The collaboration will have music teachers in 51 cities using Wii Music to help children with rhythm, temp and song structure.

“The goal of Wii Music is to inspire people of all ages to enjoy music,” said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. “By partnering with educators and bringing Wii Music into their classrooms, we hope to give students a memorable, hands-on experience that helps them discover their own creative voice.”

Instead of trying to use Wii music to actually teach musical concepts, the main thrust appears to be getting children more interested in music. Something that I think Rock Band and Guitar Hero could also lend a hand in. Just ask my son and the thousands like him who have taken up real guitar lessons because of their game play.

But this is a great first step.

“Wii Music has brought a renewed excitement to music class for students from first grade to fifth, myself and even some of the classroom teachers,” said Helen A. Krofchick, a music teacher at Doby’s Mill Elementary School in Lugoff, S.C. “I love how many music standards can be covered in such a short time. Students also have to use language skills, spatial awareness and hand-eye coordination. We have a school very supportive of the arts and Wii Music has empowered our program even more. Any system that is educational and can add a love of music to children’s lives should be in every classroom.”

Other organization working with Nintendo on this program include San Francisco’s Blue Bear School of Music and New York’s Opus 118 Harlem School of Music.

“The joy of playing music is something that should be experienced by everyone, regardless of age, talent-level or experience,” said Joe Lamond, President & CEO of NAMM, the National Association of Music Merchants. “Research shows that more than 82 percent of people who don’t currently play a musical instrument wish they did. Wii Music can help address this by providing a positive introduction for millions of people who might not otherwise be inclined to try.”

This sounds like Nintendo has taken up the idea of getting Wii into schools to heart. Nintendo told me that they didn provide a "limited amount" of consoles to help get the program off the ground, though it doesn't sound like they plan on donating to schools across the country.

They did also work with The National Association for Music Education to create a master lesson plan.

It's good to see that my pet peeve is getting some attention.

The Eighties were an exciting time for video games, as graphics and computing power increased to the point where games started to become visually appealing and interactive. Educational games from that decade in particular taught teachers, parents, students, and designers things that are still influencing titles today.

Thanks to the wonders of the web, the original versions of these games are often available online, and there are discs and ports to other platforms floating around as well. Playing the original versions, while nostalgic, also helps remind us what made these games important. Some things they taught us were good (learning can be fun when presented properly). Some things, not so good (skill and drill only gets you so far, even in a game). Read on for a trip down memory lane, a discussion of each game’s significance, and some locations to try out versions for free.

Fun trip back if you're of a certain generation. Stuff like Oregon Trail seems to have taken on a life of its own, and plenty of the other games listed had long lives (and perhaps are still kicking via spiritual successors?).

The Top 10 Most Influential Educational Video Games from the 1980s [Educational Games Research via GameSetWatch]

The Power of Tangential Learning [Edge]

The games include Be A Reporter, about the basics of journalistic research, verification, and writing toward deadline; Run Your Newsroom, a game about managing and motivating people as a newsroom chief, and Covering Hospitals, a game about the unique features of reporting in the health arena.

If you play Be A Reporter, maybe sometime you too can grow a fashionable and effective journalistic mane like Crecente's.

News U [NewsU.org]

Eco-games? Yep, yep. Plenty Magazine has an interesting piece up taking a look at the green games phenomena. Games like Adventure Ecology teach kiddos about the environment's complex interdependencies in a way that linear media, like books, cannot. Benjamin Stokes, cofounder of Games for Change, a nonprofit group that supports serious game devs, sees striking similarities between games and nature—pointing that that both are interactive systems.

For the environmental movement, it makes perfect sense to use a video game as an educational tool... Video games are a mainstream form of media—they're not just for teenage boys in basements anymore,

Yeah, totally. That 50 inch plus plasma TV looks way better in the living room. Brian Ashcraft

Green Games [Plenty Magazine, Thanks Zippy!]