Because of the relentless rise in popularity of computer games - an area that until recently has been considered negative in terms of education - efforts are being made to bring teachers, games designers, and governmnet together to develop new methods of teaching through computer games.
In schools, computing has become a major subject on a par with mathemetics, English (or other native language) and science. IT skills are important in and of themselves, but they also give learners access to a whole host of other resources for learning, including the internet, CD-ROMs, and games. It is believed that student motivation can increase with the use of games, because they reinforce learning and social skills and povide review opportunities. For that reason they must be treated by schools with the same seriousness as books and other more traditional resources.
Therefore, a carefully selection of games is required,Otherwise the consequences of a bad eduacational video game will be negative: not only will poor games design equate to poor learning, but it will also hinder the cause of games to be taken seriously as an educational medium.
- The Education Arcade - a consortium of international game designers, publishers, scholars, educators, and policy makers who are exploring the new frontiers of educational media
- TEFL Games - games used for teaching English as a foreign language
- This Computer Buyer Articleexplains how researchers at MIT are bringing video games to the classroom