Really, they are. Video games are an interactive media format and lets face it: we live in a digital interactive media world! Most interesting to me are the games that are created for education.
I'm not talking about the early child development games [i.e. Dora the Explorer Does Dallas...I mean Math] though they do have some very interesting educational points that I think a lot of parents miss. I'm talking specifically about games being developed for higher learning establishments like college. Douceswild sent me a link to a story that I hadn't picked up on and it touched me in a way that made me have to write about it.
The UNCD division of Continual Learning in North Carolina made an announcement the other day about a new video game they developed for college credit that will launch this fall. The game is called ECON 201, and it is supposed to help teach the principles of microeconomics. In the game, you follow around an alien species that has to learn how to survive after being marooned on a post-apocalyptic earth. I can't believe I'm about to type this, but that sounds interesting. [I don't know about you but the one ECON course I went to BORED the SHIT out of me...I think I fell asleep during the class more than a few times.]
Dr. Robert Brown, Dean of the UNCGDCL said that "...regardless of how skilled the instructor, it an be a challenge to teach complex concepts in a traditional classroom using standard lecture techniques..." and "...that's certainly true of economics, which is a highly theoretical subject. Online gaming techniques can bring that theory to life." From the article I read [which you can find following this link] the game was designed to present students with some of the principles of economics like sustainable growth and scarcity.
Now I won't post the article verbatim because if you want to read all of the specifics you should follow the link above to the document, but what I do want to say is this: It's about damn time. We all know that any form of media that requires interactivity will [most likely] work both parts of your brain. Studies have been done that show we retain more new data when both sides of our brain are working. Think of those times when you get TV commercials jingles stuck in your head and can't get them out, but with USEFUL data.
What I don't understand is why it's taken so long for schools to adopt this kind of thinking into their own educational courses. I'm going to guess that about 90% of students in k-12 grades have played a video game of some sort, have used a portable gaming system and or cellular phone. These forms of interactive media have been ingrained into their lifestyle, why not make it part of their educational lives? Why not use a Civilization game to help draw a clearer picture of the importance of the Roman Empire? Or the greatness of Mesopotamia? Have them use Rosetta Stone software in their language class to help aid in their conversational [insert foreign language of choice here] over the course of the year. The implementations are endless if you have a little vision.
Using a video game format can keep students engage with the materials being presented to them. In an age where it's so easy to tune out and turn on ones' private little universe, wouldn't it be a great thing adopt this technology into our education programs and raise our average national testing scores?
Just my 2¢
Is that a shuriken in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?
I'm not talking about the early child development games [i.e. Dora the Explorer Does Dallas...I mean Math] though they do have some very interesting educational points that I think a lot of parents miss. I'm talking specifically about games being developed for higher learning establishments like college. Douceswild sent me a link to a story that I hadn't picked up on and it touched me in a way that made me have to write about it.The UNCD division of Continual Learning in North Carolina made an announcement the other day about a new video game they developed for college credit that will launch this fall. The game is called ECON 201, and it is supposed to help teach the principles of microeconomics. In the game, you follow around an alien species that has to learn how to survive after being marooned on a post-apocalyptic earth. I can't believe I'm about to type this, but that sounds interesting. [I don't know about you but the one ECON course I went to BORED the SHIT out of me...I think I fell asleep during the class more than a few times.]
Dr. Robert Brown, Dean of the UNCGDCL said that "...regardless of how skilled the instructor, it an be a challenge to teach complex concepts in a traditional classroom using standard lecture techniques..." and "...that's certainly true of economics, which is a highly theoretical subject. Online gaming techniques can bring that theory to life." From the article I read [which you can find following this link] the game was designed to present students with some of the principles of economics like sustainable growth and scarcity.
Now I won't post the article verbatim because if you want to read all of the specifics you should follow the link above to the document, but what I do want to say is this: It's about damn time. We all know that any form of media that requires interactivity will [most likely] work both parts of your brain. Studies have been done that show we retain more new data when both sides of our brain are working. Think of those times when you get TV commercials jingles stuck in your head and can't get them out, but with USEFUL data.
What I don't understand is why it's taken so long for schools to adopt this kind of thinking into their own educational courses. I'm going to guess that about 90% of students in k-12 grades have played a video game of some sort, have used a portable gaming system and or cellular phone. These forms of interactive media have been ingrained into their lifestyle, why not make it part of their educational lives? Why not use a Civilization game to help draw a clearer picture of the importance of the Roman Empire? Or the greatness of Mesopotamia? Have them use Rosetta Stone software in their language class to help aid in their conversational [insert foreign language of choice here] over the course of the year. The implementations are endless if you have a little vision.
Using a video game format can keep students engage with the materials being presented to them. In an age where it's so easy to tune out and turn on ones' private little universe, wouldn't it be a great thing adopt this technology into our education programs and raise our average national testing scores?
Just my 2¢
Is that a shuriken in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?
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