Here is a very interesting podcast from Gamasutra - it is a recording of the panel called “Do Videogames Help Kids Learn?” from the Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation’s initiative on Digital Learning. The panelists include Sasha Barab, Nichole Pinkard, and David Williamson Shaffer, author of How Computer Games Help Children Learn.
From the GDC site: In the podcast, “Sasha Barab of Indiana University, demos his latest project, Quest Atlantis, which uses an immersive online world to teach environmental impact and science to junior high school students. Nichole Pinkard, Director of Technology at the University of Chicago also shares her experience creating an innovative digital media after school program for Chicago’s Center for Urban School improvement. And David Williamson Shaffer, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and author of How Computer Games Help Children Learn, discusses his latest research on games and learning.”
This is well worth listening to if you’ve ever asked the question, are “video games good for my child”?, or if you are curious about the effects of video games on children. As we’ve said before, we believe here at KidConfidence that the right video games can help children learn, and can play a key role in building confidence in children as well.
The podcast is hosted at GDCRadio.net and can be downloaded directly here. There is also a webcast on the
MacArthur Foundation web site called “Do Video Games Help Kids Learn?” that you may be interested in.
Trust us - both of them are worth your time!
Editor’s note: A podcast is really just an .mp3 audio file that you can download and play on any computer, so don’t be afraid to click the link and listen to it!