The Game of School

I am four weeks into my Gamification coursera course by Kevin Werbach and decided I am ready to “put pen to paper” so-to-speak and get my thoughts down.

Gamification is not turning everything into a game; rather, it is finding what makes games interesting, fun, motivating, and engaging and taking those elements, designs and techniques and applying them in a non-game context like a business or a classroom environment. There is a whole lot more to this definition but this is the gist of it.

One of the activities that Kevin posed during the first week of the course was to make a list of the things in our life that involve games or play and see what distinguishes them. To preface, there are differences between Games and Play:

Games are:

• closed, formal system, resolves itself in winners and losers (unequal outcomes)
• series of meaningful choices (think checker moves); something happens based on what you do
• problem-solving activity approached w/a playful attitude

Whereas Play= Freedom, doing whatever you want within limits

• spontaneous,
• for own sake
• voluntary
• exuberant energy,
• free movement w/in structured environ (think, “Magic Circle” by Huizinga),
• helps child become better

School and Testing immediately came to mind as games that students and teachers are involved in.

• Schools are closed, formal systems that resolves itself in the forms of “winners”- the students that perform well and receive good grades, follow the rules; and “losers”- those that don’t
• Students make meaningful choices where something happens based on what they do (or don’t do). So, the students pay attention in class, study for the test, perform well on the test OR students don’t pay attention in class, don’t study and don’t perform well (or variations of the above). Students choose to follow the rules and stay out of trouble, or they don’t
• Students are involved in the daily problem-solving activity of doing school

Testing fits in with the definition as well. Testing is a closed, formal system that resolves itself in the form of winners (the students who perform, the teachers whose students perform and the schools whose teachers had students who perform well); and losers (the students, teachers and schools whose students do not perform well).

Here is where the definition divides: The schools make the “meaningful” choices to align the curriculum. Now the teachers will teach the students the material that they need to know in order to perform well on the test. The schools that perform well can receive the funding and the teachers will be evaluated positively because their evaluations are tied to these test scores. The students, unfortunately have no say in the matter and the teachers, though they may not agree with the mandates, are left to make the “choice”; if you can really call it that.

Unfortunately, what is often missing from the Game of School, is the Fun. The joy of learning for learning’s sake. The joy of reading for reading’s sake. The free movement within a structured environment. “Whoever Must Play, cannot play” (Mary Poppins); once someone is forced to do something, it is no longer fun. In fact, it can even de-motivate students (and teachers) from doing what they originally enjoyed.

More to come on schools and motivation in the next post.

Image credit: “Lost”

 

Digital Literacy

I know this post comes a bit late in the conversations the #etmooc group has been having around the topic of what it means to be digitally literate, but it took me a while before I could formulate my thoughts (which, I might add, are still percolating). So, better late than never I say.

Literacy, as defined by Merriam Webster, means:

Competence or knowledge in a specified area: “wine literacy can’t be taught in three hours”.

It would stand to reason that digital literacy then would mean competence and knowledge of all things digital.

So, I have a digital clock that I can read, but I don’t know how it works. I have a slight understanding of digital vs. analog when it comes to my tv, but certainly not enough to be able to talk about it coherently.

The dictionary defines digital literacy as the ability to locate, organize, understand, evaluate, and create information using digital technology.

It almost sounds like one must be able to make their way through all of Bloom’s Taxonomy in order to be called “digitally literate.”

Can one be literate with Google search and all things Google, but not with, let’s say, the information once they get it?

If this is true, then there are probably many, many people who are only kind of literate. Topic-specific-literate.

So then, where do our children and our colleagues fall in this model of digital literacy? Is it possible for our students to have an easier time becoming digitally literate than some of our co-workers?

Let’s think about this a moment. Children who are growing up within this context are certainly around technology more than children who grew up even 10-15 years ago. I didn’t have a digital camera to capture pictures of my children until around 2003 ( I was late to that party– still clinging to my film and developing the pictures). Now, parents can snap a photo, look at it, share it, post it and delete it all within seconds. And children are doing this as well (just ask almost any parent of a young child how often their child wants to play with their phone, ipad, etc.).

So children are around technology more and use it more, but being immersed in it and using it are not enough to be digitally literate according to the above definitions.

Doug Belshaw shared this slideshow with us during his presentation for #etmooc. In it he speaks to what he terms the 8 essential elements of digital literacy. One of the quotes he has is pretty poignant and speaks to the nature of how quickly things change and become outdated:

The nature of literacy in a culture is repeatedly redefined as the result of technological changes. ~Hannon (2000)

It is apparent that one can be literate until something new comes along and then one must learn again.

John Seely Brown, in his video Motivating Learners, the Big Thinker Series from Edutopia, says that  ”In a world of rapid change, any skill we learn now will have a rapid shelf life,” and that [we] need to learn to embrace change.

I think that for children who are growing up in this digital context, they will have an easier time adapting to the changes than adults who have not grown up in this context (some, not all). Just my personal opinion.

One of the reasons that I think some people may become digitally literate more quickly and possibly more easily than others, is desire and confidence in taking risks and, (as John Seely Brown terms), tinkering. For those who embrace technology and change and are willing to play and figure things out will be the ones who will become digitally literate before others. Which is why I think that children who are growing up in this context will have an easier time because they (many) are willing to play around on their way to figuring out how things work. Give a child a video game or a new ipad and that child will figure out how to make it work (I have watched it happen).

So it seems that we need to create environments where children (and teachers) are encouraged to take risks; where our students can feel turned on about what they are learning, so they will embrace challenge & not run from it.

image credit: pixabay

5-Card Flickr: Not Your Average Game of Cards

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Five Card Story: A Walk in Israel

a Five Card Flickr story created by Debra (@teacherdebra)

flickr photo by cogdogblog

flickr photo by bionicteaching

flickr photo by Serenae

flickr photo by bionicteaching

flickr photo by Serenae

It was early morning when we climbed (actually ran) up the narrow, winding path of Masada. We needed to get there early so we could see the sun rise over the Dead Sea. When we reached the top the view was nothing short of awe-inspiring. Looking over the spanse of salty beach while standing on the same ground where history happened evoked a feeling of connectedness that I had not felt before I arrived.

Later that morning, after we had explored the ruins on the great mountain, we went down below to the seaside to dip our toes in the salty water that would make us buoyant, but would sting if you had some broken skin. We all bobbed around like toy boats, feeling giddy and silly and small.

The next day’s adventure was supposed to be a 4-hour hike through the desert, but being that we were chatty, easily distracted teens, it was more like 8. The desert was not what I thought it would be based on the stories and images I had in my head. It was dry, yes, but it had some beautiful pockets of green. We took time to wade in the oasis of a small pond before we were urged to make it back to the beach and our tents for the night.

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Popcorn: A Whole New Way to Tell a Digital Story

This week in my #ETMOOC course is all about telling a story. Storytelling has been around since the beginning of time. There are so many ways to visualize a story and that is where digital storytelling comes in. It is really no different from stories told before the invention of the moving picture since those included images, signs and sounds; the major difference is that now we can include digital media.

One of the tools I learned about this week is Popcorn: a video editing site that allows the user to insert text, pop-ups, links, twitter feeds, wikipedia articles and more goodies onto a Youtube, Soundcloud, Vimeo or HTML5 video to make the video interactive for the viewer. It is a way to remix the content to tell another part of the story.

After I watched the ETMOOC introduction, I decided to try this for myself. How difficult could it be? Well, almost 2 hours later I had mine complete. Now I’m not saying it would take everyone this long, but the good part of the first hour was finding a video I wanted to use that I thought I might have something to add, then watching the video and planning the layers. In the end, I chose a TEDxYouth talk by Seth Godin, whose Stop Stealing Dreams I read and wrote about and really enjoyed in a fired up, frustrated-with-public-education kind of way.

Once I got into the project, I really enjoyed thinking of ways to include Twitter hashtags, definitions and articles and thinking how a teacher might use this with a class or how a student might use this to show their learning about a particular topic. In the end, I am pretty happy with my Popcorn about Stop Stealing Dreams. You can check it out below. I would love some feedback!

My Popcorn from TEDxYouth Seth Godin

“Chance Favors the Connected Mind”

This afternoon I was listening in to one of the #ETMOOC collaborate sessions, tweeting interesting ideas when the moderator, Alec Couros put up a slide with this quote from Steven Berlin Johnson, “Chance Favors the Connected Mind.” Of course it struck me as both interesting and something I thought worthy of sharing so I tweeted it out. Almost immediately Lisa Noble (@nobleknits2) asked me how this was true for me. I decided to mull it over and write about it as I didn’t think that I could do it justice in 140 characters.

First I did what any good learner would do if they did not know the context for the quote, I googled it (using “” around the words so the search would keep the words together as a string). I found this TED talk by Steven Johnson titled,
“Where Good Ideas Come From“, watched it and found even more great ideas which I tweeted out. But the one that still remained intriguing is “Chance favors the connected mind”.

I like it because it states the importance and benefits of being connected. One of the ways I like to stay connected is to take part in Twitter chats like the weekly #edchats that often have hot topics like Homework or the importance of teacher selected professional development, where the tweets fly so quickly that it can make your head spin. The “conversations” are stimulating, engaging, thought-provoking and for me, often make me think and rethink my position and feelings. The great thing about these chats and Twitter in general, is that it allows educator and other users to connect with others and engage in conversations, ideas and resource sharing, that otherwise might not have happened since the participants are from all over the world.

How does ‘chance’ come into play? I think in a couple of ways. First, one never knows who will be in a particular space at a particular time. With Twitter, using hashtags increases the possibility that something one tweets will be seen by people who follow that tag, but it is chance that it is seen at any given moment by someone who may take the conversation to a different level; who may then tweet something back that will lead to further discussion or connection. I also think chance comes into play because people who are “connected”, who are “networked” have more opportunities to engage with people they may not have in their current place, space or time.

So, another way I like to connect is through online courses like #ETMOOC. But just taking part in the course, listening to the sessions, doing the assignments, does not build these connections. What it does, is create the environment for making these connections and creating these chance opportunities. And that is something that Johnson says in his talk, we need to be in the right space so that our networks can grow. But again, we can be in the right environment, but not make the connection. We need to put ourselves out there, we need to listen, read, comment, reply and engage with others so that we can not only be in the right place, but we will also be there at the right time to make these connections that may lead to something great.

Image courtesy of [Stuart Miles] / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

#ETMOOC

I am so excited to begin this ETMOOC (educational technology open online course) with over a thousand members worldwide. I look forward to participating in the weekly learning sessions and Twitter chats and learning with and from all the great educators who are leading and taking part in the course. For the first assignment I chose to create a short i-movie telling a little bit about me. You can view it below by clicking on the link. Aside from how ridiculous my voice sounds, the rest is good. I wear a lot of different hats (as many of us do) but after being a parent, one of my favorite hats is that of being a teacher and working with children.

Who Am I?

Music credit: Alone in the Cold, Acoustic Guitar

Notable Quotables

http://www.powerfullearningpress.com/books/

I recently read and was inspired by the vignettes in PLP’s The Connected Learner: Powering Up and thought I would share some of the notable quotables. There are many as you will see, but the one I will reflect on is the very first, which, I believe is simple, yet poignant: “In the 21st Century, teachers must be learners first.”

As teachers, one of our oft-stated objectives is to create life-long learners and to instill a joy of learning. How can we encourage and want that for our students and not engage in that ourselves? There is so much to learn on an almost daily basis, and as teachers we need to  continue to push ourselves to find ways to connect with other teaching professionals and engage in learning opportunities. Some of the ways I do this are participating in Twitter conversations, following blogs, going to conferences both in person and virtually, and reading as much as I can find. I think you will find that the more you seek out the learning, the more you will find that there is a lot more learning to be done!

Notable Quotables:

1. In the 21st century, teachers must be learners first.
2. “We can’t continue to have classrooms look the way they did 50 years ago and tell ourselves that we are teaching our students effectively” ~Shelley Wright
3. My students need the kind of education that requires them to think critically, problem solve, and learn skills of collaboration, rather than memorize for an exam and forget everything the next day, or believe that there’s only one answer to a problem.
4. Here’s the dilemma: With the world changing so rapidly, being educated takes on new meaning. ~Patti Grayson
5. the framework of education must change so that we are much more intentional about creating “lifelong learners” who leverage the technologies with passion and purpose. ~Patti Grayson
6. If (professional sharing) works so well for (teachers), and makes us feel so good, imagine what it would mean for our students. Shouldn’t our students have opportunities to teach and learn from one another – to develop and share their expertise? ~Renee Hawkins
7. We have to look at how students like to learn on their own, so we can make learning more enjoyable and engaging in the classroom ~Patti Grayson
8. Learning is an active, participatory venture.
9. Adherents of constructivism essentially believe that children learn by being actively engaged in and reflecting on their experiences: children learn through social interaction with others, they have different ways and  modes of learning, and they develop higher-order thinking through guidance at critical points in the learning process
10. If educational reform is to be successful it must start with how students learn and how teachers teach, not with legislated outcomes.~Shelley Wright
11. It’s a shame when it’s spent memorizing and regurgitating disconnected facts that are of no use to their “real lives,” when instead they could be engaged in developing skills such as problem-solving, collaboration, critical thinking, information literacy, and other 21st century assets. ~Shelley Wright
12. If you truly want to take advantage of the web and connect with educators, you have to invest some time in participating online. Time is the first obstacle and strongest argument teachers in Norway have against participating ~Ann Michaelson
13. The best learning is messy! ~ Brian Crosby
14. Are we guiding students who feel driven to self-direct their own learning toward production tools like blogs that will allow them to demonstrate their knowledge base and potentially make meaningful connections with experts in their field of interest? ~Jenny Luca
15. Making the effort to grow and cultivate a personal learning network is essential to today’s teacher. It should be part of our professional toolkit and viewed as important as face-to-face, bricks and mortar, or professional development opportunities — maybe even more so. ~Renee Hawkins
16. see Scott Mcleod’s quote below

 

 

 

 

 

 

17. I wonder how and why notes and tests became the summation of our student’s acquisition of knowledge and understanding, and what it will take to put us back on the path to real learning. ~Shelley Wright

18. Teaching by getting out of the way: finding that balance. I don’t want anyone to become so frustrated that they want to quit. But I don’t want anyone to be so dependent that they can’t find their own creativity and abilities and learning path. ~Marsha Ratzel

19. How often do we take the time to ask children what learning means to them?

There are so many thought-provoking ideas in this collection of articles. Which one resonates most with you? How will you continue to be a life-long learner and inspire your students to take control of their own learning?