AFI BLOG: Media and Technology

I grew up with the belief firmly implanted in my head that video games were a bad influence that would distract me from more constructive pursuits, namely, reading. If the Internet had been as engrossing as it is now among kids, then that probably would have made the list, too. But technology isn’t an absolute distraction, as I wrote before a few weeks back, nor it is an immediate boon to any educational pursuit. It depends on how it’s utilized, even if it happens to be a video game.

PETLab, a research lab at the Parsons School of Design, seeks to find ways through which video games can further educational pursuits, particularly with regard to social causes. The article about the study, which can be found at eSchool News, mentions the example of military training, which has incorporated games that simulate possible situations that troops might face. Apparently, training games have also made their way into the classroom as tools for teachers and administrators.

The article also links to an example of one such educational game, which brings attention to poverty in Haiti. The game, Ayiti: The Cost of Life, was developed through a collaboration of the nonprofit organization Global Kids, a group of students from Brooklyn, New York, and game developers at Gamelab. UNICEF partnered in hosting the game

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