Content-type: text/html Downes.ca ~ Stephen's Web ~ Youth camp criticized over video game play

Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community
It seems to me that the best place to place video games would be in an environment where the lessons learned online could be immediately applied in a real-world environment. Like, say, a summer camp. But as Andrew Reimer discovered, critics focus on the virtual part of it and pretend the real-world part doesn't exist. One critic complains, "It's a bit of an oxymoron to talk about healthy video games. Why don't we talk about healthy activity? Physical activity?" But she doesn't see the irony of her own remark. "Kids get off school, they leave the interior environment of the school, the bus, they into the house, open the fridge and then move to the screens," she said. Right - if there's a thing that needs to be changed, it's not the camp, which does integrate learning and activity, it's the schools, which don't. As Reimer argues, "our approach has been to take kids where they are at, and help them to build a balanced lifestyle, to help kids learn that a bit of videogaming is fine in the context of days filled with physical activity, creative fun and projects, outdoor exploration, and sports."

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
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Last Updated: Nov 23, 2024 5:44 p.m.

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