(Isn’t it funny that the blog that focuses on my primary profession and my passion is the one I’m suddenly having so much trouble writing for?)
I’m probably overly fascinated by the “E/I” (educational and informative) logo on children’s television shows. I’ve actually tried to find the criteria for a show to earn this logo since it mysteriously showed up on an Italian import that had no discernible educational content whatsoever. (If anyone knows what the criteria is, please drop me a line.)
Anyone who works with kids knows, though, that it isn’t just the shows designed to teach kids that actually teach them. I’ll go to show one of my students something, and they’ll just do it or be able to answer my question. I smile inwardly as they proudly tell me about some section of a video game where they had to do something related to get past the section, or about how some cartoon character used the same thing to solve a problem. It may not have been the intention of the game or cartoon to teach the skill, but it happened anyway.
I’ve been thinking about that while playing at creating my first attempts at educational programming. Granted, right now I’m still working on the more obviously educational projects, but I’m also quietly putting thought and time toward other, less obviously educational projects. What’s the line? What’s the right balance between a blatant educational experience and a shrouded teaching moment?
The grad school I keep trying to make myself apply for has suddenly sent me a newsletter. I’m thinking I should take advantage of it to hunt down a real person in the department so I can talk to them and see if that program really is a good fit for me so I can just make my decision once and for all. I’m really just too fascinated by educational media to let it go.
Posted by Rebecca as Uncategorized, Experiential Learning, Games at 8:23 AM EDT
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When I first started looking at gaming as a vehicle for education several yeas ago, I was really interested in looking at the informal way gaming encouraged and built up communication and business skills. I was spending my weekends in a game shop watching teenagers navigate new games, teach each other how to play unfamiliar games, and negotiate fair trades. It was fascinating to watch, and I loved having a ringside seat. Part of me wonders what those kids (now college students…yikes!) have taken with them from those days of swapping Pokemon and Harry Potter cards.
More than that, the games these kids were playing, both at the shop and at home, were giving these kids an expansive set of reasoning skills. They were learning to plan out, to think ahead. They were learning that it’s okay to make a mistake, back up, switch tactics and try again. They were learning to teach. They were learning to take what they learned in one arena and apply it to the next. They were learning to set goals and work toward them. They were learning to identify problems and solve them.
For all the evils that games seem to be blamed for, research is showing time and time again that those who play games are actually developing relevant problem-solving skills that they end up transferring into their real-world lives. They see cause-effect patterns and devise a strategy to get the effect they want from their cause. They handle failure as one small incident in time that they move past quickly. They can transfer skills throughout different areas of their life because they’re used to doing it through their gamer life.
Games can often be some of the best teaching tools for soft skills not easily taught through “traditional” methods.
Posted by Rebecca as Uncategorized, Games at 8:22 AM EDT
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I suspect I’ll be reading a lot on this while I try to figure out what path best suits my talents, but this PDF is full of good examples on what game-based learning can accomplish, and points to some more resources.
Good thing I enjoy reading, right?
What I perceive as one of game-based learning’s real strengths is that it does tap in to someone’s prior knowledge, and grips them on the emotional level that we hope to reach a student on in face-to-face teaching. It makes use of a hot technology to make that connection.
I’m finding myself slanting more toward educational media, and specifically serious games, the more that I read and think about what I’d like to accomplish, what I’d like to design. Maybe it’s because I’m from the video game generation. Maybe it’s because I’m an average gamer (who knew?). Maybe it’s because I like to challenge myself in my work.
Doesn’t change the fact that I’ll be gearing my reading more these interactive learning experiences.
Posted by Rebecca as e-learning, Games at 8:08 AM EDT
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Games teach problem solving.
No, seriously. Probably 95% of my problem-solving skills came from a life spent playing all variety of games and puzzles.
More research is being conducted every day that shows this phenomenon is true for most of those who engage frequently in games.
What’s really cool is that the engineering sector is saying that a specific game can help kids develop the thinking skills necessary to succeed in engineering.
Where some people see a video game as someone sitting glued to a television for hours on end playing the same game, some of us understand that we’re learning to take risks, think situations through, trying out different combinations to find a solution. Where some people see the MMORPG as a great way to lose a loved one to a virtual world, some of us understand that some level of communications and social development is taking place.
The results are trickling in, and games can actually be beneficial for developing skills that serve adults well in the business world, regardless of the sector.
Posted by Rebecca as Problem Solving, Games at 8:25 AM EST
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Today is really going to just be about sharing some of the posts I’ve been reading lately. The other day I was thinking about the new class of educational toys. Today I’m thinking about computer and video games. This might be because I have my interview with the Art Institute this morning to discuss whether or not their Interactive Media program is a good fit for the shift I’m trying to push myself through. I suspect by the time it’s all said and done, she’s going to recommend I find a more technical school…but we’ll see.
Okay…recent games reading:
- Racial ambiguity in games- Like Mrs. Dewey, it appears that games are starting to feature characters that are designed in such a way that most people can find something to identify with. I don’t know if I’ve ever thought to identify myself with Mario or Lara Croft, but I think this is just awesome. Designing with multiculturalism in mind can open up what you can do with a game, but at the same time, it also runs the risk of breaking down cultural boundaries, and potentially making it okay to generate a homogeneous culture instead of celebrating what makes various cultures unique.
- Hotel Dusk: Novel or Game?- I’ve been working on figuring out the Change Your Own Adventure development process for what I hope will become a series of games where math will help determine your path through the story, so finding out about this one excited me. I’m going to have to see if I can pick up a copy to see how they did it. One of the potential benefits of a game like this is that it can either breed an interest in reading in kids who wouldn’t normally read for fun, or it could pull avid readers into gaming (thereby encouraging them to become more social).
- Today’s Homework: Make Good Games- I remember when I was in middle school, my life science teacher thought it would be fun for everyone to create games designed to help us study for a test. It was a lot of fun. We each worked on our own, and I think mine was a version of Monopoly with a trivia element to it. It was awesome because I got to design something, and just creating the game helped me study for the test. When I got to make the box of reading games for one of my teacher prep classes, I thought that was pretty cool, too. I love playing games. I love solving puzzles. I love creating treasure hunts. And I love creating games, even if my experience up until this CYOA one has been low-tech.
- Game over- Play again?- Okay, so I really like this one! When I was a kid playing Donkey Kong Junior and Mario, it was all about how wonderful the games were for teaching things like problem solving and hand-eye coordination for us less athletically gifted kids. Now, games are hailed for being able to draw people together socially as they work together on MMORPGs or through xBox Live. Even the Wii is already being praised for getting gamers off their couches. (And if you have yet to play with a Wii, I highly recommend it. It is more fun than any one person should be allowed to have indoors!) The one unsung skill taught by gaming, though, is the ability to make mistakes and be completely fine with it because you know you’ll get an other chance. It’s actually a subskill of the problem solving skill. You try something. You die. You think, ‘So next time, I’ll try this instead.’ Which you do. It kills you. Finally, you figure out the right solution, and you keep going. No fuss. No stress over doing it “wrong”. It’s just an attempt. Smart gamers carry this skill, like the others, in their back pocket to help them get through real life. And it’s true.
Gaming isn’t a panacea to all of education’s ills, but it can be great for reinforcing skill development. And I’m starting to see why I’m gravitating back toward it, just from an educator’s perspective.
Posted by Rebecca as Experiential Learning, Problem Solving, Games, Link Dump at 7:31 AM EST
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As my thoughts on my future try to narrow in on a plan and a back-up plan for my career shift, I’m finding my reading shifting away from e-portfolios and adult-centric e-learning to information architecture/literacy and K-12 media and games. The more I read, the more I think about things, the longer I’m at my current job, the more I want to get involved in creating products to help students acquire and review math skills. (Actually, I want to be involved in more than just math, but it’s what’s got me fired up for so many reasons.) Right now, I’m just trying to figure out how to position myself to move into that kind of work.
It’s quite the time to try to figure out how to shift to a different informal education niche. The education industry as a whole is going through a rather large shift that may involve sliding in and out of paradigms as it grows to accommodate the accelerated changes in our society. Children are able to reach out and learn in many different ways and from many different sources. With a little training, they can learn what sources can be trusted, and what sources should either be reinforced with information from other sources or discarded altogether.
But I digress from my actual reason for writing today. My point is that children love to explore. They love to learn initially. They like to copy what grown-ups do because they know that’s part of becoming a grown-up. They mimic. They make knowledge their own. They find their own ways of doing things.
More often than not, they do it at a rate that is faster than their parents are able to adapt to the current new world order. Think about it. I’m a member of the video game generation. While my parents enjoyed sitting down to play favorite games when we first got the Coleco, I was the one who played nearly every game we had. When I was given a Nintendo right after they came out, Mom and Dad had their games, but again, I was the one who played nearly all of them. Now, they IM me for help on the computer (even though Mom is far more computer savvy than she realizes). Along with my technological toys, I had my Fisher Price kitchen so I could pretend to cook like my mom. I had my blocks so I could try to make my own buildings. I had no end of art supplies so I could create my own works of art.
I had access to toys my parents couldn’t have imagined when they were kids, but they helped me be able to successfully navigate my way into the grown-up world I had to deal with. Today’s children are now doing the same thing- except their toys are kid-friendly computers, cell phones, and other technological toys. Where I learned to design with my Crayola caddy, they’re using Crayola products that can do far more than my crayons and markers ever could. Where I learned to write BASIC programs and draw in Paint (both of which i did toward the end of elementary school), these kids are learning their way around WYSIWYG editors and kid-friendly programs to create with a computer. Many of them move on to harder programs by the end of middle school.
The kids show the grown-ups how to use the “basic” technology toys in use. It’s because it’s the world they’re growing up into. They become familiar with these now so that they can be prepared to quickly adapt to newer technologies as they develop.
Are we stealing their childhood from them by allowing them access to these types of toys, or are we allowing them to explore, to play, to discover?
Inspired by this article
Posted by Rebecca as Experiential Learning, Problem Solving, Games at 8:08 AM EST
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When I first heard about Second Life, it was because a local university was starting to explore its uses as a virtual classroom. I was intrigued and wanted to explore it myself. Unfortunately, time and technology didn’t permit, and I completely forgot about it as I tried to pick up the pieces of my ruined graduate career.
The next time I heard about Second Life, it sounded like things were in full swing. Again, technology reared its ugly head, and I find myself still really wanting to explore the environment, see how learning takes place in this virtual, Snow Crash-esque realm. I don’t deny that it is possible some real learning is taking place. Given how much I’ve learned from the people I’ve encountered on my journeys through the internet, I can see a virtual meeting place being a great opportunity to share what you know, or pick someone else’s brain.
Now that my computer seems to have settled down, perhaps I should look into it again. If you ever see “Elizabeth Colville” wandering around, feel free to say hi. (I was so sad that with all the common surnames, I wasn’t able to create an avatar with my own name.)
Maybe once I’m able to play around in it, it’ll help me work toward resolving this little niche crisis I’ve been suffering.
Posted by Rebecca as Uncategorized, e-learning, Games at 8:14 AM EST
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I’m spending much of this month working out the process for a game I want to include in my portfolio for grad school applications, and it’s causing me to do way too much thinking about this site and how I want to grow it over the next year.
Specifically, I got to thinking more about the specific structure of the tutorials and quests I want to develop for the site. You see, for the site to successfully accomplish my objective, it will have to be able to complete the whole teach-assess-reteach-reassess cycle on its own, without the benefit of human intuition. I’m not into artificial intelligence, but I think I don’t have to be to make it all work on a superficial level.
You see, I’ve been reconnecting with video games (oh, how I have desperately missed them!), and I’m learning something very important. Teach-assess-reteach-reassess isn’t something that takes place only in a classroom. In fact, it’s something of how nonformal and informal learning work. You pick up a skill in a game. You then apply said skill. After being killed repeatedly because you can’t get the hang out of said skill, you find the tutorial area of the game to practice the skill again, or you find a resource to explain the skill more clearly. Then you go back to the game and correctly use the skill.
It makes thinking about both my game and the site redesign a bit more easier to plan out.
Posted by Rebecca as Experiential Learning, Games at 7:54 AM EST
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As some of you are aware, I’ve been working on turning a plan for a math-based “choose your own adventure”-styled book into a computer game. It started out as a potential component of a portfolio to be included with my applications to grad schools.
It has become an interesting experiment, though. Working on this game is stretching me in ways I really can’t convey. Creating the underlying structure and the puzzles was the easy part. Right now, I’m working through the text, and that’s where the game has suddenly become interesting. I feel like I could teach writing classes based strictly on what I’m learning right now.
When you create a disjointed storyline, you do something very interesting. You have to create text that is capable of mixing and matching with any possible text that comes after it. It makes transitioning more interesting, more challenging. After working for the past year or so with writing students to help them create clear, clean transitions, I’ve already started working through in my head how I would teach someone else to accomplish the writing scheme I’m working with to get this game going.
The challenge is to keep each scene believable, and to make it feel like it genuinely belongs after the previous scene, regardless of which scene brought the player to the scene.
It’s also led me to start rethinking plans that I’ve had for writing my book through a series of tutorials on this site. At one point, I was only going to include articles. Then I was going to attempt a “Problem of the Day”. The current plans call for an article that leads to a set of practice problems that are navigated by entering the answer to a question and then either being sent on to the next problem or back to a reteaching tutorial.
I feel like I have so much trapped in my head at the moment, screaming to get out, but I’ve really become obsessed with creating math tutorials tyo help keep kids away from those dangerous cracks.
Posted by Rebecca as Teaching methods, Games at 8:28 AM EST
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Most of us have a deck of cards and some dice lying around. These playtime tools can help your math student work on their facts.
It works pretty simply. Using the deck of cards, the student draws two or three cards and adds or multiplies them (depending on what skill they’re looking to practice). They can write them down on a piece of paper, or they can sharpen their mental math skills by doing it all in their head. For this purpose, the ace is 1, the jack is 11, the queen is 12, and the king is 13.
Dice work much the same way. You roll them and add or multiply them. For some real fun, head down to your local game shop and get a couple of twelve-sided dice to let them practice the full range of facts they need to know for school. (To really torture your student, get a couple of twenty-sided dice)
Other ways you can use these tools to practice your math is to set up order of operations problems with them. Use the cards or dice to get your numbers, and then mix up your operation. A roll of 5, 2, and 6 could look like 5+2X6 for practice.
See? You can play and study math all at the same time!
Posted by Rebecca as Games at 12:21 PM EST
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