I had put together a gargantuan recap post on the GLS Conference that I probably should have just pulled the trigger and published. Instead, I decided earlier this morning that the whole thing was absolutely terrible and promptly deleted it. So I'm going to start all over and put things together one thought at a time. So we'll start with the post that makes the least amount of sense.
GLS '08 was my first time hearing Jim Gee speak, and I actually had an opportunity to meet him in person. Lets just say calling him a visionary would be an insult to his intelligence - the man is brilliant, and to be in his presence is nothing short of inspiring. Though I'm quite confident that you could take his words as gospel, he said one thing in particular during a presentations that had a especially significant impact on me.
Paraphrased, "21st century learning is about understanding complex systems, an area that games excel in. Its a waste of time worrying about whether or not 6ths graders are learning algebra when there are so many world ending problems that demand solutions."
This quote led me to somewhat earth shattering thought (at least in my own mind): will "facts" as units of education soon become irrelevant? (for the purposes of this post, I am referring to a fact as a piece of information, not as a statement of truth)
Mathematical formulas, dates in history class, the number of electrons in a cesium molecule... why do we teach students these facts? Why do we assess them on these facts? In theory these pieces of information represent the building blocks of education. And yet what would education look like if we didnt teach them? What if the word "memorize" was removed from the educational vocabulary, and instead the lions share of the effort was focused on how to help people find those facts, and then use them to solve problems. I suppose this is just problems based learning on steroids. What if there was no such thing as science class, history class, religion class - just a multidisciplinary issue that required a resolution? What if the first thing you learned was how to read, and the second thing you learned was how to tag? What if one day, teacher and librarian are one and the same and multiple choice are used as frequently as the abacus?
Drew Davidson (CMU) held a session at GLS about an analysis of the game Portal. Teaching a concept like conservation of momentum, he said, can be a difficult, if not time consuming process in the classroom. But Portal can get the point across in about 3 minutes of gameplay. The formula behind momentum, the rate at which gravity pulls on you - these details, these facts are irrelevant. The higher you jump from, the faster you will fall. And the faster you enter one portal, the faster you exit another. In Portal, this information is critical for your success. Without learning these concepts, you cannot progress in the game. Portal doesnt tell you that you are learning physics or segment the physics knowledge from any other aspects of the game - again, that is irrelevant. What matters is that you are forced to understand a concept (eventually multiple concepts) that allows you to solve a problem. This, of course, is not specific to portal. This is true of just about every video game ever made.
The end of teaching facts, the beginning of teaching fact finding. The end of learning pieces that solve problems, the beginning of learning to understand problems that demand pieces to solve them. And games as the glue that ties it all together... perhaps. Something about this whole idea feels like a chocolate chip cookie thats totally raw in the middle. Some of it seems painfully obvious. Some of it seems like an educational revolution.
But it also feels like something big. Sorry if this post was schizophrenic - no doubt it reads as insanely as it is verbalized by the voices in my head. A 21st century education indeed...
GLS '08 was my first time hearing Jim Gee speak, and I actually had an opportunity to meet him in person. Lets just say calling him a visionary would be an insult to his intelligence - the man is brilliant, and to be in his presence is nothing short of inspiring. Though I'm quite confident that you could take his words as gospel, he said one thing in particular during a presentations that had a especially significant impact on me.
Paraphrased, "21st century learning is about understanding complex systems, an area that games excel in. Its a waste of time worrying about whether or not 6ths graders are learning algebra when there are so many world ending problems that demand solutions."
This quote led me to somewhat earth shattering thought (at least in my own mind): will "facts" as units of education soon become irrelevant? (for the purposes of this post, I am referring to a fact as a piece of information, not as a statement of truth)
Mathematical formulas, dates in history class, the number of electrons in a cesium molecule... why do we teach students these facts? Why do we assess them on these facts? In theory these pieces of information represent the building blocks of education. And yet what would education look like if we didnt teach them? What if the word "memorize" was removed from the educational vocabulary, and instead the lions share of the effort was focused on how to help people find those facts, and then use them to solve problems. I suppose this is just problems based learning on steroids. What if there was no such thing as science class, history class, religion class - just a multidisciplinary issue that required a resolution? What if the first thing you learned was how to read, and the second thing you learned was how to tag? What if one day, teacher and librarian are one and the same and multiple choice are used as frequently as the abacus?
Drew Davidson (CMU) held a session at GLS about an analysis of the game Portal. Teaching a concept like conservation of momentum, he said, can be a difficult, if not time consuming process in the classroom. But Portal can get the point across in about 3 minutes of gameplay. The formula behind momentum, the rate at which gravity pulls on you - these details, these facts are irrelevant. The higher you jump from, the faster you will fall. And the faster you enter one portal, the faster you exit another. In Portal, this information is critical for your success. Without learning these concepts, you cannot progress in the game. Portal doesnt tell you that you are learning physics or segment the physics knowledge from any other aspects of the game - again, that is irrelevant. What matters is that you are forced to understand a concept (eventually multiple concepts) that allows you to solve a problem. This, of course, is not specific to portal. This is true of just about every video game ever made.
The end of teaching facts, the beginning of teaching fact finding. The end of learning pieces that solve problems, the beginning of learning to understand problems that demand pieces to solve them. And games as the glue that ties it all together... perhaps. Something about this whole idea feels like a chocolate chip cookie thats totally raw in the middle. Some of it seems painfully obvious. Some of it seems like an educational revolution.
But it also feels like something big. Sorry if this post was schizophrenic - no doubt it reads as insanely as it is verbalized by the voices in my head. A 21st century education indeed...
Spot on Bart. I agree that a change like this will take time - all good things do. In the meantime, I guess all we can do is take it one step at a time, and continue to help people think about education, 21st century style.
This is exactly what I told my students the other day regarding the question "why aren't we learning more about the actual technology inside a computer?"
That's what Google is for. Is it important information? I suppose so. But is it worth trying to jam these facts into students' heads, let them puke up the answers on a multiple choice test, then forget most of it in the long run? Absolutely not.
In Gee's book of collected papers, "Good video games + good learning", many of the essays push for educational reform based on lessons learned from games. Some experimental schools are taking his advice in NY and Philly (New School and CHAD), but this metamorphosis will likely take a LONG time.