Learning is fun… yea right

But it’s true, if homework means playing games. And that’s exactly what several education institutions in the US – such as Evergreen School, Elizabeth Forward School District, and Belmont University – have done.

Portal 2 is a critically acclaimed video game that makes use of physics to solve puzzles. Watch the game trailer to get an idea of how it works.

Seth Schiesel noted in the New York Times review that “Somewhere out there an innovative, dynamic high school physics teacher will use Portal 2 as the linchpin of an entire series of lessons and will immediately become the most important science teacher those lucky students have ever had.” This inspired Valve, the video game development and digital distribution company behind Portal, to develop teaching tools that educators could use in the classroom. And so, Teach with Portals was released this year.

This program includes Portal 2 and the Puzzle Maker software, which students can use to create chambers and solve puzzles in an environment with realistic physics.

Cool huh? My physics lessons would have been a lot more engaging if my teachers used portals, I’m sure. This is just one example of how games can be used for e-learning. In an age where children are exposed to electronics since they were born, using technology to teach is an excellent notion. And what better form than games?