An article in the New York Times Magazine discusses a cutting edge public school in NYC that is creating a curriculum almost exclusively around video games.  The concept was reportedly designed by a professional video game designer to help schools bridge the gap between the way kids live and the way kids learn.  In this digital age kids are technologically fluent at an early age: my six year old can operate every gaming system in the house, play DVD's, VHS tapes, and operate the satelitte with more confidence and ability than I can.  It's just become part of the growing up experience of today's children.  The students in this article spend their school time learning through the media of games.

While I think that learning through play is important, appropriate, and expected, I'm not sure that it should be the sole means of educational progression.  According to the article, the students in this particular school are not given traditional grades but rather they achieve "gaming levels" like novice, apprentice and master.  The curriculum has been designed to fuse gaming and learning on every level with the premise that gaming is the reality of most kids outside of the classroom but should it be taught as THE reality? 

The game world is one of fantasy and creativity but it is not one of reality.  That's why kids, and adults, enjoy it so much.  It provides an escape from the real world.  So what damage is being done to kids who are never taught or encouraged to escape that make-believe world?  Life is not a game and sometimes there are no do-overs, no second and third lives, and no short-cuts.  Kids need to learn that as it equips them for the reality of life.  I think there is a place for game-learning but that place shouldn't supercede the place of traditional education.