COMPUTER GAMES CAN AID DEVELOPMENT
Copyright 2004 www.tombraiderchronicles.com

[ October 26th 2004 ]

The tomb-raiding exploits of Lara Croft or the adventures of the cuddly ogre Shrek can help children's social and educational development, according to researchers calling for computer games to be part of the school curriculum. Far from being an obesity-inducing, violence-promoting threat to society, as they are often portrayed, the games being played in bedrooms across the country during half term can be used in the classroom to help children learn concepts such as critical appreciation of narrative structure or character development which they might otherwise study in a novel, say academics at London University's Institute of Education.

Research into games, conducted by the institute's Centre for the Study of Children, Youth and Media and partly funded by the Department for Trade and Industry, also suggests youngsters could develop their literacy skills by writing games programmes as well as studying existing ones. Caroline Pelletier, who is managing the project, said: "Like all games, computer and video games entertain while promoting social development, and playing and talking about games is an important part of young people's lives. Game literacy is, as a way of investigating how games are means of expression and representation, just like writing or drawing."

Read the full article at The Guardian