Remember when video games were bad for you? Mom and Dad would complain about how they tied up the television, kept you from playing outdoors, ruined your eyesight and wasted your time. That’s a thing of the past. Re-tooled videogames are now helping children and teens boost basic skills in reading, writing and math.
At West Nottinghamshire College in the U.K., computer science teachers were struggling to get teenage students into literacy and numeracy classes. The college needed to take drastic measures to assist “disaffected students”.
The resolution came in the form of Neverwinter Nights, Atari’s popular computer game. Teachers rebuilt the game to deliver educational challenges players must tackle in order to progress.
At West Nottinghamshire College in the U.K., computer science teachers were struggling to get teenage students into literacy and numeracy classes. The college needed to take drastic measures to assist “disaffected students”.
The resolution came in the form of Neverwinter Nights, Atari’s popular computer game. Teachers rebuilt the game to deliver educational challenges players must tackle in order to progress.
From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by whitespace.
Now, here we're talking about boosting basic skills among "disaffected learners." I find this news report mostly depressing because it indicates some kids are so damaged that they need this sort of stimulus to learn. It's not the same thing as being a visual learner. It's an attention deficit and emotional disorder issue. Maybe altered video games are the best avenue for this narrow group of kids, but I'll cry on the day it becomes a mainstream educational tool for basic subjects.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planescape_torment
Mainstream games are so simplified with text now a days, but there are a few real gems which sport a fantastic written dialog.