Short article in the Wisconsin Technology Network about how video games are now a valuable tool for learning.

Firefighters need to be fully prepared, practicing hundreds of times before their first high-rise fire. City officials need to respond to a chemical spill immediately, getting the right information to the right place. Military teams need to work together, planning the best strategy to avoid casualties. These high-risk jobs now have virtual training tools, thanks to a string of developments in video games.(...) According to Constance Steinkuehler, a cognitive researcher at UW-Madison and Co-Lab member, the major benefit that video games have over traditional methods is the high level of user collaboration.

Why do I blog this? howdy! it's because the collaboration feature in video games has just been recently emphasized and I am pleased to see that it now gets some interest! Out point here is not to use game to teach stuff to students. It's rather to use games to understand collaboration and socio-cognitive processes that occur during such tasks.