] The US spends almost $50 billion each year on education,
] so why aren't kids learning? Forty percent of students
] lack basic reading skills, and their academic performance
] is dismal compared with that of their foreign
] counterparts. In response to this crisis, schools are
] skilling-and-drilling their way "back to basics," moving
] toward mechanical instruction methods that rely on
] line-by-line scripting for teachers and endless
] multiple-choice testing. Consequently, kids aren't
] learning how to think anymore - they're learning how to
] memorize. This might be an ideal recipe for the future
] Babbitts of the world, but it won't produce the kind of
] agile, analytical minds that will lead the high tech
] global age. Fortunately, we've got Grand Theft Auto: Vice
] City and Deus X for that.
]
] After school, kids are devouring new information,
] concepts, and skills every day, and, like it or not,
] they're doing it controller in hand, plastered to the TV.
] The fact is, when kids play videogames they can
] experience a much more powerful form of learning than
] when they're in the classroom. Learning isn't about
] memorizing isolated facts. It's about connecting and
] manipulating them. Doubt it? Just ask anyone who's beaten
] Legend of Zelda or solved Morrowind.