Video Games the Future of Education?

Today I will be discussing video games as an informative tool. The topic comes from Scientific American's article about whether or not video games are the future of teaching. Video games are often seen as a distraction more than anything by those that don't play them. When students go to school parents assume they are no longer spending time in front of their devices and "wasting time." However finding a method of holding a child's attention is difficult especially when trying to get them to learn. 

As a kid, most of us heard of FCAT explorer and other knowledge based games on the computer. But now we are in the future where every kid has an iPad and has no time for education. Although, teachers seem to have rigged the system. MinecraftEdu is an educational take on the billion dollar game called Minecraft. If you have spoken to any kid around the age of nine, then you know what it is. Teachers are using the games engine and incorporating educational elements. Find the area of the cube. Find the perimeter of the fence. All of those word problems we tried to picture in class are now visually represented in the 3-D world. The same group has done the same with SimCity. Brian Waniewski, managing director of Institute of Play, sees this progress as the way of the future of schooling. 

On the other hand, there will always be that oppose these ideas. The main argument used is that there are zero studies showing evidence that these educational games actually work. Emma Blakely, researcher at University of Sheffield England, claims that from a theoretical psychological standpoint these games should be aiding the student's memory and cognitive abilities. A study from the University of Cambridge found that the improvements in game scores for children with lower levels of working memory did not extend to broader skills. 

Obviously time can only tell if these educational video games will help the next generation. Is this a good idea or should teachers continue the classical teaching method? Let me know in the comments.