Educational Computer and Video Games in the Classroom Danielle Tamke, Erin Davis, & Emily Gillis Introduction Computer and video games in the classroom are quickly becoming a controversial topic in the education field. Our group decided to do extensive research on this subject to find the thoughts and opinions of the general public. Through our research, we found that video and computer games can positively contribute to cognitive, social, motivational, and emotional development (Baki, 2008). In order to get the general public’s opinions we composed a survey titled “Should computer and video games be used as an educational resource in classrooms?” Should computer and video games be used as an educational resource in classrooms? 1. Have you ever experienced computer or video games in a classroom setting? a. Yes (76%) b. No (24%) 2. What are your personal feelings about computer and video games being used in classrooms?   3. Computer and video games are a popular choice of entertainment among students. a. True (100%) b. False (0%) 4. I consider games like SimCity and Zoo Tycoon to be educational games. a. Agree (32%) b. Uncertain (36%) c. Disagree (12%) d. I am not familiar with these games (20%) 5. What subject do you feel computer and video games would be most useful? a. Math (87.5%) b. Social Studies/History (8.3%) c. Science (4.2%) d. Language Arts (0%) 6. What grade levels would most benefit from computer and video games in the classroom? a. K-5 (68%) b. 6-8 (28%) c. 9-12 (0%) d. Not at all (4%) 7. How do you feel about the growing use of technology in the classroom? 8. Do you think that computer and video games hold students’ interest better than worksheets? a. Yes (96%) b. No (4%) 9. Schools should budget money for educational computer and video games. a. True (76%) b. False (24%) 10. How often should computer and video games be used in the classroom? a. Not at all (4%) b. Monthly (12%) c. Weekly (68%) d. Daily (16%) Results The first graph represents how many people have experienced computer or video games in an educational setting. The majority of the people surveyed have experienced some form of computer or video games in the classroom. The second graph represents which content area they believe would be most beneficial. The majority of the participants thought math computer or video games would most beneficial to students. The third graph symbolizes how often computer or video games should be used in the classroom. The majority of the surveyed thought that computer games should be used weekly. Overall, most of the surveyed agreed with the use of computer and video games in the classroom. Computer and video games are a good resource to utilize because of the increasing popularity among the younger generations. Conclusion After conducting our survey we found that the majority of the people surveyed thought that computer or video games were a beneficial addition to the classroom setting. After extensive research and the ending results of the survey, our group has concluded that computer and video games would be beneficial in the classroom setting in moderation. As students of a technology based university we have experience the benefits of technology in the classroom and as future educators we look forward to passing on this knowledge. We feel that computer and video games enhance the students learning, captivate their attention, motivate them to strive for excellence, and prepare them for future success in a technology driven world. With dropout rates increasing in recent years teachers need to learn new ways to captivate their student’s attention, computer and video games just might be the way. Methods In order to obtain these thoughts and opinions, we conducted a survey in which we asked several questions about computer and videogame use in the classrooms. We used surveymonkey.com to produce the survey in which we asked questions. We formulated questions to obtain information about the pros and cons of computer and video game use in the classroom. We used a variety of questions such as open-ended, true or false, yes or no, and multiple-choice in order to obtain full results. We then sent the survey electronically to friends and family in the education field aging in the range from 18-65. We received 25 responses to our survey. The survey we created is listed below: References Baki, R (2008). The perspective of six malaysian students on playing video games: beneficial or detrimental?. US-China Education Review, Retrieved 05-14-2008, from http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/Home.portal?_nfpb=true&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=video+games+in+education Charsky, D, & Mims, C (2008). Integrating Commercial Off-the-Shelf Video Games into School Curriculums. Tech Trends. 52, 38-44. Chuang, T.-Y., & Chen, W.-F. (2009, April). Effect of Computer-Based Video Games on Children: An Experimental Study. Journal of Educational Technology & Society , 1-10. Gee, J. P., & Levine, M. H. (2009). Welcome to Our Virtual Worlds. Educational Leadership , 66 (6), 48-52.