AERA in Chicago was a whirlwind in the windy city. It was a great and I learned a lot. I'm going to list off some highlights and then answer my questions from an earlier post.
- "The Silent Epidemic" refers to the third of high school students that regularly drop out. Students in this bottom third become attracted to school because of video games (such as Civilization 3 as an after school program used for history class)
- No Child Left Behind may be trying to improve a problematic, antiquated entity (schooling based on industrial, factory principles). Someone said it is like raising the deck chairs on the Titanic 5 inches.
- Becoming global citizens is a value I heard more than any other.
- Students work hard on beating games when they are almost impossible to beat.
- I've heard it repeated that reflecting on the right answers is more worthwhile than reflecting on the wrong answers.
- Metaphors shape the way people act.
- Language shapes (people's perceptions of) reality
- Aristotle said the state should conduct education if the parents don't. (So Aristotle was for home-schooling?)
- Many people are thinking that we learn well through introduction to professional practices.
- Students using "cheats" to beat a game may be a good example of good learning.
Some short answers to my earlier questions:
- How are video/computer games being used in education today? Games used in classrooms today are largely what Kurt Squire calls "chocolate covered broccoli" (like spaceship math, or something). Serious games may be really integrated in education contexts in around 5 years (judging by federal grant spending, and projects in the works).
- What, besides embodying effective pedagogical techniques, are virtues of commercial video games? One example is that games, especially MMOG's afford (instantaneous) collaborative teamwork on a worldwide scale. That's a skill valued in today's global economy.
- What to people learn from making amateur movies, and from watching amateur movies (youtube movies, class assignment movies, home movies). I didn't find this out, but I did find out that a professionally produced 1/2 video (Read Between the Lions) costs thousands of dollars, teaching about 7 words per episode.
- What is Brett Shelton & Co. at Utah State doing with games for instruction? They are beginning a very cool sounding game production for firefighters in Utah. Shelton & Co. are collaborating with UVSC to make a game that teaches firefighters how to make judgments and command decisions. Think Star Trek's Kobiyashi Maru for firefighters. This is great, since games reputably excel at encouraging comlex, higher level thinking.
- What are the theoretical leanings of other universities, and how does that compare with UW-Madison (known for Critical Theory)? All i learned about this is that at UW-Madison I hear a lot about the importance of situated learning (the social context in which a learner learns). One seminar on games was led by cognitivists (that was my general impression...cognitivists view the brain as a computer which processes information), and they seemed to stress individual problem-solving as a virtue of video games. At the end of the session, the discussant, who works for the Department of Defense, suggested they consider collaborative aspects of games for education. This made an impression on me - a federal government employee recommending the virtue of collaboration possible through games. This is a "teacher" who teaches content on which lives depend, and games/simulations are an important part of that.
- How can I beat Christopher at Fantasy Baseball? I went to a Cubs/Reds game, and learned that highly rated players can lose a game in one inning.
12 comments:
Said "highly-rated player" happened to be on my team. Grrrrrrr.
Sounds like you might have done some work in between going to baseball games and museums.
The conference sounds very informative and inspiring! Just reading this post makes me want to play games and get smart (I am going to show it to my wife to get her to let me play!). Did the conference discuss the negative implications of games? I find it very fascinating, the correlation between MPOG an World Based Economics. I wonder how one might glen the positives of the top selling, shoot'em up, games and apply them to an educational game that could also reach such heights of popularity.
up up down down left right left right b a start.
I never realized that by using that code I was shaping my future for success.
C-Blakes - How did you get those book links on your page?
TJ - yes, that code is why you now work for Mr. Covey. I wouldn't be suprised if he knew the Contra code either.
I wonder what it means that so many people remember that code?
And to get the book links on the page, go to www.shelfari.com, create an account, "build a shelf", and then you should see an option to "add to blog."
Rob, there wasn't much talk of negative effects. In the Education world the feeling is that 'we know games have strong teaching potential and we're trying to figure it out.' So it's a pretty optimistic approach. There's acknowledgement that games (or any technology) aren't the solution to every problem.
In addressing negative concerns like anti-social encouragement, I've heard game advocates answer that balanced approaches are important in instruction as in many things, like one's diet, for example.
You said:
"I wonder how one might glen the positives of the top selling, shoot'em up, games and apply them to an educational game"
This is kind of THE question a lot of people are trying to answer: how to apply principles and techniques from commercial games that so successfully get people to work hard at learning and accomplishing goals.
Kurt Squire in my view is leading the way in this area (http://website.education.wisc.edu/kdsquire/)
But one technique of commercial games that can be applied to a learning video game is character customization that happens at the beginning of games. People seem to really, really like that.
Interesting and informative post Cblakes. It sounds like a great conference. I think it's awesome that you are reflecting and stating what you learned.
You are opening my very closed mind to the potential positives of video games.
This a very important field in my opinion (based so much on the few posts you have put up so far and my playing video games). How amazing would it be if you could remove the violence (or at least play it down) or Halo and add trig, or history, or english to it. I suppose it can more than just that. It is really about problem solving I suppose? Would you agree or is it more about 2+2 type concepts? Very interesting.
Katie, thanks, the conference was dizzying and a lot of fun. I've thought of how video games are probably the devil from a nutritionist point of view. If the goal is a healthy lifestyle with good eating and exercise, sitting for hours playing contributes to obesity and other bad habits.
I could be off on those assumptions, but I'm still trying to reconcile them - because from my perspective having studied learning and teaching, video games are an untapped gold mine of motivation and learning.
So far I'm thinking a balanced approach to media, like a diet, is one answer...
Rob, I think it's more than just putting facts and drills into a game environment. I think video games offer complex problem solving challenges and complex concepts. If goals are framed in an interesting way I think someone would HAVE to learn important facts and processes along the way in order to solve a problem.
I'm taking Kurt Squire's class on this right now, and I quote him a lot, but here's some more squire-inspired thought: I agree that designing a good learning game is about taking a process, figuring out what is interesting about that process, and then fitting in a goal, or problem to solve. So I think the violence, say, would diminish naturally if the goal would be altered. Although "memorable moments", or the cool sensations video games afford are an important part of making a video game fun.
Let me try to build on your Halo thought. Halo is a first-person shooter where a cyborg fights hostile aliens while discovering the mysteries of "Halo", an artificial space station. Let's say we wanted to teach about the immune system. Something interesting to me about the immune system is the war between antibodies and pathogens. Maybe something really foreign (manmade) could be in the body, and you, the protagonist antibody, would have to fight off pathogens while discovering what this foreign object is.
I pulled that example from my nether regions, but that's the idea. What's also interesting is that good video games get people to dedicate hours and hours to solving complex, challenging, almost impossible problems. And, people LIKE having to solve these problems, and collaborate with other people to get cheats, and figure out how to move towards the goal.
This is all exciting to me because I have always learned, and have become excited to learn, from stories rendered through film. I struggled through a lot of textbooks and memorizations and even now, learn something much easier when an interesting story is attached. Video games, I'm convinced, are the crossroads between technology and learning that will help visual and tactile learners like me succeed in school and life.
I don't think video games are the panacea for learning, and I do think they, like movies are also very dangerous. But I also think they can be used for good, and will help a lot of people.
I hope somewhere in there I answered at least what my answer is to your question. Good to chat with you through the blogosphere:) Say hi to Melissa for me. I bet she's glad to have you back.
Hey Chris,
She is most glad to have me home, but sadly we still don't get much time together between my full time job and freelance work on the side. Your answer was superb. I am so amazed at the concept, I had never really thought of games this way. Extremely cool. Knowing your love for film do you see your career following more of those lines, of education through film or more towards educating through games? Or just technilogical mass media in general? So cool. It has got my wheels turning. I am excited to hear more. And I agree it has been very cool to get to communicate again via blogging!
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