On college campuses, video games move into classroom

"Attention parents: The video games that drive your kids to distraction could soon become a staple of higher education.

For a growing number of college professors, computer games are no mere child’s play. Instead, such games are seen as a 21st-century tool to promote critical thinking, social collaboration and even civic participation to students raised clutching joysticks since they learned to walk.

"The experience kids can have in a game world are more authentic than those they can have in a classroom," said David Shaffer, an associate professor of educational psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

"These new technologies are fundamentally changing what it means to be educated," added Shaffer, author of "How Computer Games Help Children Learn."

Source