“… The study, led by Yale professor Bruce Wexler, involved 583 second graders and a brain training game called Activate. The results showed that students who played the video game for 20 minutes three times a week for four months performed better on reading and math tests than their peers who did not.” …
Kids have been playing educational computer games for 20 years. They were much more entertaining than the practice workbooks with puzzles in them that I grew up with.
My son is a genius then. Who knew?
At least 30 years. Reading Rabbit came out in 1986. @-)
I think video games – ordinary video games, not educational ones – were one of the best things that ever happened to my son.
He used to argue everything. Endlessly. He would never admit defeat.
Then we got a Nintendo. And he learned that if you screw up, Mario dies. And no amount of arguing will change that.
That lesson would have been worth the price of the game system even if the games weren’t fun.
What I think flummoxes some parents is that they’re not familiar with the world of gaming.Maybe a small group of parents are, but to most parents, I suspect, they see their child start a game and it’s like s/he disappears. And what world are they entering? Not one of books or anything that we’ve previously valued.
My child currently plays games and, I know this sounds weird, watches others play games online.
I’ve decided to get involved with what’s happening–not playing but talking about whats going on in the game and what role my child plays. It turns out that, at least in the sorts that my child plays, the game story lines are very sophisticated. So in non-game terms: a great novel with a great plot.
Add to that, the game’s outcome is somewhat determined by the player. Remember those “you decide the ending” novels? We all loved them? This is a novel like that on steroids.
- Much better characterization than I suspected
- Much better plots and twists
- World building--it's clear which is more spectacular visually.
- Strategy -- ditto.
- Art.
- Craftsmanship in creating the games.
There’s a lot going on in gaming . . . which is prob why it’s a multi billion dollar industry. Absolutely fascinating, to my mind.
And child does read. BTW.
@Dustyfeathers My son also watches the League of Legends tournament online. Apparently, there is actual money in professional gaming. Although he is an avid gamer, I am relieved to know that he does not want to do this for a living. He’s majoring in English.
My kids like many others grew up with educational video/computer games. "Mario is missing"was my sons favorite at age 4 or 5 .He could read. He could tell you about the Belin wall and the Bolshoi Ballet as a preschooler. All the Treasure Cove computer games were great.
Today, I think video games will help save the world. I’m not kidding. These kids are making friendships and alliances all over the world as they band together to create worlds and battle alien life forms etc. they wear their headsets and talk with kids in different countries and make friends.
Even old me has made friends with someone in New Zealand playing words with friends.
So smarter, absolutely. But, worldly, that’s the ticket.
Remember Carmen San Diego? Reading Rabbit–that’s older than I thought.
My son got into World of Warcraft at one point. He had regular friends world wide. It was really interesting to hear about them. A lot faster than the “pen pal” scenario I grew up with.
I’m not about to let my kids have all the fun. I’ve played most of the games.
Anything my kids find fascinating I try at least once. Hate to miss out.
That’s a great way to think of it: that gaming will save the world because they are meeting people across the globe. I like that.
Speaking of English majors, @Massmomm , when my child decides to attend college I assume that the major will be creative writing. All that child wants to do is create characters and story lines. Child is currently taking gap year (decade?) to recover from school experience. Though bright, child found school almost intolerable.
I also heard from an editor I met at a party not too long ago that D&D is terrific for learning the basics of character creation.
From what I’ve seen, the gaming world where you’re creating characters and playing those characters has taught child much more than I learned–and much more quickly. Child is motivated to learn how to create a well-rounded character, with motivations, and unique traits and quirks, weaponry and quests. It’s pretty amazing. Sure beats what I was doing in English class eons ago!
For child to be able to move up in the hierarchy of one role-playing group (I’m lumping all gaming and role playing into one category tonight) child needs to construct certain story elements well enough for the larger group to approve.