We wrote a couple of weeks ago about how video games can threaten your child’s educational progress and how much is too much. And while that truth is still evident, there are some ways to bring video games into your house and actually improve your child’s education. Here are a few of those games.

Kinect

The Kinect is Microsoft’s motion capture device for the Xbox system or a Windows computer. Its typical use is with sports games and games where a character needs to move around an environment, but because Microsoft released the source code to the device, anyone can make games for it—including teachers.

KinectEDucation is a huge repository of lesson ideas and actual games that can be used with the Kinect for all sorts of subject areas and content topics. Microsoft also keeps its own repository of lesson ideas. If you happen to have a disabled child who needs work on their motor skills, the Kinect is obviously tailor-made to help provide practice.

Minecraft

Minecraft is a 3D building game that utilizes crude building blocks instead of fancy graphics. It resembles an interactive LEGO environment. People set up their own environments and then invite other players to help build structures or perform gaming tasks.

Obviously, the first benefit is how creative kids can be when playing the game. The possibilities are literally endless! It also helps them develop spatial awareness and even number skills. Finally, in certain modes, resource management and problem solving come into play.

LittleBIGPlanet series

LittleBIGPlanet is one of those games that’s easy to learn but hard to master. Children as young as kindergarten can get started on this game for Sony’s PlayStation. Little avatars simply move around an environment, picking up objects that help them perform a grander task. It’s like a digital version of those old logic puzzles where people were stranded in a remote area and needed to figure out a way to survive (but not nearly as scary).

The benefits come in problem solving and collaboration. Even if your child doesn’t have friends over, they can play online with kids around the world (broadening their cultural awareness). The avatars need to work together in order to accomplish their tasks. If you use PlayStation’s Move controller, you can even get the kids to burn some calories.

The time has come. When it comes to the next generation assessments, we can finally stop talking about inferences and sample items and start analyzing real field tests. Both PARCC and Smarter Balanced have released their field tests in the last month or so and schools have started running selected classes through the process. In fact, if you’re feeling brave, you can take the PARCC test yourself using this link. The tests are available for English/Language Arts up to grade 11 and Math grades 3-8, as well as Algebra I, Geometry, and Algebra II.Don’t worry; there’s no score at the end. If you want to see what you scored, you need to compare your answers with a provided answer key.

One reporter’s experience

If you’re not comfortable with how much knowledge you’ve retained from 8^th grade math or English, you’re in luck. Cory Turner from NPR took the test for you and reported on his impressions, many of which we’ve covered in this blog before but are still interesting to see “in the real world”. At the time of his article, only the English tests were available, so he took the 8^th grade ELA test.

First off, as promised, the test is computerized. Gone are the days of Scantrons and bubbling answers. Items are presented in multiple mediums. In one example Mr. Turner gives, he had to read two passages and then watch a video. The task was to compare the three in an essay.

Rigor in every task

One of the passages was an actual scientific study about elephant cooperation. The other was a news article about that study. The video covered the study as it was taking place. This is a demonstration of the new level of rigor in the standards. An 8^th grader would not be anywhere near a scientific study under most states’ old standards.

This is the kind of depth of knowledge called for by the Common Core. There are no more reading passages without application to the real world. In fact, a lot of literature is gone from curricula, and therefore the tests. The balance is about 70% nonfiction/informational texts to 30% literary passages.

Then, when you are done reading passages you might find in an actual job, you are asked to perform a task that you might be asked to perform in the working world. A boss asking for a comparison of this scientific material is a lot easier to visualize than a boss asking for an analysis of a poem is.

It’s important for parents to familiarize themselves with these tests. Not only to commiserate with your child when they finish the field test or the actual run next year, but also to know what your child is expected to do on a daily basis in their classes. It’s quite different from what you remember.

It’s been 30 years since video games migrated from dimly lit arcades at the mall to living rooms and bedrooms. Since then, two generations of children and teens have found themselves in front of a game for hours at a time. They are programmed that way; video games aren’t much fun unless you care about beating this level, earning points, or gaining privileges.

Although it seems obvious, video games are mostly counterproductive to academic success. That being said, they produce some positives. Depending on the game, video games build hand/eye coordination, critical thinking skills, problem solving, and teamwork. When used in moderation, they can be a positive treat or a way to blow off some steam.

But if you go too far down the rabbit hole, bad things start to happen.

A ESRP report shows 25% of video game players in 2010 were under the age of 18

The Kaiser Family Foundation reported in 2010 that students spend an average of 50 hours per week in front of some sort of screen (phone, tablet, TV, computer, etc.). That’s a full time job, plus 10 hours of overtime. Your child might be spending more time with technology than you do—and you’re probably being paid to. They’re doing it free.

Video gaming itself takes up 10 hours on average from that total. When the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends only 1 to 2 hours per day of any electronic usage, you can see that a lot of kids go too far.

 What happens?

First, let’s knock out the extreme cases. A 15-year-old in Ohio was rushed to the hospital after playing Call of Duty for 5 days straight and passing out from dehydration. A teenager in Taiwan died from a heart attack caused by a blood clot generated while sitting for 40 hours. These are obviously cases in which the parents were at least partially negligent, but it can happen.

What’s more likely is for grades to start slipping. After all, video game time has to come from somewhere, and that somewhere is often homework or reading time. That’s why taking away the video games or phone is the first resort of parents who are unhappy with a report card. There’s nothing wrong with that approach. It teaches students that there are consequences to a lack of responsibility.

Also, in certain personality types, video games can lead to increased aggression. Even if the game isn’t particularly violent, today’s kids are able to “talk trash” to their adversaries. Some students—those who are neurotic, less agreeable, and less conscientious already—have trouble separating real life from the game. For example, if someone accidentally bumps into them in the hall, they might choose confrontation over a normal response.

What can you do?

The answers here are obvious. Pay attention. If grades are slipping, take action. If your child’s personality is changing or behavioral issues are starting to appear at school, talk with them to isolate a source of their frustration. If there isn’t one, it might be time to limit the video games.

And just like anything else in life, moderation is key. A kid whose only interests are video games will not become a well-rounded adult. Limit the screen time and provide some other outlets for them to use their free time.