Changing Lives. One student at a time.
Summer Learning – One Week of…Playing Video Games Leads to Lucrative Tech Jobs
For Immediate Release
San Francisco, February 9, 2010
As a featured guest at the Pittsburgh Technology Council’s Pre-G-20 Forum this past fall, Google Inc. CEO Eric Schmidt was asked what type of training young people should pursue to gain the skills necessary to work in the tech sector of the future. Not surprisingly, he wants kids and teens to learn programming. But the idea that surprised many in the room? He thought playing video games had value too.
“The game world is good training for a career in tech,” said Schmidt. “It teaches players to build a network, to use interactive skills and thinking.”
Schmidt’s words may come as a shock to those of us who weren’t born with a laptop or a smart phone in our hands. His comments directly contradict what popular culture has been telling us for years; that video game playing is only for entertainment value and doesn’t lead to any long term benefits. We think of gamers as chip-eating, soda-drinking couch potatoes destined to work minimum wage temp jobs for the rest of their lives. We haven’t connected the dots…that gaming can actually be a valuable stepping stone leading to better results for surgeons, athletes, computer scientists and engineers. An AP Article covered a study from Beth Israel Medical Center with the title “Surgeons may err less by playing video games: Three hours a week decreased mistakes by 37 percent, study finds.”
“It’s refreshing to hear somebody like Eric Schmidt address the topic,” said Pete Ingram-Cauchi, President and CEO of iD Tech Camps, the nation’s largest youth summer technology program. “We’ve been preaching that same sentiment for years and have actually seen the positive effects that programming and video game design can have on students.”
The summer camp uses gaming as a vehicle to build critical thinking skills. Students work with gaming titles like Unreal Tournament® 3 and Half-Life® 2, along with the 3D modeling package Maya®, and game development software from Multimedia Fusion 2 Developer ®.
“Our students want to learn how to create video games—to learn game development skills. But that’s the head fake. Along the way, they gain problem-solving skills and teambuilding skills which are absolutely vital in the tech field.” said Ingram-Cauchi.
Are the days behind us where kids and teens are treated as outcasts for having a keen interest in video games? Probably not. But Mom and Dad can now rest a little easier after spending $50 on a video game. It just might be an investment. And who knows, it might lead to fulfilling the dream of attending Stanford, UCLA or MIT. Or even getting that lucrative dream job. Eric, you still hiring?
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Written by Ryan Barone
February 11th, 2010 | Tags: learn programming, make video games, Summer Camps, video game design camps
Posted in: CEO's Blog, iD In The News
There are definitely a ton of video game jobs out there for future job hunters. It is great to see young people acquire these types of skills that they can actually utilize in their future careers. Bravo to Google & iD Tech Camps!
Andy Williams
GameJobHunter, Inc.
gamejobhunter.com
Thanks, Andy! I agree 100%.
-Pete