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Learning by Playing - nest0r - 2010-09-19
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/19/magazine/19video-t.html
"WHAT IF TEACHERS GAVE UP the vestiges of their educational past, threw away the worksheets, burned the canon and reconfigured the foundation upon which a century of learning has been built? What if we blurred the lines between academic subjects and reimagined the typical American classroom so that, at least in theory, it came to resemble a typical American living room or a child’s bedroom or even a child’s pocket, circa 2010 — if, in other words, the slipstream of broadband and always-on technology that fuels our world became the source and organizing principle of our children’s learning? What if, instead of seeing school the way we’ve known it, we saw it for what our children dreamed it might be: a big, delicious video game?
It is a radical proposition, sure. But during an era in which just about everything is downloadable and remixable, when children are frequently more digitally savvy than the adults around them, it’s perhaps not so crazy to think that schools — or at least one school, anyway — might try to remix our assumptions about how to reach and educate those children."
Learning by Playing - wccrawford - 2010-09-19
The whole thing ignores the fact that we should be teaching children to learn first, then teaching them how to do other things.
I did so well in school because I could learn things quickly and then go on and learn other things. I quite often knew things ahead of time because I read ahead or learned them at home, teaching myself. (Sometimes by chance, sometimes on purpose.)
If you focus on giving children the information without first teaching them how to teach themselves, you cripple them for life.
In truth, this is what we already do in our schools.
It is MUCH easier to have someone hand you a book and a curriculum and learn at the pace they set than to learn on your own. But until you master it, you are at the mercy of others.
I don't sit around thinking "Man, that new programming language is nice. I wish someone would teach me." I just go learn it. If I happen upon a faster/better method, I switch... But I don't let lack of a teacher stop me.
Learning by Playing - nest0r - 2010-09-19
Wow, you sure read that article fast.
I'm pretty sure the whole point is an integration of metacognition and learning, actually. I think this is better than trying to separate the two. But I would like to know more about the more trad foundation the article describes prior to the incorporation of games -- doesn't say enough to know whether they also begin prepping them for the more processual 'flow' of the rest of the programme.
Learning by Playing - Surreal - 2010-09-27
"There is, at least, growing support for experimentation: in March, Arne Duncan, the secretary of education, released a draft National Educational Technology Plan that reads a bit like a manifesto for change, proposing among other things that the full force of technology be leveraged to meet “aggressive goals” and “grand” challenges, including increasing the percentage of the population that graduates from college to 60 percent from 39 percent in the next 10 years. What it takes to get there, the report suggests, is a “new kind of R.& D. for education” that encourages bold ideas and “high risk/high gain” endeavors — possibly even a school built around aliens, villains and video games. "
I wonder how they tackle this, given that social experiments can have some serious risks for the ones involved, especially children? I mean, of course "quest to learn" is part of it but I mean in general. I'm interested in how they steer this kind of r&d.
The article made me think of this
http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=167
and also the anime dennou koiru http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%9B%BB%E8%84%B3%E3%82%B3%E3%82%A4%E3%83%AB
The article discussed how the lack of resources might be a problem and how to tackle it, as I see it there was some great pedagogical software even six years ago, if they just focus on the design and not so much on the awesoem graffix etc. I think it shouldn't be too expensive to use it... Of course, if it's too ugly the kids will be off-put by it but yeah. I think that, if programmers from ten years back got the average hardware of around to play around they would feel as if they had such creative power, somehow I get the feeling the programmers at the forefront today always want more and more and forget about doing more with less.
One of the problems with all this hyper-interactive digital environments is you can't exert as much control over what is learned, like the "build ancient buildings to learn ancient architecture" thing... Do the kids focus on the shapes of their building blocks, the construction procedure, do they learn about how long it took to build these things, what do they actually take home with them? Of course, in the usual study environments too, we're distracted by all kinds of things, maybe we remember what abraham lincoln looks like and the shape of his nose, but not what years he was president, etc. etc. But the digital environments, by their nature, unleash a flood of changes on their inhabitants and as the design is fleshed out with stories, villains what have you, it's a real challenge to make the material that is to be learned stand out as key points for the learner... And when you consider that a lot of things will quickly become dated through the technological progress, and competition between differens companies that will be a LOT of time spent on development, not to mention beta testing.
Re: teaching oneself: As there is game development involved, I think that could help give the children some autonomy, not to mention they get considerable training in surfing and so improve their ability of getting information on their own from all over the 'net.
I see however a risk for shortened attention spans and an inability to pay attention to what is dull, to learn how to appreciate non-tailored experiences (one of the teachers mentions how she thinks of games as "designed experiences", a viewpoint I agree with). They could try to balance the gaming with spending time together outside and teaching the children about how incredibly complex and interesting our natural environments can be if you just learn to appreciate them, and how to take control of their own thoughts to find ways to like the mundane everyday moments of life that they will unavoidably encounter. To see how just because it's something you're used to, it doesn't mean it's not worth paying attention to and that there's always something new to learn about it. Consumption of experiences isn't as threatening to our environment, but it can well lead to the same feeling of emptiness associated with mindless consumption of material products.
I'd write a tl;dr summary but I don't really have one.
Learning by Playing - jcdietz03 - 2010-09-27
You can learn about redistricting with the redistricting game. http://www.redistrictinggame.org/
Is this the kind of thing you're talking about?