A recent survey of 1000 teachers in the UK saw a third of teachers using computer games in the classroom. Most of these also believe that playing video games improve pupils' skills and knowledge. A quarter of those surveys also played computer games themselves.
There were the usual fears raised about the possibility of some games reinforcing genders stereotypes, and the effects of violence in others, but by and large the teachers involved thought that video games could be beneficial to education. 91% of teachers thought certain games developed motor and cognitive skills, and 60% believed they would develop thinking skills in general. These are just the type of statistics that games companies and animation schools need to hear.
This was only the first stage of a year-long project funded by Nesta Futurelab and game-maker Electronic Art. The next stage will see games like The Sims 2 and other, non-commercial games used in the classroom.
The BBC website has a huge resource of games useful to learning, and my children, aged from 2 to 8, find them beneficial and fun. I think that, too often, these beneficial statistics are ignored in the face of horror stories about the so-called effects of video games.
Animation schools are on the rise at the moment, but there will come a time when everyone owns a games console (or 3) and sales will start to slow. In this multimedia age, it is vital that computer and animation skills are incorporated into structured learning programs in schools. Education video games are a great way to keep animation and traditional schools happy. They certainly work for my kids.
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