How To Bring The Generations Together: Have Them Play A Video Game
This fascinating article on the intergenerational use of video games points out that back in the 1960s, television was bemoaned as a “vast wasteland” that was rotting the minds of America’s young. Then came Sesame Street, and research showing that kids learned from the show and that they got more out of it when they watched it with their parents.
We’re at the same place today with video games, the authors argue. Although many adults dismiss them as a waste of time, there is an opportunity here for children and grownups to learn by playing together:
“There is an emerging body of research highlighting the great potential of intergenerational gameplay. For example, in 2009, the Joan Ganz Cooney Center (which one of us directs) and the University of Southern California studied video game play between adults and elementary school children. They found that kids were more engaged in learning with digital games than traditional board games and that adults learned technology skills from their kids. This work helped inspire an intergenerational game, Electric Racer, to help children and adults play together to deepen family literacy skills development.” Read more here.
Have you ever played a video game with your kid, and was it a positive experience for you both?