TLT CoffeeRead: Computer games as liberal arts?

Posted on June 6, 2008 
Filed Under TLT Coffee Read

Computer games as liberal arts?

“Though many adults imagine the frightening Grand Theft Auto when they think of video games, kids appear to be subtler thinkers on the subject. Not only do many of them intuitively realize that games can embody any values and be on any subject, many want to make games themselves.

That was my big takeaway from the fourth annual Games For Change conference held in New York. I moderated a session there on Youth-Created Games for Change, something I confess I knew next to nothing about before this week.

Educators around the country are recognizing that it isn’t intrinsically bad that kids want to spend so much time staring at a screen playing video games. Instead of demonizing them for doing so, they’re redirecting the kids’ attention to more beneficial things on the screen - creating games that help kids learn.”

I LOVE the lead sentence - too many think of gaming as soul-destroying evil. Interesting read about the educational value of having students create the games themselves.

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