Gaming More video games, fewer books at schools?

[The Helper]

Of all of the proposals aimed at improving America's failing schools, there's one idea kids will really like: More video games and fewer books.

At least a number of educators hope so, arguing that children would get more excited about school and that video games can present real-life problems to solve.

Nobody is talking about putting violent video games such as Doom or Mortal Kombat into classrooms, particularly given concerns they may encourage aggressive behavior.

Instead, educators such as Indiana University associate professor Sasha Barab are developing alternative video games that can teach as well as entertain.

More video games, fewer books at schools?

Of all of the proposals aimed at improving America's failing schools, there's one idea kids will really like: More video games and fewer books.

www.reuters.com

 

[Rad]

Why dont gamers just take programming classes and see what its like... Soon they will be playing a game and wondering how they did a system -- get completely frustrated and get bored of the game =]

Problem solved.

Its just, reading sucks! Books are pointless. A good teacher can teach you from memory... A book doesnt explain jack ----

 

[Amfidamant]

It might be a good idea to attract children with video games, but if this would apply on everything, I'd say it's pretty nonesence.
I wouldn't change my books not even for all games you could offer me.
Heck, I wouldn't change any book i have for all games you could offer me.


You know, someone might come up with an great idea to mechanically "insert" the information into the brain of children/hypnotize them during lessons or something even worse. Let's all go cyborg-ize ourselves, Ghost in the Shell would come true!

 

[Jimpy]

I always thought edutainment was the way to go.

Imagine history classes played the campaign from Age of Empires? I think there would be a decent level of success teaching to students who did what to who, when things happened, even things like culture/religion/beleifs.

 

[pheonixashes]

I love books and video games equally, so this is sort of good news to me ^_^.

Programming classes aren't TOO hard, they just require a lot of memorization (IMO) and time.

Anyway...
They shouldn't really replace books with video games, especially if they're like those "learning video games," which, IMO, are pretty much useless. I've played a couple a few years back (I was 10 at the time), and I already knew everything that was on there, and that was a grade level above the one I was in.
Plus, even if educators were to use video games, they shouldn't eliminate, or even cut back, on books. I learn half of my words from T-rated video games, and the other half from books.

To Jimpy: Yeah, Age of Empires is a pretty good game for learning history, along with Empire Earth, though that game sorta sucks...
However, do you have any idea how long a campaign takes without cheats like allyourbasearebelongtous and the other games' equivilents?
English Class and Geography class would benefit from worlds like Ivalice from FFXII, where students can learn how environments interact (Though the game isn't exactly realistic: Golmore Jungle is right next to a Snowy Paramina Rift), and English students can learn to speak the languages through cutscenes...

Kinda off my topic: (True Feelings, not my Rational Feelings)
W00t! High School: T-rated video games! W00t! Go games like Ratchet & Clank, Super Smash Bros, Need for Speed, and Final Fantasy !!! ^_^.

 

[Jimpy]

To Jimpy: Yeah, Age of Empires is a pretty good game for learning history, along with Empire Earth, though that game sorta sucks...
However, do you have any idea how long a campaign takes without cheats like allyourbasearebelongtous and the other games' equivilents?

Didn't take me too long, but I know that Age of Empires isn't the perfect answer to our education. Would probably be more enjoyable towards the male demographic of students, unless girls have some burning desire to make little mongols kill people.

 

[Krys A Night]

I don't think that they should have fewer books in the school system, it would just encourage the people to become more and more illiterate. I have nothing against video games, but I don't think that they should become something key in the classroom. Books help build vocabulary, they help build imagination.

I'm a senior in high school, and half the people in my class can't even read simple words and understand them because they don't read enough. They are under the impression that books are just there to torture them. They don't want to read, and they sound like they're illiterate.

I think that there should be more books in school, more emphasis on reading for pleasure and not just for school. If they take out books from school, then what next, slowly start to shut down the publishing companies? What about the people who want to become authors?

-----------------------

I am an avid book lover, and that news story was like a slap in the face for me (no offense).

 

[SilverHawk]

I don't think that they should have fewer books in the school system, it would just encourage the people to become more and more illiterate. I have nothing against video games, but I don't think that they should become something key in the classroom.

I agree. I'm no fan of this "soft learning". Sure, it may help some children learn better, but what it's really doing is dumbing down the system to accommodate them. Plus, it encourages laziness by saying "What's that? You don't want to learn? That's okay, we'll change to suit you. You don't have to work to get what you want, people will just give it to you." It's because of "innovative" ideas like these that American education is trailing behind the rest of the world.

 

[w/e]

Its just, reading sucks! Books are pointless.

....Seriously?

Maybe you just haven't read some good ones.

 

[Krys A Night]

A good teacher can teach you from memory... A book doesnt explain jack ----

That's not necessarily true, good teachers shouldn't be expected to memorize entire lesson plans just because there shouldn't be any books in the classroom because the student's don't feel like reading them. Books are meant to augment the lesson plans of the teacher, allowing them to have something physical for them to use while they stand up there and lecture at you.

And books explain plenty, if you take the time and sit down to read through one. They are a way to escape from the world without sinking into technology that is just making everything easier. No longer working on your vocabulary because not most video games will use words that you haven't seen before, they lean more towards the vernacular (slang, language of the people), while books have things that you have never really seen before.

 

[Rad]

its much faster to learn through someone who knows what their talking about then trying to read chapters in a book that can take hours and hours...

Books dont do justice...

I failed through high school because all our work was through books and packets. You dont remember anything you read, at least me and all my friends think it was pointless. I changed schools and we didnt even use books. I learned alot, and remember most of it... We did alot more hands on stuff.

I think we need to ditch books and learn more relative stuff.

I mean we will need books for some classes, like history and math. But I remember my teacher talking about science, he was a teacher for 16 years and he made it make perfect sense.

We never touched a book, and I still remember alot

Electromagnetic spectrum, wave frequencies, plate techtonics, light and quantom leap

That kind of stuff that is pretty useless, things you would forget, we didnt do any written assignments except quizzes it was all hands, labs and such.

Video games wouldnt be good for education either though. They would be way to cheesy, nobody would take them seriously

LOL! Watch someone hack!

 

[AceHart]

A room without books is like a body without a soul.

 

[Duwenbasden]

I'd like to see how they teach Math with video games... Math as in high school math.

 

[Rad]

I havent read a book in over 3 years...

And I have NEVER read a book that wasnt an assignment...

I have no soul? OH WELLS

 

[Asehujiko]

personaly i wouldnt complaint if i was allowed to play m2tw for history class

 

[BlargIAmDead]

Thorny proposition. Clearly some students would benefit from interactive programs, games, etc., like Rad. Others would learn more from reading in depth -- "for understanding", they called it in my high school -- like Krys. The problem, as always, is how to balance the needs of every individual in a given classroom with public expectations and state requirements.

I wonder if we shouldn't try to improve our teachers first, before worrying about their education medium. So many of us in this conversation are talking about how a "good teacher" can make the most out of any medium. Shouldn't that be America's focus?

 

[Amfidamant]

America...
Remember, this is a world-wide forum.
As for teachers - I still remember those imbecilic creatures that didn't really care at all what are you doing in school. I still remember them saying: I'm getting payed for teaching, but that doesn't mean that you will learn something". Perhaps that's because of the revolution that was happening back then, but really, I'd say I know pretty well what is, for example, factorial, Plank constant, speed of light, pithagor theorem, golden cut (Althrough I don't know if it's spelt correctly in English) or the maximum length of radiowave.
Anyway, I'm going off topic again.

I think that if books would be replaced by video games, our society would undergo a social degeneration.

Come on, video games soften your brain!
School and video games don't match up.
Here, read this:
http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn2538

 

[Knocksious]

I havent read a book in over 3 years...

And I have NEVER read a book that wasnt an assignment...

I have no soul? OH WELLS

That... just might be the most depressing thing I have heard all day.

A book is strength training for the imagination. If you can read and comprehend a book, then usually you have to imagine it and make it "real" somehow.

Language, writing, creativity. These are the skills that are lost in todays schools. English Class focuses on the Essay, Art class does pre-assigned projects, with a lack of creativity.

 

[Jimpy]

Krys is totally right in my majestic opinion, not enough people read and make the claim that books are the devil. (But is the Devil really that bad a guy?) It's simply an issue of finding something you enjoy reading, and seeing as everyone enjoys something and theres books on everything, theres something out there that you will enjoy reading.

Frankly if video games showed up at school, I'd go slap the administrators around. Maybe as like a Sylvan learning strategy outside of school, but it doesn't have a place at school.

As for teachers - I still remember those imbecilic creatures that didn't really care at all what are you doing in school. I still remember them saying: I'm getting payed for teaching, but that doesn't mean that you will learn something".

I think thats totally dependant on the teacher, my media class for example, everyone with a slight awareness of themselves not being all knowing goes to the class everyday looking forward to it. Our teacher makes it really engaging.

Theres the whole idea of do somehting you enjoy, and make it into money, my media teacher made the course at our school because its soemthing that interests her and it shows.

 

[Knocksious]

I think that video games DO have a future role in schools.

Have you seen those bicycles that are video games that simulate races? That is an amazing innovation to help with obesity!

How about a resistance-training device that simulates boxing
or a rowing device that simulates...rowing

Video simulation is the way out of the obesity epidemic IMO because it turns one of the major causes into part of the solution, absolutely brilliant!

I dunno about the use of video GAMES per-se in the classroom, but advanced physics programs would be handy for examples, and a digitized observatory would work miracles for astronomy.

The problem with games in the classroom is that games simply require a trick to beat them, they require no fundamental understanding of the why.

So those are my thoughts, kind of a mixed response, no?