Hi all,
A few months ago we had a guest discussion on digital badges in adult education. Digital badges are often included in a broader concept called gamification. I just came across this interesting infographic on gamification and wanted to share it to see if you all have any thoughts on how you think this fits with adult education.
What strikes me are some of the skills that gamification promotes of enhances that I think we see as important in adult education “Game players regularly exhibit persistence, risk-taking, attention to detail, and problem-solving, all behaviors that ideally would be regularly demonstrated in school.” – The Education Arcade at MIT.
Infographic: The Gamification of Education
http://gettingsmart.com/2014/03/infographic-gamfication-education/
Gamification [n]: the use of game design elements in non-game contexts.
best,
Nell
_________________________________
Nell Eckersley
NellE@lacnyc.org
Comments
What?? Use a proprietary software game in class that is the bane of parents at home? What does this have to do with basic skills?
Award winning K-8 tech teacher, Jacqui Murray devotes a blog article to the topic. http://askatechteacher.com/2014/04/16/how-minecraft-teaches-the-three-rs/#more-8022 She caught my attention with her opening sentence: "Last month, Scientific American declared '…'not only is Minecraft immersive and creative, but it is an excellent platform for making almost any subject area more engaging.' ” She presents an interesting set of data on what the Common Core State Standards require -- and What Minecraft delivers -- in reading, writing and problem solving.
Several years ago teacher educator and lecturer James Paul Gee wrote (what Amazon.com calls his "classic") What Video Games Have to Teach us About Learning and Literacy in which he persuasively argued that classroom teachers, whether they use technology or not, have a lot to learn about designing and engaging productive learning from the principles effectively employed by software game designers.
Do you -- or the teachers you work with use software games or simulations in the adult education classroom? If so, what do you/they use? Would you/they consider using Minecraft? Have you/they used the Adult ESOL/ESL simulation Xenos? (The web site says teachers can sign up to beta test it at http://www.xenos-isle.com/friends/ and I have been told that some adult educators have used it in Washington State. Anyone know more about its use or availability?) How about The Office, a free reading, writing and numeracy workpace-based simulation produced for adults over a decade ago, and still available at http://lexiconsys.com/theOffice.html. Have you looked at it? Do you use it? What other simulations should we be considering?
David J. Rosen
djrosen123@gmail.com