by Sara Mcgrath

Created on: March 27, 2008   Last Updated: January 29, 2012

Games, in general, and other forms of play make learning fun. Attentive parents and other educational experts recognize this. Games beat repetitive drills and rote memorization any day. Ask any kid.

The question of video games, in particular, to benefit learning has incited controversy with concerns regarding addictive qualities of electronic gaming, violence and "adult" content in games, and proposals to give video games cigarette-style health warnings.

Today's kids play with electronic toys from babyhood. Most households have game consoles and computers, and increasing numbers of parents play video games with their children, as well as for their own recreation.

I didn't grow up with a computer or a console and I don't play video games, but in my home we have a Nintendo Wii, a PlayStation 2 (PS2), a PlayStation 3 (PS3), and computers in four rooms of the house. My husband plays video games with our daughters, he uses a PlayStation Portable (PSP) during his commute to work, and he writes video games for a living.

I realized when I married a man who writes video games that they would figure into our lifestyle, but I didn't anticipate how much a part of popular culture they would become. My two daughters play extensively for both recreation and as part of their learning activities, oftentimes simultaneously through so-called "edutainment" games.

Playing video games motivates them to read, learn new words, think logically and creatively, observe carefully, plan strategies, follow maps, and in some cases to work as a team, all in order to solve problems and reach goals. And this is while playing the recreational games-the adventure, quest, and simulation type games. My daughters also play curriculum-based educational games with more obvious learning goals.

With computers in most schools and consoles in some, teachers have begun to incorporate various types of games into their curriculum. Video games are increasingly marketed with education in mind. Game developers, such as Relentless Software with their PS2 title Buzz!: The Schools Quiz, have based game content on the National Curriculum. Students playing DimensionM video games immerse themselves in a video game world while using algebra to complete missions.

Last year, Sony Computer Entertainment launched its PSP in Education Initiative, offering PSPs to schools at an educational price, and citing the PSP's ability to download wireless pictures, text, and video, transfer notes and assignments, and access RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds, in addition to its use as a game machine.

Nintendo released its Pokemon Learning League, a website featuring Pokemon characters employing a series of standards-based, interactive lessons in language arts, math, science, and life skills for primary students.

Michigan State University developed a new academic program to teach graduate students to design "serious games"-video games with purposes including education. Scholars at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Minnesota, and the University of California-Irvine are also studying the educational uses of video games.

As more video game players become parents and teachers, the current reservations regarding video games give way to further development and implementation of games for use in education.

Watching my children use games has been a learning experience for me. My husband didn't require any convincing regarding their benefit, but I did. I have learned to embrace video games as a learning tool-an enjoyable and successful one-and I expect to see more parents and educators doing likewise as the success of games for learning continues to prove itself.

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