Plenty of parents have shielded or limited their children’s involvement with games so they could focus on their education. Nowadays, it seems that there's a bright future for the budding relationship between education and gaming as officials gathered for the Games for Learning Summit.

“The event, organized by members of Games for Change, the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) and the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), featured two keynotes and several sessions, allowing attendees to gain insight and learn strategies for developing video games for educational settings,” reports D. Frank Smith of EdTechMagazine.

The purpose of the event is to show the strides that can and will be made to make gaming a positive part of a student’s learning development. Games manage to do what regular instruction may not, which is engaging students and making them want to learn. It’s at no fault of the educator because all children are different and gravitate to different subject matters. With gaming, there is a possibility that students will be collectively enthusiastic about learning.

"We believe that bringing game designers and educators together will lead to the creation of high-quality games that challenge students to become deeply engaged in learning," said Richard Culatta, director of the Office for Education Technology for the DOE, according to Smith’s report.

There are countless challenges that come with matching fun and education especially for developers who will have to turn back the clock and think as if they were a student learning in the classroom. What would appeal to you?

“But there is fertile ground for games to enhance day-to-day classroom activities,” says Smith.

“Traditional homework assignments miss out on opportunities for learning,” says Jesse Schell of Shell Games, “because teacher feedback usually occurs well after the assignment has been turned in. Interactive games can dramatically change that.”

This shows that it’s far beyond engagement; it’s about creating a more efficient learning system for all students. Paired with instruction gaming is one way that developers and education officials are looking to as an answer for the on-going discussion of technology in and out of classrooms.

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Article by Navindra Persaud, Education World Contributor