Tag Archives: Education

Education Issues

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Below are just a few of the leading American education issues that are constantly being debated nowadays.

First, this question: should there be a national standard for graduating high school students? Should students have to pass a rigorous test in order to graduate? Some people say that a test is an objective measurement of how well a student knows certain material; others argue that some students don’t “test well,” and that grades, schoolwork and teachers should determine whether or not a particular student graduates, and not a standardized test. Others say that many standardized tests are inherently biased.

Another educational debate rages over vouchers. A school voucher is when the government pays part or all of a student’s private school tuition. Let’s say it costs a city $10,000 to educate a child per year. With a school voucher, the government would pay ten-thousand dollars of tax money for a child to go to a certain private school instead of giving that money to the public school the child would otherwise attend. Some people insist that this is only fair; if parents work hard to pay taxes, why shouldn’t their tax dollars go to the school of their choice? Other people say that vouchers take away desperately-needed public school funds, and that it’s the duty of all citizens to pay for public schools through tax dollars whether or not they have children attending one. Public schools, this latter group would argue, are as crucial to a functioning democracy as anything else that tax money could pay for.

Other education issues: should uniforms be required at all public schools? Should teacher tenure be done away with? If so, teachers would have to be reevaluated throughout their careers and schools could fire any teacher deemed inefficient no matter how long he or she has been teaching. Also, should schools address the challenge of childhood obesity, and what’s the best way to address this problem? Should sex education programs be implemented in classrooms, and at what age? And then there are the thorny issues surrounding charter schools, with passionate defenders on both sides: how much money should charter schools be allotted? How should they be regulated?

In the end, perhaps all education issues come down to this: parents want only the best for their children, teachers want to be treated fairly as professionals, and we all know our society depends on the answers at which we arrive.

Nintendo Educational Games Should Work to Teach Cooperation to Children, Rather Than Competition

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One thing I see again and again in Nintendo educational games is that, with few exceptions, they are solitary affairs. And, when they include a multi-player mode, it’s inevitably of the competitive nature. Beat my score, top my level, etc. It’s understandable; video games and games in general usually involve a certain level of competition. Even in orange-slice soccer leagues who don’t keep score, there’s the personal level of getting a ball past an opponent, kicking or handling skill comparisons running in the kids’ minds. I get it, we’re a competitive culture.

But we’re talking about friends and siblings, here – why can’t we design our Nintendo learning games to teach cooperation, rather than competition?

This is going to require a bit of a sea-change in the industry, I’m guessing. We’re so used to setting the highest score and putting our initials up for all to see. Most of the video games out today, whether Nintendo educational game or 360 shooter, are competitive first, solo-campaign next, and co-op mode possibly as an afterthought. For those of us with two children, wouldn’t it be nice to see a game that teaches teamwork? Sharing? Couldn’t our educational games include modes that require players to work together to solve a puzzle, rather than see who can finish it the fastest?

We have a few examples in the Nintendo educational game world, but look at the mature video game titles! There is a definite trend in these games – most of which are violent, unfortunately – to offer the ability to invite a friend or sibling to take on the game’s challenges together. It’s great! Some actually require teamwork between two players in order to get the best gear or score the highest possible mark; in other words, they don’t require that you play with a friend to succeed in-game, but they offer plenty of incentive to do so.

More carrot, less stick.

It’s unfortunate that, for the most part, the library of Nintendo educational games is pretty scant when you’re searching for a game to help teach your young ones teamwork. It appears to be an oversight, rather than a calculated move on the developers’ parts.

There’s also a level of “flying solo” in our educational system. Tests are taken alone, no book, no hints, no help, and especially no looking over your fellow student’s shoulder. That’s fine – I understand – we want to find out what each student knows, hopefully with the goal of shoring up any weak spots in a child’s education. But the school-type setting is exactly what we ought to be avoiding in Nintendo educational games. We shouldn’t want to remind our gamers of school, of stress, of tests and exams and pop quizzes. Our goal, ultimately, should be to make learning fun.

I believe this effort would be helped by including cooperative modes in our Nintendo educational games. It probably won’t be easy, coming up with exercises and lessons that require cooperation. But it has to be possible, whether through a more rigid gameplay mechanic (think driver/navigator, researcher/writer, or hands/feet) or unique mini-games (drawing two halves of a picture from memory, alternating teacher and student roles, or simple collaborative playing to solve in-game puzzles).

I’m happy to watch my kid learn as he plays. I’d be even happier if he found encouragement and excitement in tackling a problem together with a friend. Nintendo’s been the leader in console innovation; let’s see them make some powerful strides in cooperation and collaboration for their next spate of Nintendo educational games.