Dr. Robert Needlman
Specialist in pediatric behavior and development.
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 Ask Dr. Needlman
Using Computer Games to Build Analytic Skills | | | QUESTION | | | Dear Dr. Needlman,
Can computer games targeted at children to develop their analytical skills really help my child to develop his thinking skills or analytical skills? What problems may arise through playing computer games?— Elisabeth in Singapore | | | ANSWER |
May 29, 2001 | | | Dear Elisabeth,
There are a lot of really good computer games that do indeed stimulate children to use their analytical skills, but there are many other ways for children to practice thinking as well. For example, puzzles and "brain teasers" that you can find in books in the library can be just as stimulating. For analytic skills, I can't imagine an activity any more stimulating than chess.
The value of computers is that they can give instant feedback to children, and they (the machines) don't get bored doing the same thing over and over. A disadvantage of this is that children who use computers a lot tend to expect instant feedback, and they may not have patience for slower, less jazzy sources of information (e.g. books). Many of the most interesting problems one encounters in the world do not come pre-packaged with answers a mouse-click away. Children need to have experience with these sorts of problems as well as the ones in computer games.
Computers are great, but they shouldn't be a child's only source of information. Children need to learn from the real world, too. No matter how well a computer might simulate the look of a sea shell, it can't duplicate the experience of picking one up on a beach, feeling, smelling, and listening to it, comparing it to the other shells in your bag, and wondering where in all the wide expanse of ocean it came from. A computer program that simulates building a house is not a substitute for learning how to use a saw and hammer.
— by Robert Needlman, M.D., F.A.A.P. |
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