Where in the World?

On Monday, I overheard some people on the shuttle talk about how one of the new young professors at our law school was on "Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?"

In addition to being surprised with this information, I was so envious of that professor. I watched the show all the time and absolutely loved the computer game. I remember how exciting it was piecing together clues and looking facts up in the almanac. Yeah, once a nerd always a nerd.

As I have said many times before in this blog, I love edutainment (education + entertainment). My uncle used to work for The Learning Company, the computer software company that eventually bought Carmen Sandiego. I give them so many kudos for making learning fun. The game Gizmos and Gadgets taught me basics about mechanics and engineering, Treasure Mathstorm introduced me to algebra well before I learned it in the classroom (I was a mathlete after all), and there were so many other great games my brother and I enjoyed for free.

Professors nowadays always complain about how kids, and most adults, have such a poor sense of geography. I mean how many kids could identify Iran like these kids did (1 minute into the video)...



Maybe if we should teach geography, and all subjects for that fact, this way...yes, this is the special celebrity edition with Mayim Bialik of Blossom, Tatyana Ali of Fresh Prince, and Jeremy Miller of Growing Pains.


I guess I was lucky that I got to grow up with these shows and games, and had teachers that were creative.

PS. I am on the lookout for a red trench coat. I always wanted to be Carmen Sandiego for Halloween.