Jakarta –
Playing video games is one of the activities that is very popular with many people. However, parents are often worried about seeing their children “drowning” in preoccupation in front of a computer or smartphone screen.
Video games have many pros and cons because they are considered to have many negative effects on their fans.
The study, led by an international team of researchers at the University of Warwick, UK, is looking at how playing video games helps develop important skills needed in the 21st century workforce.
The three-year MEGASKILLS project is expected to address Europe’s skills gap. One way is by learning the skills developed while playing video games.
The popular video game play involved is something like Immortals Fentyx Rising, Call of Duty and FIFA. The research team then matched these skills to what companies needed in their workforce.
“Teenager parents are often concerned about the impact of video games on their child’s mental health and how much time they spend in front of a screen, but not much is known about how beneficial video games can be in terms of learning new skills,” explains Professor of Educational Studies at the University of Warwick, Chris Brown who led the study.
Playing Video Games Engages Mentally
When playing video games, it requires a lot of complex mental involvement. This is because when playing, players will focus on reaching a certain level, as revealed by the University of Warwick’s page.
These conditions cause players to think creatively and strategically about what they are doing. In addition, they often do it while communicating with other players.
Other players may be from other countries and not speak the same language. This causes video game play to develop interpersonal skills that play in this situation.
“What is interesting for us is how the development is soft skills this can be translated into the real world,” said Brown.
“The development of artificial intelligence and technology is changing the economy and jobs as we know, many people will need to undergo retraining to remain employable in the job,” he added.
Soft Skills Acquired While Playing Games
Researchers have identified soft skills industry needs most in the 21st century. These are three abilities that can be developed when we play video games.
1. Critical Thinking: Ability to actively and carefully analyze, synthesize, and evaluate information to formulate informed responses, solutions, and decisions.
2. Creativity: The capacity to generate original and innovative ideas, approaches and solutions to problems using knowledge, imagination and different thinking.
3. Adaptability: The ability to adjust and change behavior, plans, or strategies in response to new or changing situations
“Now that we have understood the demand for soft skills in the world of work, and identified those most important to employers, we will investigate how video games train these soft skills,” said Professor Brown.
“Ultimately, we want to provide engineering schools with new training and evaluation that will allow students to learn important skills in innovative ways and be better prepared when entering the job market of the not-too-distant future,” he added.
The MEGASKILLS research team has conducted systematic reviews and consulted business people to identify the most important soft skills needed by their employees.
Developing Communication Skills
“The biggest skill I developed from playing games in a competitive environment is communication,” says student Ollie Clowes who is studying biomedical sciences at the University of Warwick and a member of the Esports community.
One of the biggest differences between E-sports and other traditional sports is a form of communication that we will receive from teammates only through speech. This causes us to be careful with the words that are issued.
“I’ve also developed leadership skills, as on one of my teams I was the one giving quick instructions to my teammates and making sure it was the best decision for a given situation,” added Clowes.
Over the next six months the research team will study various video games and identify how video games train three key soft skills.
The team will then use their research to build an accreditation platform that will allow individuals to showcase the skills they have acquired through gaming on their CV. The project will end in January 2026.
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2023-08-14 23:00:00
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