our best when we are being challenged” (Friedman, 7).

I love a challenge.  I don’t always rise to the occasion, but I do believe that people are at their best when being challenged.  That is an important thing to understand as a teacher.  Increase expectations, challenge students, and you will see the best in them.  They may not all meet the expectations, but they will be amazed by how hard they worked to try.

Until later– “There’s no turning back now that you opened up to your mind.”

Download Video: Posted by mcleod at TeacherTube.com.

Let me know what you think, your reactions to the video.