And what have we all been saying for YEARS now?

Video games have 'role in school'

The report found technical obstacles needed to be overcome
Video games could have a serious role to play in the classroom, a
survey of teachers and students suggests.
The Teaching with Games report was commissioned by games giant
Electronic Arts (EA) and carried out by FutureLab.

It surveyed almost 1,000 teachers and more than 2,300 primary and
secondary school students in the UK.

The survey found 59% of teachers would consider using off-the-shelf
games in the classroom while 62% of students wanted to use games at
school.

Jules Clarkson, international marketing director at Electronic Arts,
said: "EA has recognised for a long time the potential for computer
games to stimulate teachers and students.

Evidence of concern

"We now have the evidence."

The report, which was also backed by Microsoft, Take Two, as well as
the Interactive Software Federation of Europe (ISFE), found evidence
of concern from both teachers and students about the impact of games
on players.


Some 55% of students thought videogames would make for more
interesting lessons

More than 70% of the surveyed teachers felt that playing games could
lead to anti-social behaviour while 30% of students believed that
playing games could lead to increased violence and aggression.

The report is released on the first day of the London Games Festival,
a week-long programme of events including a developers' conference,
the Bafta videogame awards and a showcase of new titles for consumers.
Mr Clarkson said: "We had three key objectives with the report - to
understands teachers' and students' use of computer games in the
classroom.

'Successful partnerships'

"To explore how they can be successfully used in a school environment.
And to make the most successful partnerships with educators."

Now more than ever people are starting to wake up to the importance
of video games; culturally, artistically and economically

Rob Cooper, Ubisoft

The report authors also followed 12 teachers at four schools in the UK
and looked at ways they could use commercial software in the
classroom.

The authors concluded that there was "still a generational divide
between teachers and students in respect of computer games play".

More than 70% of teachers never play games outside school while 82% of
children said they played video games at least once a fortnight.

"It should be noted that 37% of teachers and 22% of students think
that computer games should not be used in the classroom," said the
report.

Mr Clarkson denied the report was an attempt to be "taken seriously"
by the educational establishment.

'Taken seriously'

He said: "We are already taken seriously and we take our
responsibilities as a leader in the industry very seriously.


The Sims 2 was one of the games trialled in a classroom

"There is an opportunity for us to explore with educational
establishments where there are ways computer games can be used."

But Mr Clarkson said EA was not going to change the way it makes
software off the back of the report.

"I do not imagine we are suddenly going to get into educational
software markets but it does give us ideas about how to work with
educational establishments."

Fred Hasson, chief executive of games developer association Tiga, one
of the backers of the London Games Festival, said the event reflected
the vibrancy of the UK industry.

"The UK is not only the third largest market for video games it is
also the third largest producer of games in the world."

He said the industry was in good shape following several years of
consolidation.

"In 2000 there were about 400 UK development studios while now there
are about 150.

"But I don't think there are any fewer numbers of people working in
the industry overall.

'Wake up'

"With the handheld consoles, the current hardware and next generation
hardware on the horizon, there has never been as much work around as
there is now."

Rob Cooper, managing director of Ubisoft UK and chairman of the
festival said: "Now more than ever people are starting to wake up to
the importance of video games; culturally, artistically and
economically.

"The London Games Festival is an important stage, one which allows our
industry to show every aspect of itself. "

He added: "From students wanting to forge a career in gaming, to
budding developers who want to share ideas for future games. There
will be events of interest to so many groups of people. "






--
We're climbing up the sunshine mountains
Where the pretty brezes blow
We're climbing up the sunshine mountains
Faces all a-glow

Lister wrote:
> Video games have 'role in school'
>

Way back in the 80s when I was but a lad, our school got a BBC Micro
Model B. My friends all started to get computers and I was fascinated
by the games you could play on them. I wanted to know how they worked.
I wrote my first computer program at the age of 9. That experience has
directly led to me becoming a freelance computer programmer in later
life. I have a first class degree in computer science and I owe it all
to video games. For me, Snake, Arcadians, Swoop and Pac-Man were the
inspiration that led to me into a career.

Interestingly, on graduation from Uni I worked for a major games
developer. I hated it!!! Bizarre and yet true! So now I work in the
much more rewarding field of business systems development.

Kulgan.