Computer games 'should be taught at school'

Computer games should be taught at school because they are as much a part of modern literacy as reading and writing, according to researchers at the BETT educational technology show in London.

The theory is being put into practice in a project where pupils as young as 11 are given a chance to create their own games.

Professor David Buckingham, of London University's Institute for Education, said games are a subset of literacy, which is the ability to read or write for any purpose that is interesting or useful.

A project called Making Games has been set up by a partnership between a company called Immersive Education and his institute's Centre for the Study of Children, Youth and Media. It centres on software that enables children to create games using a simple graphical interface.

Buckingham said the exercise helped children to learn in a variety of ways, confronting them with ideas like narrative, rules, chance, economy, and conflict.

Judging from some of the text in a game created by a youngster called Rosie, and demonstrated by Immersive Technologies chief executive Chris Lloyd, it does little to improve spelling or other matters, such as starting off sentences with capital letters.

Rosie deserved full marks for the game itself, and one suspects she may be bright enough to make mistakes deliberately – some kids seem to consider good spelling uncool.

But shouldn't they be encouraged to write correctly? 'That's just how Rosie spells,' said Lloyd, reiterating that the game was teaching her other things.

Appropriately BETT, which closes at London's Olympia this weekend, is the best geek toy show in town, with an astonishing variety of gizmos ranging from electronic microscopes to computer-controlled routers able to carve out almost any object you can dream up on a screen.

It's enough to make you wish you were back at school. Watch out for more on exhibits on our Test Bed blog later.