Dumb and Dumberer
The latest 'stupid' hair brained educational study on video games is out. This one suggests that kids should be playing video games in school to improve their education.
Give me a freakin break.
I've heard it all before. "Playing video games helps their hand eye coordination so they can be better fighter pilots and surgeons." Now this study is saying video games can help in their decision making. Because as you kill aliens in Half Life 2 you are constantly making decisions.
At least there was one sane person quoted in this article.
“This is really silly,” says Chester E. Finn, president of the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation, a K-12 education research group in Washington. “Are they next going to propose government-funded studies of the educational value of comic books, reality TV shows and instant messaging?”
The day that my kids are playing Half Life 2 in school to 'improve their decision making' is the day that I walk into the school guns a blazing.
Now wouldn't that be ironic?
posted by Kevin @ 11:32 AM
2 Comments
2 Comments:
You've got that Japanese background, so you may be able to read THIS and make sense of it. I had babelfish translate it for me and it ended up in sometimes understandable engrish.
Anyway, the basic jist (as I understand it) is that some schools in Japan are using the Nintendo DS in school. There's actually a 'game' released for the DS that teaches English.
Granted, this is different from the suggestions made in the article you linked to. I largely agree with the initial comments in the article that suggest games such as Oregon Trail or Carmen Sandiego have educational benefits. I definitely agree that games like Half Life 2 don't belong in classrooms...but I also agree that some games can teach kids...even if the games themselves aren't "obviously" educational games.
The DS has been coming out with pseudo-educational games lately (like this language teacher mentioned in the Japanese article...but also the "brain age" and "big brain academy" games which try to increase logic and memorization sckills). The new popularity of Sudoku puzzles have also lead to youth having fun with paper and pencil puzzles (and their electronic counterparts).
I don't think games like Roller Coaster Tycoon or Sim City should become part of the school curriculum, but I do feel that they have educational benefits if played in the right way. I remember playing "Lemonade Stand" on a black and green fonted monitor with cheesy ASCII graphics...it was sort of like economics 101, lightly teaching concepts like supply and demand (fewer customers on rainy days) and budget management. Sim City and the various "Tycoon" games have taken that concept and exploded it for new technology and the short-attention-span throngs of today.
I definitely agree that we should be VERY selective as to what games are in classrooms, but I don't think it's a bad thing to have them there. I distinctly remember my fifth grade class. We had a reward system where students could earn 10-15 minutes of computer time to play the game of our choice. The games included Typing Tutors, Phonics Games, Math Games, Oregon Trail, Carmen Sandiego and a couple others whose images I can see, but themes I can't remember.
The computer time served multiple purposes. It acted as an incentive for good behavior in class. It provided educational forms of entertainment. And (because this was just barely at the onset of the 'computer revolution'...most of us didn't have a computer in our homes), it allowed us to get familiar with computers and learn how to use them.
Well...now that I've rambled, I'll sign off. :) I intended to just post the Japanese article for you to read (and possibly give an overview to make up for the poor babelfish translation).
Talk to you later.
Boy am I glad that for the time being, none of my children are at the same school(s) as the Carter children. For now, they are safe from the mad father. Phew!
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