Britain is set to study the effectiveness of using certain computer games as part of four schools' teaching curriculum.
The project will focus on not just so-called edutainment titles that are traditionally used in schools, but also on commercial games that students are used to playing at home, the BBC reported.
The yearlong, $550,000 project is being backed by games giant Electronic Arts and lottery-funded education organization Futurelab.
"Computer games engage the brain like no other media," said Claus Due, market development manager for Electronic Arts. "We believe that children can and already do learn a lot through them."
Likely candidates for classroom use include games which relate to historical events, such as "Civilization" or the "Age of Empires" series, or those which model real life in some way like "The Sims."
© Copyright 2005 by United Press International
