Time fly's when you're having fun.

How many hours would you spend playing a game?

Two, six, even nine, when we are totally engrossed into something that we do not stop to eat or shower we just flow. Flow is described as being 'in the zone', unaware of all that is happening around us. Although within some cases of straight focus on games it could be self-destruction, but if you have a goal to meet, there is no stopping us.

Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, in other words; (Cheeks-sent-me-high) defines flow as when your challenges meet your skills. He suggests that when a person is completely involved in something concentration levels are high, your target is to succeed is clear therefore to succeed you know what must be done, showing that challenge and skill are in balance. He describes the flow experience as addictive yet a rewarding feeling.

The graph above displays flow. The concept explains that if you are skillful, yet unchallenged you are bored, however if you are unskilled but challenge you are likely to be stressed out. Would you rather be skilled and bored? or unskilled and stressed?

This can be shown in a daily work routine, we can be stressed in a work place and completely oblivious to others as we are completely focused on challenge yet our skills will be lower. 'Mike' suggests that we could deduct stress by reducing challenge, and increasing skills. Asking for help and improving skills with training until we get the perfect flow balance.


So, flow occurs doing playing video games, sports games, work placements, daily routines, yet it can even be developed through education. Kids in schools getting into the flow of working and succeeding. He argues that when a student is doing a task involving group work, or individual assessments to meet goals and solve problems. Flow is at its lowest in schools when it is audio and visual learning rather than kinetic.
If someone is given an activity to complete it could be boring, therefore teachers must make the activities fun for the pupils to get their full attention. Games for example, always get us motivated therefore we could apply gaming with education. Challenge the student, but keep the skills up high to complete the goal and grade.

http://www.pbs.org/thisemotionallife/blogs/flow

http://www.edutopia.org/mihaly-csikszentmihalyi-motivating-people-learn