Here is a very interesting statistic I read in an editorial by NYC  Mayoral candidate Bill De Blasio on the current state of education .

According to the federal Department of Education, 60% of the jobs in the 21st century will require skills held by just 20% of today’s workforce.
 

 (Fact quoted from an editorial in the Daily News published on October 11th and wriiten by Bill De Blasio.) The full editorial can be accessed through the following link.
 

           http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/higher-taxes-brighter-future-article-1.1179570

What do you believe are the implications of this fact? What can we do to prepare children to hold skills that will be required for jobs in the 21st Century? Can games be designed and used in anyway to solve this problem?

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Many people I speak to about my interest in games, especially parents, show much hesitaltion in terms of accepting that there is scientfically proven studies to show the benefits of playing games.

A disclaimer: As a parent, I don't want my kids sitting in front of a television or computer screen all day every day playing computer games. I am against video games that are violent as well.

When I talk about games, this is not only refering to video games as many people believe. The topic  includes board games such as Scrabble, card games like Uno, an even word searches, crossword puzzles, and sudoko. These games can act as tools to aid students and adults in their learning. I don't for a moment suggest that kids should play games instead of learn to read, write, or do arithmetic. What I do believe is that games can act as a very powerful aid in helping kids and even adults to learn skills that are important for their general education, as well as their future educational experiences in life.

Here is an interesting article from Yahoo news about the benefits of games. While the article specifically discusses video games, I believe that many of the ideas shared in the article can be applied to other types of games that were listed above in the previous paragraph. I also believe that the article in no ways suggests games as a replacement for "regular education."  

Here is a link to article. Please share your thoughts and reactions.


http://news.yahoo.com/7-health-benefits-playing-video-games-100500829.html

On the topic of international education, I have recently learned that many people consider Finland to have the greatest educational system in the entire world. I will surely be writing about this idea in future blogs, as I expand my discussions to include topics of education reform in general.

Here is a link to a very insightful documentary on Finland's education system entitled The Finland Phenomenon. Don't be startled by the Spanish in the title. The documentary is all in English.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2JGeGNxlh4

Please share your thoughts on this documentary or any other ideas about education reform or game design you may have. Could such a system work in the United States? What can we as individuals learn from Finland in terms of how we educate our children? Are games an idea that Finland educators use, and if so how?