Video Games Help Music and Math Education (link to article)
This article discusses how the Wii gaming system might be useful in education.
I would love to see more more games incorporate math skills as a natural part of the game. For example, the Madden NFL game could have an option where users are occasionally asked to make player substitutions based on individual statistics. Users would quickly have to estimate a stat such as average yards per carry to determine which player to put in the game. The game would reward a correct choice by giving the chosen player a little more power. Also, the announcers could praise the coach (user) for making a great decision or question the decision if the wrong player is selected.
I would love to see a modified version of Wii Fit made available to physical education teachers at an affordable price. The current version of Wii Fit works well for individual adults but is not able to give feedback to more than one individual in any activity. For example, a friend can run with you but only your results are recorded. It would be great if five kids, all with Wiimotes could exercise together, and all have their scores recorded. I’d also like to see an option for allowing students to download workout data and then import the data into a spreadsheet for further analysis. Older students could learn how the Wii calculates BMI and Wii Fit Age and discuss the validity of those measures.
