Thinking about it now, I probably learned more from video games than school teachers when I was a kid.

Well, the relevant stuff anyway – in fact, I remember learning the wonderful new word “glean” from Space Quest III when I was about 9 or 10, a discovery which may well have been responsible for my entire career, and I learned all my obscure capital cities playing ‘Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego’.

I don’t know anything else, but I’m sure I don’t need to – words and obscure capital cities got me everywhere already, so it’s not like I need to count past five.

And that’s an idea Intel is getting behind, apparently.

“Today’s learners are the gamer generation. They have grown up with technology and social networking. That’s why it’s only natural that today’s more tech-savvy educators are recognising the potential of using games as a teaching device in their classrooms,” Intel marketing manager Ntombezinhle Modiselle told iAfrica.

The article goes on to talk about a school in Vryheid, KZN, where Kinect-powered learning is helping children get “more involved with each other and their lessons through creative gaming exercises”.

And presumably not accidentally punching one another in the face.

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m not for a moment suggesting we should stop reading to our children. But my point is this: technology offers parents and teachers a new way to enrich our children’s skill sets and help prepare them for a global economy,” said Modiselle.

“I don’t want technology to take over the classroom. But there is no doubt that it can provide our teachers with a useful tool to be used to enhance learning and benefit the students who need it most. And if everyone has a little fun along the way, that’s fine too!” Modiselle concluded.

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