education

A Love Of Learning Is The Guide To Life — And Video Games

Video games are not a complete and total waste of time. Assassin’s Creed teaches you world history. Metal Gear Solid teaches politics and philosophy. And Cooking Mama teaches you, well, cooking.


Play Video Games And Become An Awesome Surgeon

We know games aren’t the bane of healthcare providers everywhere. Games can do you some physical and mental good, in moderation. But training you to be a pro-surgeon? That’s a bit of a new one to me. Turns out that wielding a controller could make you more proficient at holding a scalpel, saving lives and popping unflattering amounts of vicodin.


Playing Skyrim Equals Course Credits At This US Univesity

The English department at Rice University, to my knowledge the only US university established by the murder of its benefactor, will next semester offer “Scandinavian Fantasy Worlds: Old Norse Sagas and Skyrim.” That’s right. You get to play Skyrim for credit. If you’re enrolled at Rice, which is a rather selective institution.


Uni Gaming 101: How I Kept Gaming While Getting A Degree

Uni was good for debauchery, “experimenting” and surprisingly, video games. I guess I learned some things too, but, eh. Academics was the least interesting part of college for me.


Teens Step Up To Launch Portal 2′s Space Core

Last week, my misidentification of a laser engraving on a space part suggested the wrong personality core from Portal 2 was symbolically being flown to space (a fate echoing the game’s story.) A team of 18 teenagers from Nevada stepped in to restore order, and properly send the Space Core — or, well, a plushy version of him, anyway — to near space.


So, Minecraft Might Actually Be Able To Teach Us Some Serious Stuff

Those who already know all about Minecraft, stick with this past the intro, because even if you agree with the theories put forward or not, it’s still an interesting new way to look at the game.


Can Portal Lead To Better Educational Games?

Are educational games broken? Can Portal help fix them? Speaking during a Rants session at the Games for Change conference in New York today, educators Scott Kirk (CEO, GameGurus) and Jodi Asbell-Clarke (Director, EdGE ) said perspectives like Valve’s could help shed a light on the best way to make educational games more fun.


A Kotaku Reader Has Big Plans And Sees A Big Future, For The ‘Year Six MMO’ He Built

If you ever complained about homework increasing as the days got longer and the weather warmer, well, the tables have been turned. Ben Bertoli is up late doing a lot of it himself as the school year ends.


Iowa Journalism School Adds Video Games Writing To Curriculum

This fall, the University of Iowa’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication will offer a course in writing about video games and reporting on the industry.


North Korea Has A Tractor Simulator. It’ll Plough The Fields Of Your Mind.

The wizards in North Korea created this: a computerized simulator that teaches students how to drive a tractor.


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