High School Teachers Make Gaming Academic

High School Teachers Make Gaming Academic
(US News & World Report, Nov 1, 2011)

Many parents are concerned that their children are spending way too much time on video games as it is. What happens when those video games are brought into the classroom? Many parents have expressed objections.  "I don't send my kids to school to play video games," says Sara Sroka, who has three video-game loving boys in her Iowa home. "There are better ways to learn."

However,research is showing that videos games in the classroom open many opportunities for reaching today's digital student. Katie Salen, professor of design and technology at Parsons the New School for Design and executive director of the Institute of Play, talked about many positive social aspects of gaming, just like Snehal did in the webinar entitled "How Can Games Create Social Learning Opportunities for Students? presented by edWeb.net.  She noted that "The trick to using gaming in the classroom is not forcing a lesson into the game, but drawing from the natural lessons the game offers."

[Read four tech tips for parents to embrace digital education.]