Video games outside of the classroom are typically frowned upon by teachers. Some are too violent; some don’t force kids to think critically. Those schools of thought are starting to become a thing of the past in education. Now teachers are looking strategically at these games and using them as creative tools in the classroom to get students excited about learning. Video games can positively help a classroom and increase students learning.

A Wall Street Journal article by Stephanie Blanchero, stated that students in a private school in Houston explored the concept of Newton’s law of motion via sling-shotting red angry birds across a video screen. Also “high school students in that same school created the, “Zombie Apocalypse” computer game to master character development. Also elementary students in Hampstead, N.C., build a virtual city to understand spatial reasoning.”

According to Blanchero, games and unique teaching tools represent a change in education of using videogames as teaching tools. “Though it’s still a budding movement scores of teachers nationwide are using games "Angry Birds," "Minecraft," "SimCity" and "World of Warcraft" to teach math, science, writing, teamwork and even compassion. In Chicago and New York, entire schools have been created that use the principles of game design in curriculum development.” This proves video games can positively help in the classroom setting and increase students learning.