"Star-Craft" on the educational front

Despite the non-educational image they have, the School of Management and the Sagi Internet Research Center at the University of Haifa still believe in the educational power of computer games, even the "normal" ones where you have to destroy the aliens. "Computer games are the genre of the future," said the head of the Sagi Center For Internet Research Prof. Shizaf Rafaeli

Computer games are often accused of corrupting the youth, engaging too much in violent content or simply wasting their time, but the approximately 100 youth who came yesterday (Tuesday), on International Internet Day, to the experiential study day at the University of Haifa learned that computer games "Regular" such as "Starcraft", "Alpha-Century" or "ENERCITIES" can also be educational.

The experiential seminar, which included lectures and above all - experiencing the games themselves - was organized by the Management School of the University of Haifa and the Sagi Center for Internet Research and was attended by about a hundred teenagers in grades XNUMX-XNUMX from schools in the Haifa area. As mentioned, in contrast to games that were planned in advance as educational, or games that are supposed to simulate a business environment, similar to the games that are delivered to managers as part of the "managers' games" of the management school, the purpose of the seminar was to show the youth how "normal" games carry educational values ​​such as the development of analytical thinking , acquiring practical skills and more.

After a short explanation - for those who needed it - about the games on display, the teenagers began to play enthusiastically. Within minutes they were already immersed in trying to manage a city, establish a colony in space or just take over a hostile planet and it seems that the educational messages they tried to instill in them were long forgotten. "Obviously it teaches, it's a strategy," explained Eyal, a 15.5-year-old student. "You learn how to deal with situations, how to divide your resources. In the end, these are situations you encounter in real life."

"It turns out that we've always studied, now we also know what we've learned," Omri, who was sitting on the other side of the table and fighting a deer, reinforced him.

The head of the Sagi Center for Internet Research and one of the organizers of the day Prof. Shizeff Refaeli chose to go as far as Paul McCartney, who had already announced that he was working on writing music for a new computer game, to explain the connection between the "Beatles", computer games and the future. "It is true that Paul McCartney is already 70 years old and it is true that he is now competing with Ringo Star instead of collaborating with him, but it is clear why his next piece of music will be background music for computer games. 'YESTERDAY' McCartney understands TOMORROW. Computer games are the genre of the future: for leisure, for management, for study or training, and for professional politics," he concluded.