Una’s Blog

I just read the article Does Easy Do It? Children, Games, and Learning by Seymour Papert (1998). There are quite a few points in this article i dont agree with, but here is the main one i do agree with.

Papert’s initial claim is that “Shavian reversals – offspring that keep the bad features of each parent and lose the good ones – are visible in most software products that claim to come from a mating of education and entertainment.” Athough this may have been true 10, or even 5 years ago, i think i have to disagree for a number of programs and software products that are around today. Papert focuses mainly on one bad example, to demonstrate his point, and in doing so I feel he oversimplifies his whole argument (though he does admit this himself). The example he chooses is of a game that makes absolutely no advantage of the benefits of using technology and games together as an education tool. Doing sums on a computer is much the same as doing them on a piece of paper to me. It is for this reason that i believe a lot (maybe even the majority?) of programs designed for childrens educational purposes TODAY have moved past this idea. There are so many programs that allow the student to be in control of their learning, or at least a major participant, rather than just ‘being instructed’ in a different way. Some examples of these i have ever experienced myself this semester, such as Comic Life, Scratch, and the most recent, Digital Storytelling. Using these software programs students can produce work that is fun, creative, and individualized, as well as educational.

I agree completely with Papert when he makes the point that the types of games such as his example of the math problems on a road (read his article for more detail!) is the very worst of curriculum development and gaming combined. No kid picks up a game because it is easy, they enjoy the challenge of games, so that when they reach the end, or the next level they feel they have achieved something (for example in Halo or GTA).

“What is best about the best games is that they draw kids into some very hard learning…game designers have a better take on the nature of learning than curriculum designers… Their livelihoods depends on millions of people being prepared to undertake the serious amount of learning needed to master a complex game.”

Image from: http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2007/06_02/49GamesDM_468×354.jpg

Here is my podcast on a 7:30 Report article.

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After seeing that video about second life and thinking about it some more, i was interested in researching some more of the educational uses of the program. I found this slideshare show that explores using this virtual world for ESL purposes. Its called ESL, Second Life, and Teenagers: Learner Autonomy for the Digital Natives. The British Council have created an island in second life for teaching english. For example, the information center on the island which will provide resources. They claim that the island is a self access center for teenagers, and has no plans for direct teaching. Their sections include: layers of language, vocabulary, language in use, and lexical sets. Slide 29 in particular was interesting.

Ok honestly, for me the whole presentation was a bit fake and idealistic. Saying things like it will be “an attractive place for teens to meet and spend time”. But there were a couple of slides that stood out, and the general idea behind the slideshow was compelling. They were trying to create an space where students can meet and collaborate no matter where they are from. I can see how this would be a useful tool for learning languages in particular.

Presentation From: www.slideshare.net/bcgstanley/second-life-esl-learner-autonomy-for-the-digital-natives

I just read a post that Sunny wrote about engaging students in lessons, and how there are many different ways of doing it, especially using the internet. I found the idea of using google earth in a classroom really interesting, i think it could apply to a lot of different areas and subjects, not just math.

Image From: http://www.windypundit.com/archives/2005/images/20050528-GoogleEarthScreen2.jpg

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Here is a link to the Webquest Alissa and I made recently, called “Using Podcasts in the Primary Classroom”

http://alissauna.wikispaces.com/

Enjoy!

Here is my first attempt at a Vodcast!

Enjoy!

In class today Alissa and I were experimenting with the program Comic Life. We were discussing meaningful learning supported by technology.

Here is what we came up with (in about 10 minutes flat!).

This is a mind map I made in E-Learning class today about the reasons we use/ should use online learning in the primary classroom. Its not complete yet, there are just some initial thoughts…

When I try to think what my wildest dream is I find it difficult. This may be because I feel that I am expected to write something completely amazing; something so strange, or original, or impossible, that it is unlikely to ever happen, no matter how hard I work.
For me, my strongest wish (I’m not sure I can use the term wildest dream) is something quite simple: I want to travel. I want to live (and work) in different cultures. I want to experience as many different ways of living and more importantly, of thinking as I can. For me, the way I learn and develop is through experience and collaboration with different people, and different ideas. Each person has their own perspective and their own history and context, which it is most probably based on. Learning another language (another way of thinking) and immersing myself in another culture is the best way I can think of to (and I apologize for the cliché but I can’t think of another metaphor) broaden the horizons of my mind.

Living in this time of ‘globalization’ it seems obvious that one of the main things we need is to develop open minds and collaborative thinking, not just tolerance. The first country I have on my list to visit is Guatemala, a country very different from my own… and from there? Who knows…