Comments on: Getting on Board http://historiarum.org/2007/04/23/getting-on-board/ Thoughts on Digital Media and History Sat, 22 Nov 2008 04:03:29 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.3 By: Ken http://historiarum.org/2007/04/23/getting-on-board/#comment-261 Ken Tue, 24 Apr 2007 21:41:58 +0000 http://historiarum.org/2007/04/23/getting-on-board/#comment-261 Laura, I can't say I know the origins of the use of role playing in the classroom, but it does seem to have become a fairly popular and useful form of education. Whether this came directly from imaginative play of children or not, I don't know, but it seems very possible that it was part of a concerted effort to make learning more engaging and enjoyable. To me it's not at all obvious that there is no relationship between the two. Maybe I was unclear, but I am not advocating for a complete removal of traditional pedagogy. Instead, I think they can be buttressed and improved upon by embracing tools that students are familiar with. I think learning should be by design, similar to how we have looked at web development this semester, and as we have learned one of the most important aspects of design is recognizing who your audience is... Laura,

I can’t say I know the origins of the use of role playing in the classroom, but it does seem to have become a fairly popular and useful form of education. Whether this came directly from imaginative play of children or not, I don’t know, but it seems very possible that it was part of a concerted effort to make learning more engaging and enjoyable. To me it’s not at all obvious that there is no relationship between the two.

Maybe I was unclear, but I am not advocating for a complete removal of traditional pedagogy. Instead, I think they can be buttressed and improved upon by embracing tools that students are familiar with. I think learning should be by design, similar to how we have looked at web development this semester, and as we have learned one of the most important aspects of design is recognizing who your audience is…

]]> By: veprek.com » Blog Archive » The Educational Possibility of Video Games http://historiarum.org/2007/04/23/getting-on-board/#comment-260 veprek.com » Blog Archive » The Educational Possibility of Video Games Tue, 24 Apr 2007 14:54:56 +0000 http://historiarum.org/2007/04/23/getting-on-board/#comment-260 [...] commented on Ken’s Historiarum about using gaming as a teaching method because video games are a common experience for children [...] [...] commented on Ken’s Historiarum about using gaming as a teaching method because video games are a common experience for children [...]

]]> By: Laura Veprek http://historiarum.org/2007/04/23/getting-on-board/#comment-259 Laura Veprek Tue, 24 Apr 2007 14:46:53 +0000 http://historiarum.org/2007/04/23/getting-on-board/#comment-259 Ken, So, just because kids these days are growing up playing video games we have to change our educational system to match? When kids used to play cowboys and indians outside or play Barbies inside, did that mean we had to change our teaching methods to include role playing in order to reach and engage children in the learning process? Obviously not. Sure it's smart to creatively expand teaching methods using modern developments. They still need to learn to read and write. They still need to learn to analyze texts not just pictures. And they still need to learn to interact with people, not just with technology. I am not opposed to using clever and challenging games as a part of education, but I don't think that there's anything wrong with most traditional methods of teaching. As I wrote on my blog, Gee does not acknowledge that private schools do incorporate many of his principles into non-gaming teaching methods. It's the public schools that we need to take a look at, but maybe bringing video games into them isn't the answer. Laura Ken,
So, just because kids these days are growing up playing video games we have to change our educational system to match? When kids used to play cowboys and indians outside or play Barbies inside, did that mean we had to change our teaching methods to include role playing in order to reach and engage children in the learning process? Obviously not. Sure it’s smart to creatively expand teaching methods using modern developments. They still need to learn to read and write. They still need to learn to analyze texts not just pictures. And they still need to learn to interact with people, not just with technology. I am not opposed to using clever and challenging games as a part of education, but I don’t think that there’s anything wrong with most traditional methods of teaching. As I wrote on my blog, Gee does not acknowledge that private schools do incorporate many of his principles into non-gaming teaching methods. It’s the public schools that we need to take a look at, but maybe bringing video games into them isn’t the answer.
Laura

]]> By: Misha Griffith http://historiarum.org/2007/04/23/getting-on-board/#comment-257 Misha Griffith Tue, 24 Apr 2007 01:09:22 +0000 http://historiarum.org/2007/04/23/getting-on-board/#comment-257 Thinking about your last paragraph, I had to ask myself about the real nature of the information we learn. If it is printed, then it is so. Do we want our students to merely accept the facts as given? Or would a counter-factual exercise give them a chance to question each fact individually, and prove to themselves how events happened? Frankly, I could see the application of these methods quite clearly in a classroom setting. Pity that wars might seem to be where the money is, because I would love to try this experiment on other facets of history. Could we see in the future a module where the students plug in the information on any scenario, then run the counter-factuals. Thinking about your last paragraph, I had to ask myself about the real nature of the information we learn. If it is printed, then it is so. Do we want our students to merely accept the facts as given? Or would a counter-factual exercise give them a chance to question each fact individually, and prove to themselves how events happened? Frankly, I could see the application of these methods quite clearly in a classroom setting. Pity that wars might seem to be where the money is, because I would love to try this experiment on other facets of history. Could we see in the future a module where the students plug in the information on any scenario, then run the counter-factuals.

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