Comments on: Education AU Workshop (post 6 of 6) Annika Small http://blog.brettmoller.com/2006/08/03/education-au-workshop-post-6-of-6-annika-small/ Thoughts on education and educational technology. Fri, 04 Jun 2010 12:06:17 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: C-Learning not E-Learning « RichardRadio http://blog.brettmoller.com/2006/08/03/education-au-workshop-post-6-of-6-annika-small/comment-page-1/#comment-12621 C-Learning not E-Learning « RichardRadio Wed, 05 Mar 2008 21:56:08 +0000 http://blog.brettmoller.com/?p=144#comment-12621 [...] Education AU Workshop (post 6 of 6) Annika Small [...] [...] Education AU Workshop (post 6 of 6) Annika Small [...]

]]> By: David Warlick http://blog.brettmoller.com/2006/08/03/education-au-workshop-post-6-of-6-annika-small/comment-page-1/#comment-1441 David Warlick Sat, 05 Aug 2006 10:44:32 +0000 http://blog.brettmoller.com/?p=144#comment-1441 Brett, Thanks so much for blogging this session. I wish I had time t attend the entire conference on Hitchhikr (http://hitchhikr.com/?conf_id=50). I'd like to take a brief stab at your third question. <blockquote>Using games in education without tagging them with the word education in a way that turns kids off using games in learning - How do we make sure this doesn’t happen? It is a matter of making the learning fun and engaging as students love learning when it is engaging.</blockquote> I think that rather than trying to convince students that games are not about learning, that we might try to convince teachers that learning can be a game -- it can be fun. Beyond that, I'll suggest that the key to the video game as an intense <i>learning engine</i> is not the the word "game", but the experience that the students having. Rather than turning classroom instruction into a game, we should try to determine the elements of the game (and MySpace) (and IM) that are sooooo compelling to students, and then try to integrate those elements into their learning activities. We can bring games into the classroom, but I do not believe that merely integrating games will reach the full potential of our opportunities. I've been thinking about this, and it appears to me that we should be asking these questions, among others: How do we make our classrooms, teachers, and textbooks as responsive to student actions and need as a video game is? How do we design classrooms where students literally invest themselves, in some way, into the activity of the classroom? How do we make them a stakeholder? How do we design outcomes or prizes into the classroom that even if they are not of intrinsic value, they will be awards that students will want to talk about to each other? How do we give students opportunities to build products that are of value to other people, through which learners can be identified as value-adders? Just a few questions. I agree that we need to try to leave the word game behind. But we need to try to figure out how to make our classrooms the same kind of <i>learning engine</i> that video games are. Have a great rest of the conference! -- dave -- Brett,

Thanks so much for blogging this session. I wish I had time t attend the entire conference on Hitchhikr (http://hitchhikr.com/?conf_id=50). I’d like to take a brief stab at your third question.

Using games in education without tagging them with the word education in a way that turns kids off using games in learning – How do we make sure this doesn’t happen? It is a matter of making the learning fun and engaging as students love learning when it is engaging.

I think that rather than trying to convince students that games are not about learning, that we might try to convince teachers that learning can be a game — it can be fun.

Beyond that, I’ll suggest that the key to the video game as an intense learning engine is not the the word “game”, but the experience that the students having. Rather than turning classroom instruction into a game, we should try to determine the elements of the game (and MySpace) (and IM) that are sooooo compelling to students, and then try to integrate those elements into their learning activities.

We can bring games into the classroom, but I do not believe that merely integrating games will reach the full potential of our opportunities.

I’ve been thinking about this, and it appears to me that we should be asking these questions, among others:

How do we make our classrooms, teachers, and textbooks as responsive to student actions and need as a video game is?
How do we design classrooms where students literally invest themselves, in some way, into the activity of the classroom? How do we make them a stakeholder?
How do we design outcomes or prizes into the classroom that even if they are not of intrinsic value, they will be awards that students will want to talk about to each other?
How do we give students opportunities to build products that are of value to other people, through which learners can be identified as value-adders?

Just a few questions. I agree that we need to try to leave the word game behind. But we need to try to figure out how to make our classrooms the same kind of learning engine that video games are.

Have a great rest of the conference!

– dave –

]]>