From The State News (link):
Made flash cards of vocabulary words? Check. Read study terms in textbook? Check. Played online video game with friends? Check?
When MSU announced a new partnership with the Chinese government Monday to create the MSU Confucius Institute, which will offer online language courses in Mandarin Chinese, it also embarked on a new concept in education.
Working with the China Central Radio and Television University in Beijing, MSU officials are creating an online immersive video game environment to help students learn Chinese language and culture.
“This concept is many years ahead of its time,” said Yong Zhao, director of the U.S.-China Center for Research on Educational Excellence and an MSU education professor.
Carrie Heeter, director of the MSU Communication Technology Laboratory, believes games in education will increasingly become part of academic teaching tools in the future because they are deeply engaging. She said even commercial games require high levels of complex learning in order to master them.
