For those who've been under a rock (or buried in a busy classroom -- trust us, we understand), the Wii is today's hottest gaming console, vastly outselling the PlayStation and garnering gobs of media attention with its inventive and easily understood games. More than twenty-four million Wii units have sold globally, according to its maker, Nintendo.
Here's a thought: Why not take a tech platform that kids are already nuts about and put it to use? That was the thought at Cumberland Elementary School, in West Lafayette, Indiana, where first-grade teacher David Brantley used a parent donation to buy three Wii consoles. Brantley integrated some of the Wii's games and online channels into lessons on weather and geography. The result: "A great virtual map and globe activity," he says.