I'm currently participating in
an ABC's for homeschooling challenge.
Since it falls on Tuesdays,
I am adding a technological slant to the challenge.
I hope you stay tuned and enjoy my entries.
All of my children play online games. The games, of course, vary. Some are blatantly educational, like those at
www.starfall.com. Others are not so obvious.
Team Fortress 2 seems to be purely entertainment.
I interviewed my teenage son to see what he believes are the advantages of playing online games such as Team Fortress 2. We came up with a good list.
1. Meet other people. From the comfort of your home, you can gather with individuals you would never meet in person. My son has often told me he sees people messaging in German. I think it's awesome to see my son meeting people from around the world.
2. Play with similar-minded people. In a game that allows instant messaging, you are already meeting at a game you both like. Chances are you like others things, too. Star Wars and Nintendo's Animal Crossing are two brands that kids find in common with each other.
3. Compete with others. In a game like Team Fortress 2, my son can be in competition with other players. This allows him to learn how to interact with others. Not everyone is gonna be on your side in all issues in our lives. We must learn that adversity happens. Sure, a game is a superficial way to teach this concept, but my son is still learning about competition.
4. Cooperate with others. On the flip side of competition is working together toward a common goal. Receiving help from others is awesome. It's also a concept to practice. Working together in a team is a wonderful skill to learn. You can use this concept throughout your life.
5. Teach others. Along with working on a goal together, players often teach someone. When joining an online game, there is bound to be a newbie. That newbie needs someone to teach them the ropes. My son has told me he's either taught someone or received some instruction from a fellow player. A game is more enjoyable when all players know how to play the game.
6. Fosters strategy. With games, there are steps and procedures to follow. A player has to figure out how to do something. A player has to read the instructions. A player sometimes has to reach out to others through forums. My son has done it all to find the solutions.
7. Fosters creativity. My son loves Team Fortress 2. He loves The Heavy, a character, in Team Fortress 2. He learned about
GMod, which I blogged about. He learned he could pose character images to create comics.
His comic is called
Adventures of Heavy.
Fan crossover of
Team Fortress 2 and Star Wars
is possible with GMod.
Well, thanks for reading this entry. I hope I've provided a valid viewpoint about online games. They can be educational. They can be entertaining. All online games, like Farmville on Facebook, have their redeeming value.
Next week, I will be covering the letter P. Stay tuned!
How about you, my readers? Do you play any online games? Do your children play online games? If so, which ones? I believe in using educational online games to teach children the topics they need to learn, especially the beginning concepts like those at
www.starfall.com. I encourage you to expose your children to education through technology.
I pray that God gives you all, my beloveds, His wisdom and peace.
This has been an entry for the Technology Tuesdays series.
