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On Instructional Video Games
The New York Times (registration required), is running an article entitled Is Instructional Video Game an Oxymoron?. In it they discuss the increasingly high profile that games are playing in educational and conciousness raising situations. From the article: "Stop Fluin' Around, which arrived in December, is one of dozens of instructional online games that public interest organizations, advocacy groups and government agencies say have become the best way to reach a generation of children and teenagers weaned on video games and the Web."
Back in Elementary school(I'm an undergrad now) the advanced classes commonly used games or videos to teach. The fact of the matter is that these are the few things I remember learning in Elementary School. We had one cool game about rafting down the Amazon (I still know the region's geography, wildlife, and native tribes fairly well). We also used an Oregon Trail game, which taught a bit of history, and a fair amount of planning. Another fun one had us mantain a hypothetical ecosystem. I think that exposing us to interactive games, and teaching us planning/foresight at such a young age was immensley helpful. Everyone in that class with me got accepted (some couldn't afford to go) to a school that excels in their area of interest. I'm in the Electrical Engineering program at UIUC (best school for the price since I'm instate) Most of us had over 1400 on the SAT (Average is closer to a 1000), and are suceeding at what we do.