How Computer Games Help Children Learn - Hardcover

Shaffer, D.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1403975051 ISBN 13: 9781403975058

Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007

Synopsis

How can we make sure that our children are learning to be creative thinkers in a world of global competition - and what does that mean for the future of education in the digital age? David Williamson Shaffer offers a fresh and powerful perspective on computer games and learning. How Computer Games Help Children Learn shows how video and computer games can help teach children to build successful futures - but only if we think in new ways about education itself. Shaffer shows how computer and video games can help students learn to think like engineers, urban planners, journalists, lawyers, and other innovative professionals, giving them the tools they need to survive in a changing world. Based on more than a decade of research in technology, game science, and education, How Computer Games Help Children Learn revolutionizes the ongoing debate about the pros and cons of digital learning.

About this title

About the Author

DAVID WILLIAMSON SHAFFER is Associate Professor of Learning Science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA, and Game Scientist at the Academic Advanced Distributed Learning Co-Laboratory. A former teacher, curriculum developer, teacher-trainer, and game designer, he has taught in the United States and with the U.S. Peace Corps in Nepal.

JAMES PAUL GEE has written the Foreword to this book. He is one of the most well-known professors of education in the United States. He teaches at the University of Wisconsin, Madison and is the author of several books, including What Video Games Have To Teach Us About Learning and Literacy (Palgrave Macmillan, 2004).

From the Back Cover

"This well-written and important book will introduce parents and teachers to a radical idea: video games can be good for children. When children play games like Sim City or The Oregon Trail, they learn about urban planning or the American West in spite of themselves. But these games are just the tip of the iceberg; Shaffer describes a wide range of fascinating new learning games that are just now emerging...Because these games give children the chance to creatively manipulate a virtual world, they can teach creativity and innovation, abilities that are more important than ever in today's competitive global economy...Shaffer advises parents how to pick out a good learning game, how to play it with your children, and how to make sure they are learning from it."--R. Keith Sawyer, author of Group Genius: The Creative Power of Collaboration

Edition details

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Publication date: 2007
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1403975051
• ISBN 13: 9781403975058
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 255