Videogames: The view from N.C.

Check with your child's teacher "before purchasing any computer games or programs to see if [they're] relevant to the child’s current stage of development," is some advice cited by the Jacksonville [N.C.] Daily News in "Videogame technology more than just recreation." For this 4th piece of a five-part series on videogames' evolution, the Daily News talked to Jenita Shephard, coordinator of instruction technology for Onslow County Schools, who said the "critical difference between a game and learning" is assessment – educational software, though it can be plenty fun, assesses "at what level a child may be performing academically, helps the child excel in a subject, and then evaluates what the child has learned." The other parts in the series: "As the audience grew up, so did their videogames," Part 1; "Gamers inhabit a virtual world of reality," Part 2; "Industry numbers show she's got game, too," Part 3; and "Games molding military minds," Part 5. [On that last subject, see also "'America's Army' morphs" in NetFamilyNews .]