Video games are learning tools, according to a Club Newsmaker event

Highly sophisticated video games based on educational research, closely tied to curriculum and supported by federal funding are significantly changing the way millions of students learn, according to education experts who addressed a Club Newsmaker on April 16.

Greg Toppo, national education eeporter for USA Today and author of a new book, “The Game Believes in You, How Digital Play Can Make Our Kids Smarter,” called these games “hard fun.” Toppo said he chose to devote his first book to this topic because these games combine academic rigor and experiential learning in a way that appeals to people on different sides of the education debate.

Millions of American students are now using video games to understand topics as varied as mathematical word problems, the process of photosynthesis, and the history of the Underground Railroad. Through its grant program, the Education Department's Small Business Innovation Research Program at the US Department of Education has funded 40 game programs. With each $1 million grant, designers must conduct extensive research, work with top experts in history, science and other disciplines and hone their design to appeal to students.

“The games have to work better than what teachers have in the classroom,” said David Langendoen, whose New York-based company Electric Funstuff develops history games. “If we can’t prove it, schools won’t use it.”