can gaming be educational?

can gaming be educational? from young, parents have always told me not to play while i'm studying. so the first thought that struck me was... how can gaming be educational? if it could, surely my parents wouldn't stop me from playing games all these while. however, this happened many years ago.

today, gaming has become a language. according to Social Impact Games, gaming has become an avenue where ideas are expressed. in fact, many game designers are looking to maximise the social impact of their work. so back to the question, can gaming be educational? what are some of the factors to consider for making gaming educational?

i learnt that parents and educators are to adopt positive attitudes about video gaming. with the change in attitudes, we would be able to introduce games and simulations to learning. educators, in general, are skeptical that gaming could be educational. i think all of us would be more convinced if we could back up the claim that gaming is educational with experimental data. this would reassure all major stakeholders such as parents, students and educators that gaming could be educational.

with many educational games around, i have to train myself to use learning games and also incorporate gaming into my lessons when possible. gaming would provide me with an additional option of activity for lessons. till then, i'm back to my games to explore how i could include these games into my lessons!