High Score Education

[IntvGene]

This was from Wired magazine last month:
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.05/view.html?pg=1

It's an interesting article. Although it is a little idealistic. I do see games or some sort of independent learning being in the future of education. Any other opinions?

[zmeston]

This was from Wired magazine last month:
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.05/view.html?pg=1

It's an interesting article. Although it is a little idealistic. I do see games or some sort of independent learning being in the future of education. Any other opinions?

The misspelled title of Deus "X" [sic] might have been a well-meaning copyeditor as opposed to the professor/writer not being game-savvy, but it still gave me nightmarish flashbacks of the academic tome "From Barbie to Mortal Kombat," in which just about every videogame "fact" stated by MIT's Henry Jenkins was totally wrong.

The article also focuses entirely on modern games, which makes sense; surely the prof would be hard-pressed to argue that Pac-Man and Space Invaders impart much of anything except an insatiable craving for dots and a healthy level of xenophobia. He also conveniently ignores the sports-game genre, which is the best-selling of all videogame genres, and which "teaches" gamers how to play baseball, football, etc.

Perhaps the prof analyzes the evolution of videogame complexity in his book, which is plugged at the end of the piece; perhaps he also discusses the history and failings of intentionally educational videogames (Math Blaster, et al) in the book as well.

I chuckled at the prof's categorization of Pikmin as a childrens' game. Even the academics think of the GameCube as a kiddie console. It ain't so funny that the prof touts the virtues of Metal Gear Solid 2 and Grand Theft Auto: VC, which are both M-rated; any benefits to be gained from those titles are more than outweighed by their adult content. Little Johnny shouldn't be learning about money management by saying to himself, "Okay, if I pay the hooker for a blow job and then shoot and rob her when she gets out of the car, it won't cost me anything!"

Finally, the prof states that "Game companies don't rake in $6.9 billion a year by dumbing down the material," which isn't entirely true; hardcore gamers would argue that, despite what the prof thinks, most games have become less difficult to play and defeat, as publishers attempt to embrace the mainstream/casual gamer.

A very interesting and thought-provoking piece, and I have to love anyone who rages against the machine of the American "edumacational" system.

-- Z.

[slapdash]

The misspelled title of Deus "X" [sic] might have been a well-meaning copyeditor as opposed to the professor/writer not being game-savvy [...]

A little off-topic, but as long as we're talking education and the like...

Any editor -- or professor -- worth his salt should either a) research the name to get it right or b) know that it comes from the phrase "deus ex machina" and get it right.

It's not hopeless though... I was pleased to see a recent magazine say that "deus ex machina" means "god out of the machine", unlike another mag which said it meant "god in the machine". Ugh!