"How Computers Help Children Learn" by David Williamson Shaffer is a very interesting book I'm reading on a certain category of video games which facilitate a tremendous amount a real learning in a short amount of time. These "epistemic" games invite players into a virtual world which recreates the epistemological frame of a particular profession such as urban planning, journalism, engineering, and architecture. In one example, inner-city students learned the urban planning trade in a weekend intensive (or at least got closer to it than most of us: they are now well on their way to "speaking the language"- understanding the basic assumptions, skills, ways of looking at the world- of the urban planner). Not bad for a weekend intensive.
Check out this link!!
http://epistemicgames.org/eg/
My wife and I came up with a business called Career Camp which offers high school students intensive forays into various professions using these games as well as interaction in real working situations with real professionals। Anyone want to start this with me? I have a teaching credential and experience. You could help run the business.
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2 comments:
Hi Paul!
You are wrong that people are not reading your blog... well at least I did. I read them all!
I found your information on epistemic games very interesting. I actually have a 14 soon to be 15 year old in March son who is constantly on his Xbox360. He is a straight A student, however I just think there is so much more for him then those games.
I love the fact then when students play epistemic games; they participate in simulations of a society that they will eventually need to be a productive member of in the future. I can definitely see how these games could help develop their ways of thinking and knowing that there are certain abilities to learn using their gaming skills in the world, giving them a way to imagine who they might someday become.
The most we can hope for our children is to be creative thinkers in a world of global competition as they said. We need to reach them through their interests and I think Epistemic games can do that.
Thanks for sharing that info on your blog.
I also found your blog on Flock video using Jing very interesting and informative. I have not been able to dig really deep into Jing, other than what we have done in class. I have been traveling for business lately, so I am just getting into it now. What I found on embedding using Jing was if you created the video in Jing and place it on the clipboard by clicking on the share or embed button at the bottom of the file you want to use. Once you have done that click on the clipboard, once there you can save it in a folder. Then in Blog I clicked on video and uploaded it where I wanted to insert. Not sure if that helps you or not. Looks like you are a lot further along than me. So keep blogging and I will keep reading!! Thanks again for the great info.
I really do think that you are on the right track that games actually help students learn. I went to your link (it worked for me this time!) and it looks fantastic! Games are a great way to get children into learning! Some places are already using Dance, Dance, Revolution in gym classes to get the students moving. By talking to the students in a language they understand, it might help the students learn. Like Char said, it is about bringing students into a new way of thinking and interacting with those around. She hit it on the head when she said that we need to help encourage creative thinking. What better way to do this than to incorporate games or other Web 2.0 tools into the classroom. I also like how you describe the difference between games and the type that can be introduced into the classroom (the "epistemic" game). I like how you introduce the idea and then provide an example of how to incorporate it. I also like the idea you and your wife came up with. It is a very good concept and it has very good possibilities for application in the real world. You are a very creative thinker and it is very refreshing to hear these types of ideas! Thank you for introducing this type of tool to the class. It is a new and creative tool that has not been discussed or touched upon yet in class. Best of luck to you! And keep writing!
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