Every day many students go home from school, grab a bag of chips and a soda, turn on their gaming console and collapse on the couch where they remain for several hours.
But students aren’t the only ones using video games as a way of providing entertainment and stress relief. Several teachers at Albert Lea High School enjoy gaming as well. According to Lynda Kiesler, video games can provide entertainment and can also be used for educational purposes.
“‘With Age of Empire’ I can learn about history and military strategy,” Kiesler said.
She also enjoys playing the computer game Age of Empires, wii Mario and wii Monopoly.
Kiesler isn’t the only teacher playing video games for fun and functional purposes. Wendy Keszler plays Xbox 360 to increase her multitasking skills. Keszler takes advantage of the system’s online capabilities by playing Halo 3. Mrs. Keszler’s favorite type of game is the open-ended, go-wherever types of games. She enjoys playing the role playing games “The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim” and “Morrowind.”
“In RPG games there’s logic you have to use,” Casey McIntyre said. “You have to figure things out.”
That’s what engineering teacher, Casey McIntyre has to say about role playing games like “Oblivion” and “Skyrim.” McIntyre is a frequent gamer as well, playing 1-2 hours a day, five days a week.
Like many other adults that play video games, McIntyre was among the first generation of children to be introduced to gaming councils that could be brought home.
“I could go to the arcade and play Super Mario Bros. or I could go home and play it.” said McIntyre.
Casey McIntyre was in the 4th grade when the first gaming system, the Atari, came out.
With school work and other activities, teachers and students sometimes struggle to find time to play video games. With busy schedules, teachers find it hard to game with each other, therefore rarely do so.
“Everybody should have a balance of how much time they should play video games and do other things,” said Kiesler,”it’s nice to relate to the younger generations with video games.”