Digital Gaming Goes Academic

Rice University created CSI: Web Adventures to introduce middle schoolers to forensic science through cases based on the popular TV-show franchise about crime-scene investigations.

—Courtesy of Rice University

Experts say technology and research have evolved to the point where educators can actually have a sense of the impact of games on individual learners

By Katie Ash

Educators at Ocoee Middle School in Florida have built an online game lab to engage students and sharpen technology skills. Researchers at Rice University have created a virtual game to teach forensics to middle schoolers. North Carolina State University’s IntelliMedia Group has released a digital game to teach microbiology to 8th graders.

Digital games for learning academic skills change depending on each student’s ability and course of action. Such games provide personalized feedback in real time—something a traditional classroom often doesn’t offer.

“The technology and the research have evolved to the point where we can actually have a sense of the impact games are having on learning,” says Lee Wilson, the president and chief executive officer of San Antonio-based PCI Education, which makes instructional materials for students with special needs. “We’re just...