Do Digital Games Help Children's Math Skills?

Digital games are a great way for students to gain fluency of number facts. We know that students who can quickly recall their math facts tend to do much better in higher levels of mathematics.  If a student is not fluent, they find it more difficult to find answers for the more complex problems.  This is because space in the brains is freed up when students fluently know their number facts.

In addition, students are more likely to retain the material and are better able to apply it to future tasks. There is evidence that shows students can achieve fluency in number facts through the use of digital games.

Last time, I suggested sending home a list of digital games for students to play over the summer so they maintain their knowledge for fall.  As stated, one needs to make sure the games recommended will actually help students with their math skills.  The games could be against the computer or others. 

It has been found that games using math strategy to practice the four basic operations, percents, etc tend to have increased achievement rates on regular and state tests. In addition to raising fluency, the right digital games can also increase student enjoyment of math. However, it is important that the games must be engaging so students want to play and are motivated to continue playing. 

The good thing about digital math games is that they allow students to take an active role in their learning, provide immediate and constant feedback, and provide a visual connection between playing the game and the math they are learning. Furthermore, students do not need to spend hours online in order to see results. In fact, students only need a focused session of 5 to 10 minutes, three times a week to see results. 

Unfortunately, most of the information found focuses on its benefits in elementary school but it is known if students know their facts, they do better in the math classes they take in middle school and high school but there is nothing that says students can't work on fluency using digital games if they are in middle or high school.

There are games out there that also help students improve their ability to work their way through open-ended math problems since the right digital games help improve math proficiency, ability to think through problems rather than just learning the fact by rote. Many games focus on speeding up the ability to give answers to standard mathematical facts, not all help students conceptualize problems. In addition, a good digital game helps students learn productive practice which also a students ability to make sense of the problem. 

Next time, I'll suggest a few games that come highly recommended that help students develop both their numerical fluency while providing immediate feedback, and improving ability to work open-ended problems, Let me know what you think, I'd love to hear from you.  Have a great day.