School and video games. I don't know about teachers, but students will surely be excited about it, if it does become a reality. We hear about how powerful learning tools games sometimes are and that they improve reflexes, eye sight and perspective thinking every day, yet nobody manages to make them a real part of school activity. Until recently that is. Indiana University associate professor Sasha Barab, is trying to develop games, oh... pardon me, "alternative video games" that can teach as well as entertain.

"I believe in digital media literacy. If we don't make changes in the way we educate our children, they will be left behind in world markets," said Barab. "Right now, I'm not that optimistic about where schools are headed."

In the same article posted on Reuters another issue is being discussed: how to make students see that "the world is not a video game," if the idea finally takes off: Connie Yowell, director of education at the Chicago-based foundation said: "Kids don't just play games. The games inspire so they then turn to books. There are bad games, but people tend to blame the tools instead of learning about the tools." They also say there will be no games involving any kind of vilence such as Mortal Kombat, for instance. Well of course they're not going to have MK classes. Teaching kids how to perform the bloodiest of fatalities wouldn't exactly fit the school's program.

The University also gives an example on how games would become part of school activity as the player assumes the role of an investigator seeking to find out why fish are dying in a virtual park. Players would have to share data about water quality and compare hypotheses, in order to produce an answer to this artificially created problem. Sounds great! If only there were 300Mhz processors at the time I was in school... Kids, you should really appreciate being born in this era of advanced technology and if they tell you to walk around a virtual park and solve environmental problems, do it. Beats the crap out of reading. But it doesn't mean that you should skip books either. They feed other parts of the brain, like imagination for instance.