Video games in education  This page includes some history of video games being used as an additional or alternative method to traditional education. This page presents why using video games are beneficial to use for educational purposes in the classroom as well as the limitations. This page additionally discusses how learning from video games outside the classroom is possible as well. Video games have been found to be more engaging; instead of providing information over an extended class period, games provide small amounts of information at relevant stages. Playing video games helps with metacognition (which describes the ability to think about your own thinking); strong metacognitive skills have been proven to help with developing academic skills and allows students to learn about their strengths and weaknesses and increase their performance. Video games that are used as objects of study in classroom can enable students to be skilled rhetorical readers, by exposing literature and language from different discourse communities, and by encouraging students to practice reading the symbolic structure of inherently consumption-based video games. As video games spread in the 1980s, the educational potential of them was researched. Its findings showed that the visual and motor coordination of game players was better than that of non-players. Initial research also indicated the importance of electronic games for children who proved to have difficulty learning basic subjects and skills. It also found that:  One common argument for the use of video games in education is that they enable learning from the simulation while having no danger associated with mistakes. For instance, the Air Force uses piloting simulations in order to teach their pilots how to fly the airplanes. These simulations are meant to prepare the training pilot for real-world flight conditions while at the same time preventing any damage or loss of life in the process. A pilot could crash in the simulation, learn from their mistake and then reset and try again. This process leads to distinct levels of mastery over the simulation and in turn the plane they will also be flying in the future. The military also utilizes games such as the "ARMA" and "Socom" franchises in their training. Games like these immerse the gamer into the realm of the game and will attempt to achieve whatever objective is set out for them using their tactical skills. This allows for the military to show their soldiers how to engage certain situations without the risk of injury. Games of all types have been shown to increase a different array of skills for players. Attempts have been made to show that arcade-style action and platforming games can be used to develop motor co-ordination, manual skills, and reflexes. Many authors have noted the educational potential of games like "The Sims" (for its social simulation) or the "Civilization" series (for its historical and strategy elements), concluding that video games as a whole promote intellectual development, and suggest that players can use them to develop knowledge strategies, practice problem-solving, and can improve spatial skills.