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Digital NZ Report 2016 - What are the trends?

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Digital NZ Report 2016 This was an interesting consolidation of statistics to come across. I have already been aware of many of these statistics in general terms, but to see them presented together has interesting impacts for education. The increased usage and attribution to mental benefits in terms of relaxation etc are signs that video games are becoming as household as other media such as books and movies. The average age of the NZ gamer is also interesting to see. With the age being perhaps much higher than many people would suspect, it is clear that the content that is being created is no longer just for children. This focus on more sophisticated themes and variants of storytelling is what is of particular interest to me, as much of use of gaming in the classroom involves looking at the way narratives are told and developed through the medium of the video game. The content creation aspect is also of interest here. With 15% of gamers creating their own vi
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Do Games help learning? Where is the evidence?

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Do games help learning? Where is the evidence? This is, of course, the most important question which I reflect on in my practice surrounding video games and education. As the field is still relatively new, tangible studies are still forthcoming. In my teaching practice, I am continuing to question myself whether the video game text is just a substitution for a traditional media text such as a film, or can it, by its nature, be something more transformational in its learning design? In my current use of video games, I am not focussing on the benefits which are proposed for reflexes and reaction time, but the propensity for video games to inspire and foster ideas pitted against the over-stimulation or distraction which they can pose for some learners. While this may not be age specific, I have wonderings about the suitability or purpose of video games as narrative tools for younger learners, when the focus is more on the key literacy skills of spelling and the basic bui
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