Since the inception of The Oregon Trail, computer games have been a popular tool in the classroom.

A national survey of teachers “suggests a majority of K-8 teachers believe that educational games are valuable classroom tools, but few say they know where to find trusted resources to ensure the games they use are effective and backed by research,” said an article on HechingerReport.org.

“They don’t know where they can go or who they can ask,” said Lori M. Takeuchi, co-author, with Sarah Vaala, of the report on the survey’s findings, in the article.

The survey look at responses of 700 teachers and “found that three-quarters of teachers said they used games in the classroom, according to ‘Level Up Learning: A National Survey on Teaching with Digital Games,’ which was produced by the Games and Learning Publishing Councilat the Joan Ganz Cooney Center.”

The majority of teachers “said they believed games were effective for teaching and learning,” the article said.

“What did surprise me is the ubiquity of digital games,” said Michael H. Levine, the founding director of the Joan Ganz Cooney Center. “I believe these data help to make the case that the shift from print to digital is happening in many classrooms, and digital games are one blended learning opportunity that is happening.”

The majority of teachers, the article found, “said they use games to teach lessons, not just for a recess-like diversion on the classroom.”

“More than 40 percent of teachers who use games in the classroom reported they used them for lessons aligned with state or local standards,” the article said.

"Teaching with research-backed games does not have to mean trading in the fun stuff for glorified electronic workbooks," the article said. "Evidence exists that the so-called “chocolate-covered broccoli” approach to educational game development is not as effective as one that makes games engaging, according to research cited in the report."

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Article by Kassondra Granata, Education World Contributor