Gaming -- more than play?

I was impacted by Klopfer's argument for the instructional power of digital games. Prior to reading the article, I admit to being a skeptic of digital games. Growing up I played games such as the Mario Brothers and Duck Hunt on the original Nintendo system. The violence that these games entailed was minimal and simplistic (e.g. squashing a mushroom or shooting a duck). Conversely, in the games played by my students today, such as Halo and Grand Theft Auto, violence is extensive and graphic. Weary of the influence of this violence as well as the addictive power of today's digital games, I was not happy to hear my students' reports of hours spent in front of the Wii, DSI, XBox, etc.,.

Klopfer's article made re-evaluate my initial judgment of digital games. Digital games, in fact, can teach our children many important lessons. For example, problem solving, strategies for navigating a complex text, coping with winning or losing, team-work, etc.,. This is not to say that I will incorporate the latest MarioKart into my instruction. But, I might be more encouraging and inquisitive when my students talk about playing video games. Furthermore, there are many educational digital games available via the Internet that are certainly worth incorporating into the classroom. Digital games can be utilized during center time or also during a whole-class lesson by using the SmartBoard. I have used www.starfall.com to support literacy instruction, particularly reading. The games provided on Starfall are differentiated according to students reading level (e.g. for students working on letters and sounds, and those working on sight words and early texts).

Let's create a class list of online digital games that we've found useful for various subjects?