Research

[|MIT Comparative Media Studies] * [|The Education Arcade at MIT] (right before E3) [|MacArthur Foundation Digital Youth Project] [|Chris Dede]
 * Speak Up 2008 Findings (National Initiative of [|Project Tomorrow] ) **
 * Speak Up 2009 will open in the fall. **
 * Educational Gaming **
 * What devices are kids using for gaming? **
 * While high school kids are still more likely to use a video game console for their gaming, the younger students in grades K-8 are more likely to play games with computer based software and handheld gaming devices.


 * Girls across all grade levels are also most likely to play games using computer software. While 62% of high school boys list the video player console games as their #1 device, only ¼ of girls say the same thing.

* Students in K-2 (33%) lead the way with their play of cell phone based games with 1/3 compared to only 23% of their high school peers. * Only 3% of elementary students say they don’t play electronic games on some kind of device, 9% of middle school kids and 17% of high school kids.
 * 2/3rds of students in grades 6-8 play online games – either in multiplayer environments (31%) or single player games (36%).


 * On average across all grades, K-12 students are playing games approximately 8-10 hours a week.

** The ** **number one reason students in grades K-12 (48%) like to play electronic games** (besides winning) is the competition with other kids. For the students in middle and high school, finding ways to be successful at the game (46%) and the high level of interactivity (44%) are also strong motivators. W**hen asked about the value of gaming technologies within learning**, students in grades 6-12 are very interested for a variety of reasons: ** Increasingly teachers are becoming interested in use of games to increase student engagement ** (65%), address different learning styles (65%), focus on student-centered learning (47%), and to develop problem solving and critical thinking skills (40%).
 * Games make it easier to understand difficult concepts – 51%
 * I would be more engaged in the subject – 50%
 * I would learn more about the subject – 46% (56% of students in K-2 chose this as their #1 reason)
 * It would be more interesting to practice problems – 44%
 * Strong belief statements by the teachers show no differentiation based upon gender, teaching assignment, years of experience or education level.
 * However, for the teachers who self-assess themselves as advanced technology users, their interests in gaming technology was significantly higher than the teachers who viewed themselves as beginner tech users.

* Teachers who consider themselves as advanced tech users are twice as likely to play online games as beginner teachers.


 * Only 6% of teachers do not see any value in even exploring gaming within education.


 * Over 50% of teachers said they would be interested in learning more about integrating gaming technologies into teaching strategies and 46% would be interested in professional development on this. 11% said that they are currently incorporating some gaming into their instruction.