video games = good for children's literacy?

Hmmmm. I kind of like this argument! Apparently game manufacturers and children's book producers have noticed the trend that, well, kids are totally addicted to video games, and books, not so much. When I was a kid I was obsessed with reading and am sad to say that I don't read nearly as often as I should now. I do play plenty of video games though. Anyway kids these days have a lot more distraction from electronics than my peers and I did so it's understandably a little tougher to get them interested in a small bound bunch of papers with tiny black and white words printed all over them. I can get behind this movement, then, of game development inspiring literature and vice versa. There are even people who argue that a video game is a better learning tool than a book. Again, I have to think there is some truth here because of the interactive, decision-making environment of a video game.

Researchers, who are just beginning to explore the cognitive effects of video games, have found that in laboratory settings, action gamers are better than nonplayers at focusing on tasks and ignoring irrelevant distractions.

Some gaming evangelists suggest reading feels too passive to youngsters who want the sense of power conferred by a control pad.

“Games are teaching critical thinking skills and a sense of yourself as an agent having to make choices and live with those choices,” said James Paul Gee, the author of the book “What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy.” “You can’t screw up a Dostoevsky book, but you can screw up a game.”

Ignoring irrelevant distractions while focusing is definitely something video games can teach a kid but ultimately, I think that books serve a different purpose in a kid's development... I get the feeling that a lot of kids these days don't spend much time working from their own imaginations, and I have to think video games have some blame there! This article does mention using Civilization to teach kids about history and I think that is fantastic - I am a big fan of the Sierra ancient city building games and they are generally historically accurate and well made, and very fun to play if you like building.

Using Video Games as Bait to Hook Readers