Chances are if you follow video games with any fervour you know who Jack Thompson is. Thompson is the former attorney and conservative activist who has spent much of the past decade of his life crusading against violence in video games. Controversial, often misrepresented and a father himself Thompson has taken quite a beating in the sphere of public opinion online. This might be because cyberspace is populated overwhelmingly by the very youth Thompson is fighting to keep M-rated (17+) games away from. Some gamers have taken to wearing 'I hate Jack Thompson' t-shirts and simulating killing him in games.Recently Thompson attended the Screw Attack Game Conference in Texas to debate the issues. Responding to a question during an informal Q-and-A session Thompson admitted that while he finds the Grand Theft Autos and Gears of Wars appalling, video games in general have potential to do good. "It's the most amazing technology and teaching tool in the history of the world" Thompson said. This may seem like quite the concession for the man who has been demonized on the internet for wanting to shut down Rockstar Games, but for anyone who has actually seen Thompson speak it is not surprising. Thompson's stance has long been that violent games have the potential to impact young people's lives in a negative way. It would follow then that games could also have the potential to impact youth positively.
The fact that Thompson calls gaming a "teaching tool" may be prophetic. Many an elementary school student has gone through their education in a state of agony and alienation because of a perceived rigidness in the system. And, high school students are certainly not immune to disillusionment with classrooms and textbooks. What if their was a way to teach through gaming? Could there come a day when Nintendo develops interactive curriculum experiences? It may not seem likely, but then again Nintendo teaching people how to do Yoga wouldn't have been foreseeable back in the 1980s (the days of Nintendo's first console) and here we are today with Wii Fit. In another twenty years who knows what will happen.
As always please comment on anything you find interesting
Hey Zach, I personally feel that classrooms would definitly benefit from the use of virtual elements to add to teaching. There is going to be a barrier with keeping the game entertaining while educational. Nintendo has really not shown me this balance, for example wii fit. Wii fit has shown that it might not be as beneficial in terms as exercise and has been decried by some personal trainers. Never-the-less if we as a society can find the balance then we might have kids that can name the periodic table better than 150 some odd pokemon
ReplyDeleteWith the amount of excersise people are now getting because of wii, i think it's perfectly realistic to think of a day when we learn from gaming consoles. as you point out, we are already learning, it's unfortunately children learning how to bust a cap in a hooker's head.
ReplyDeleteI'm not quite sure that the Wii fit teaches anything.. this shocking and true video shows a different picture...
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iYBmAVuBns