Do you remember the experiment I was doing with my 3 year old daughter? I was teaching her to read the names of colors via computer game and the names of numbers via chalk and chalkboard.
Last night I did my post test. I compared the results of the color words vs. the number words. The results indicated ....drum roll please...no significant difference! On the color test (which was the computer one), she got 8\10 and on the 
number test (chalk board) she got 7\10. What does this mean? Well, I think it means that she learned equally well using both methods. Prior to my experiment she didn't know any of the words. I used both methods of teaching for equal time intervals, a total of 40 mins each. As I stated in a previous post I think the chalk board method had some advantages, and that was that I could provide feedback such as prompting her to sound the words out. There are computer games that are capable of that as well, but the one I picked was very basic, match the words to the colors they spell.
number test (chalk board) she got 7\10. What does this mean? Well, I think it means that she learned equally well using both methods. Prior to my experiment she didn't know any of the words. I used both methods of teaching for equal time intervals, a total of 40 mins each. As I stated in a previous post I think the chalk board method had some advantages, and that was that I could provide feedback such as prompting her to sound the words out. There are computer games that are capable of that as well, but the one I picked was very basic, match the words to the colors they spell. Although the results sound unsatisfying on the contrary indeed. The result of this experiment proved to me that my daughter did in fact learn something from the computer game she was playing. She didn’t just learn it either, she learned is as well as she learned a very similar thing from me. Now I’m not going to interpret this as she doesn’t need me to teach her things, rather I’m going to interpret this as playing computer games can in fact educate. She enjoys playing them, and now I know they are not a waste of time. Of course I will still limit the amount of time she spends on the computer...yadda yadda yadda.
Unfortunately there does not seem to be a large amount of actual research done in this area. I have encounted only limited articles discussing their success. Of course all the websites promoting their games make an educational claim, but we can't necessarily take that at much more than face value. What seems to be lacking is proven results done in experimental form. Much like the experiment I did with my daughter, but on a much larger scale. Maybe this should be the basis for my thesis or project.
