Videogames may help students in education: Study

LONDON: Videogames could be key to keeping more disengaged youngsters interested in education, a new study has found. 

The research, carried out by Lancaster University's Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS), has shown how basing educational projects around video games can get hard-to-reach youngsters interested in learning. 

The project, run by Inspire Opportunities and carried out earlier this year, involved 15 secondary schools through the Wolverhampton area Local Education Partnership. More than 100 youngsters were involved. 

"If the level of outcomes this project could be replicated across the UK, then 5,000 more young people would be likely to become interested in the video games and video effects industries each year," said leading academic Dr Don Passey, a Senior Research Fellow and a Director of the Centre for Technology Enhanced Learning at the university. 

The project found that young people, who were disengaged learning and were likely to end up not in employment, education and training (NEET) can become re-engaged with the classes incorporating videogames. 

"The details of the research have been released as part of a knowledge exchange programme, highlighting the economic impact and promoting the benefit to business and the wider community of academic research," Professor Chris May, Associate Dean: Enterprise and Employability for FASS, added.