电子游戏帮助学生提高学习主动性

　　迈克。克里觉得，刚满9岁的他，从电子游戏中学到的东西比从学校里学到的更生动。

　　“游戏里我扮演的是玛丽，”他讲到。

　　在一番手柄操作之后，这个三年级孩子在头脑中形成了一个想法：扮演超级玛丽去“飞檐走壁”拯救公主，这些游戏体验会让他成为一个好儿童。

　　“但这些东西老让我被认为是坏孩子。”他无奈地盯着他学校（密苏里州堪萨斯城的德里克。托马斯学院委办学校）布置的作业。2他说：“当我做作业时，我跳来跳去还是在这死板的白纸上，真无聊。”

　　孩子们也许是对的

　　也许这是一个很不错的想法，但是教育家和心理学家们正在萌生一种担忧。害怕孩子们在（游戏中）射击、爆破和狂奔的画面，会刺激他们做出很多危险、冒险行为。

　　也就是说，如果我们不加以遏制，就算专家们对待电子游戏很友好，过度玩游戏的危害始终存在。

　　维吉尼亚州某大学心理学教授丹。威灵汉姆认为，玩游戏的可取之处在于让孩子们明白了一个道理——在学习的过程中，失败是家常便饭。

　　他说：“学习是行动、判断和坚持的产物。”

　　孩子们上课时可能不会错答一个问题，但在游戏世界中，他们愿意在朋友面前“死”数次来通关。

　　卡西。克劳丝老师通过餐厅吃饭的谈话了解到，她的大部分“差生”都打电子游戏。

　　她说：“通常情况下，如果孩子们举手回答问题答错了，手就缩回去了，对这个问题就再也不闻不问了。”

　　关于玩电子游戏建立美国儿童“课堂勇气”的言论受到质疑：并没有看到课堂上任何改观，反而孩子们玩游戏更加上瘾。

　　游戏时间的影响

　　2010年，凯瑟尔家庭基金发起一项调查，调查对象涵盖了2000户家庭。结果显示，年龄段在8到18岁的青少年，平均每天玩电子游戏的时间是两个小时。

　　游戏时间的启示：不仅仅是家庭作业、阅读和户外活动可以让孩子们长期坚持，电子游戏也可以。

　　一项最新研究展示了游戏儿童的成绩下滑。研究者给一些家庭送了一套游戏软件，另一些家庭则只有在完成了四个月的学习任务后才送游戏软件。

　　四个月之后，在一次阅读和写作测试中，立马得到游戏软件的孩子明显比不得不等待的孩子测试成绩要差得多。老师们报告的课业问题也是已经得到游戏软件的孩子多。

　　电子游戏的潜在益处

　　同时为学校和电玩公司工作的马力。额佧克表示，在适当的引导下，父母和孩子可以将许多流行电玩用于好的方面。

　　许多游戏都包含了丰富的阅读材料，孩子们将会在游戏里高度集中精力地阅读。角色扮演游戏教孩子们打造属于自己的团队，或者规划和建设城市。

　　“你不要还像上一辈人那样给我灌输游戏怎么怎么有害的观念，”额卡克说“换个角度想一想，你会发现，游戏对学习真的有帮助。”

　　译文：

　　He’s only 9, so Michael Kelly’s analysis of what video games are doing to kids’ schooling is more instinct than all the new academic talk out there.

　　“Picture that I’m Mario,” he begins.

　　After some hand-on-chin pondering, the third-grader is shaping an idea how all those hours he spends leaping walls, escaping lava and rescuing princesses as Super Mario just might be making him a better student.

　　“And picture that paper over there as the bad guy.” He nods at an assignment on his desk at the Derrick Thomas Academy charter school in Kansas City, Missouri.

　　“I do the work,” he says. “I jump on that paper — and jump on it and jump on it.”

　　Kids aren’t afraid to be wrong

　　Maybe it’s wishful thinking, but a growing sentiment among many educators and psychologists suggests that all the shooting, blasting and racing may be spawning more adventurous, risk-taking thinkers.

　　That is, if we don’t get carried away. Even researchers friendly to video games warn: Too much is too much.

　　The beauty of video gaming is that children understand that “failure is a normal part of the learning process,” said Dan Willingham, a psychology professor at the University of Virginia.

　　“Learning is the product of work, trial and persistence,” he said.

　　Children who otherwise wouldn’t be caught speaking a wrong answer in class willingly die a dozen times in the game world — in front of friends — in pursuit of the next level.

　　Teacher Cassie Krause knows by their lunchroom talk which of her students play video games, and many of them are her most outgoing in class.

　　“They’ll answer a question,” she said, “and if it’s wrong, their hand is back up, trying to figure out the answer.”

　　It’s doubtful that American children are playing video games to build classroom courage, but whatever their motivation, they are playing more.

　　Impact of screen time

　　Among children 8 to 18 who play video games, the average playing time is two hours a day, according to a 2010 Kaiser Family Foundation survey of about 2,000 households. That’s up from one hour 34 minutes in 2004, and one hour five minutes in 1999.

　　Video game time, while possibly building some long-term strengths, will still probably take from homework, reading and outdoor play.

　　A new study showed the downsides of kids playing video games. Researchers gave some families a game system; other families were promised a system when the four-month study ended.

　　After the four months, the boys in families that immediately received a game system scored significantly lower on reading and writing tests than the boys who had to wait. Teachers reported more classwork concerns with the boys who had gotten games.

　　Video games hidden benefits

　　With care, parents and students can put many popular games to good use, said Marie Alcock, who works with schools and video game companies.

　　Many games include intense reading material that children will be highly motivated to read. Role-playing games can put teens to work creating teams or planning and building cities.

　　“You’re not just melting the brain the way my parents described it to me,” Alcock said. “You can find games that are going to absolutely help in school.”