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

In the article Sandcastles Go Digital, (2003), Harel emphasises the importance of “playing to learn and learning to play”. He draws the connection between playing and constructionist learning. As discussed in class today, constructionist learning is a sub-strand of constructivist learning, and a theory pioneered by Seymour Papert. Constructionist teaching highlights the importance of students constructing and not only being instructed (LAMS and webquests are examples of instructional use of technology). In terms of using technology this means that students are encourage and able to design, create, express, reflect, as well as publish, share, and celebrate their work. Some programs that we talked about that do this were Scratch, Comic Life, and Garageband.

In class we had a short time to discover and explore Scratch and Comic Life. They were internesting programs, and ones that I can see being effectively used in a primary classroom. It certainly fits in with the constructionist view of students creating and doing. Honestly, at first i found the program a little confusing, and I think the more time spent exploring and practicing on it, the better. Some of the published products on the Scratch website were quite impressive.

Image From: http://www.flickr.com/photos/spacetrucker/94209642/sizes/s/