Rare is the teenager who hasn't played video games or participated in online, virtual worlds. Given their ubiquity, can these new digital entertainments be used as teaching tools in the classroom?

The answer is yes .  Thinking Critically About Video Games & Virtual Worlds is a new title that gives educators a flexible, engaging resource for bridging the gap between digital enetertainment and traditional schooling.  The author is Peyton Paxson, a professor who specializes in how different media impact our lives. With Thinking Critically About Video Games & Virtual Worlds, he explores topics such as:

• The role of violence in video games
• How video games affect parent-child relationships
• Video games and players with disabilities
• Scams and cheats
• Linden dollars and other virtual world currency
• What messages video game developers and sponsors are sending
• How the digital version of reality conflicts or coincides with the real world

Each of the 48 lessons helps students to interpret, analyze, and evaluate interactive digital entertainment. For educators, Thinking Critically About Video Games & Virtual Worlds contains dozens of activities, quizzes, a glossary, and special “Teacher Buzz” sections to prepare for classroom discussions.

Where are teachers using Thinking Critically About Video Games & Virtual Worlds?

• In media, design, and computer environments
• As an inter-disciplinary resource in language arts or social studies classes
• For students who are more engaged in video gaming and less engaged in schoolwork
• To address the National Educational Technology Standards issued by the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE).

The reality is that media pervade our lives -- and video games and virtual worlds are a core part of that attraction for today's students.  Thinking Critically About Video Games & Virtual Worlds is a rare opportunity for them to examine how these seductive entertainments inform and change the ways we learn and live.

Thinking Critically About Video Games & Virtual Worlds is part of the acclaimed Media Literacy series.