US Department of Education Supports Video Games in the Classroom

Children spend more and more time playing video games as a means of entertainment, and the U.S. Department of Education sees it as an opportunity for learning according to a recent report by Polygon.

The U.S. Department of Education plans to hold a Games for Learning Summit later this month, in which students, teachers, publishers, and developers meet together to figure out new ways to introduce educational games to the classroom. It highlights an admirable attempt to use kids' interests as a way to teach them in school.

Erik Martin, the lead on Games for Learning, commented on the relationship between students and video games.

If you look at the life of a student … a lot of students play on average about 10,000 hours of video games by the time they are graduating high school. That is almost the same amount they are spending in schools. You can imagine a lot of the time which of the two activities they might feel more engaged in or more relevant. If you can take that experience of getting outside of school and make it feel just as relevant and just as compelling when they're in school learning stuff and doing stuff and doing something that's interesting and educational, that's that bridging we want to sort of provide.

Ubisoft will make an appearance at the Games for Learning Summit to talk about the teaching mechanics of Rocksmith and the health benefits of Just Dance. The company also plans to talk about Assassin's Creed, specifically as an example of games that focus on history.

Hopefully the Games for Learning Summit represents a step in the right direction. It's refreshing to see video games cited as a positive influence and a way to teach kids in school.

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