Games students play.

With colorful computer simulations of bacteria under attack, Immune Attack is an educational video game that can teach high school students often hard-to-teach biological lessons about the immune system. "It's the ultimate war game," says Henry Kelly, president of the Federation of American Scientists.

The Summit on Educational Games held in October marked the first meeting of people in academia, government, private foundations and the entertainment software industry to determine the challenges to be addressed to create a healthy marketplace and to develop educational games. Many educators agree that games are likely among the best ways to get and keep students engaged in class. And to have teachers buy in, they need to focus on the underlying learning opportunities, suggests Elliot Soloway, a professor at the University of Michigan and a proponent of using games in lessons.

"This may be one of the most cost-effective ways to provide high quality education," says Kelly, who was among those who spoke at the briefing.

Video games are key because they require players to master skills that employers want, such as strategic and analytical thinking, problem solving, and adaptation to rapid change. And research is needed to determine which features of games are important for learning and why, and how best to design the systems to ensure students are learning appropriately.

Using games in school will likely require shifting curricula and the order in which materials are presented as well as shifting the role of teachers. Games might not be an integral part of schools for another decade, Kelly says.

www.fas.org/gamesummit/

FAST FACT

Previously first in the world, the US ranks #6 in the 2006-2007 World Economic Forum's Global Competitiveness Index, which considers factors that are critical to driving productivity and competitiveness. Switzerland ranks #1.

www.weforum.org

Gaming Recommendations

Some recommendations for education and training institutions include:

* Creating incentives for innovative approaches through better tests and metrics to adequately measure the higher-order skills needed in the future;

* Redesigning school instruction and formal learning environments to take advantage of technology-enabled exploration interactivity;

* Creating new training materials to support game-based learning as part of new and incumbent teacher training.

Previously first in the world, the US ranks #6 in the 2006-2007 World Economic Forum's Global Competitiveness Index, which considers factors that are critical to driving productivity and competitiveness. Switzerland ranks #1. www.weforum.org