Educational games are Effective Learning Media, VR and best for the Millennial Generation

Educational tools with special VR game named HoloBrain and VR headset.

Medical students at the University of British Columbia (UBC) can now be studying the structure of the human brain is complex.

Claudia Krebs, a senior instructor in the Department of Cellular and Physiological Sciences at the Faculty of Medicine, UBC, said that the need to study for years to be able to form an accurate mental image about the structure of the brain is complex and individual the relationship spatially.

With HoloBrain, now only takes a few seconds, as if they could see their own brain and study it in detail and depth.

The ability of applications to integrate 3D virtual content with MRI scanning 2D hologram format really has opened a new window on the architecture section of the brain.

This application works by projecting a 3D hologram of the human brain. Just like in the science fiction film, the hologram directly responds to voice commands and hand gestures, they allow students to rotate, zoom, or isolate specific parts of the image.

The researchers devised a modified use of HoloLens hologram. Headset HoloLens projected virtual objects into the field the look of actual users, add user-what is seen but not replace it.

HoloBrain is just one example and proof of how great the educational aspects usually game VR when applied in earnest as a medium of instruction.

Some educators believe that the application deep reality and game elements can make the learning experience more useful for students.

"I think the game has great potential in teaching," said David Kaufman, a professor in the Faculty of education at Simon Fraser University who has spent nearly two decades examines how new digital technologies and games can affect education.

Dr. Kaufman said that the implementation of educational game VR can enhance student involvement with the subject and make the learning more meaningful than passively listening to the lesson.

"When you learn the fun way, you will be much less understand it," he said. "Recall that experience is becoming increasingly strong." Even so, he believes that the use of games in education should not be absolute. "This is like a new seasoning can be added to the recipe, but it's not for the whole meal."

Many game elements used by teachers when it comes from a video game, which is the dominant creative industry in the 21st century, far beyond the earnings from the film industry.

According to the survey of Newzoo, a marketing company that includes the gaming industry.

In the year 2017, video game raked in $108.9 billion worldwide, while the film only obtained $38.6 billion.

But video games still get a bad reputation. They were accused of corrupting the minds of young people and, in the case of FPS gameplay, even labeled as a "murder simulator" that train young people to kill.

Nevertheless, there are many studies showing that video games can foster creativity and innovation, and has great potential to sharpen the skills of such high-level problem solving and evidence-based reasoning.

Maja Krzic, Assistant Professor at the UBC Faculty of forestry, using educational games and VR light for the compulsory course of the science of land which he taught forestry students in a first and second year. Played using smartphones and GPS utilization.

Krzic admits that many of his students are not so interested in the study of soil. "I heard them ask, ' Why am I studying the ground? ' I have had to overcome obstacles. " The game is an ideal bridge because they play games on their favorite mobile phones all the time, "he said.

Students sent to the jungle where they must answer questions and follow instructions to find certain types of plants and soil.

They receive points for each correct answer, which is recorded in the scoreboard are distributed in class.

"We basically guide them through the steps undertaken by professional scientists when he performs these observations in real life," said Dr. Krzic.

He noted that about 70 percent of his students played the game, even though it was intended as a bonus to do tasks outside of the classroom.

Students at the Université de Sherbrooke is using a similar kind of application called Trajectus.

Students use the application on their smartphone or tablet to complete different tasks – observing, taking photos or answer questions during field visits.

This type of active learning allows students to integrate more information and achieve the goal of education better.

Starting in January, students in medicine at Queen's University will charge the headset VR and start taking care of the sick in the avatar world simulation designed to look, sound, and has the same equipment with a real hospital.

Virtual reality offers exciting new opportunities to realistically simulate a variety of clinical situations, and the students can learn the mistakes of a virtual patient, instead of the real-life patients.

The application of VR games education enables students to apply the things they have learned from a textbook to a secure environment psychologically and physically.

This is also a great alternative to running a lab with a real person, where it is very expensive and requires a lot of resources and enough can be intimidating for some students.

Tim Chan, Faculty of mechanical and industrial engineering at the University of Toronto, using educational games to illustrate specific principles. In one course, he asked his students to play the game Deal or No Deal uses software he designed.

This game requires the player to choose from 26 closed the suitcase containing the amount of money varies from one dollar up to one million dollars, as an ideal medium for teaching students about the possibilities and decision making in a situation with rewards are uncertain.

A game that is now used at schools such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Duke University and the U.S. Air Force Academy, succeeding in three important ways, said Dr Chan: "it's getting people involved, forcing students to think critically about How do I complete the challenge, and it makes the learning experience more memorable, so students are more likely to recall the concepts being taught. "

Even deeper learning happens when someone creates a game, according to David Ng, an expert in genetics who oversaw the UBC course called Global Issues in which the students were tasked to design games role-playing game set in a town 100 years in the future.

This setting is not mere fantasy, because students must make their own metropolis. "They have to consider the type of political conflicts and social tension what may arise, and they must take into account the effects of climate change and genomics." Ng Said.

Maybe when gaming and digital technologies that appear to be more integrated with our everyday lives, learning with educational media game VR would be considered more valuable and adopted by a wider audience.

For now, the cost in time and energy, and technical expertise required by the instructor to use games as learning tools, still be become barriers to foster wider.

Jennifer Jenson, a Professor of pedagogy and technology of the Faculty of education at York University, who has studied the game for two decades, said that people have a tendency to outperform every new innovation that emerged from the world of gaming.

"However, I still believe that the game has great potential as an educational tool," he said.

"We just have to find a way that is more direct and purposeful to use games. I think we can get there, but we still have a long way to go. "

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