Video Games: A New Perspective on Learning Content and Skills

• July 22, 2010 by Sherrelle Walker, M.A.

Being in the business of e-learning, I am fascinated by video games. No, I’m not a big player myself, but they amaze me for what they can do in terms of teaching and learning. While their primary goal may be to entertain, the core of what they do is perform a continuous process of teaching, simulated practice and assessment, all while engaging learners in learning from worlds rich with content and experience.

As teachers, we’ve always looked to various types of non-interactive content to engage and instruct students. Prior to the 20th century, we depended upon print. In the 1970’s, I remember cassette tapes and film strips coming into the classroom. In the 1980’s, it was video cassettes. Now, we show DVD’s and online video.

Today our digital native students are looking for the kind of interactivity that they experience in their lives outside of school—and that includes the video games that they play. But what skills and experiences can students gain through interactive gaming environments?

• Learning to try. According to James Gee of Arizona State University, the essence of gaming is that, by its nature, it integrates learning with embedded assessment. With textbooks and lectures, a learner gains knowledge by reading and hearing about subjects. In simulated environments, learners experience situations and content first-hand. They attempt solutions, experience failures and learn from mistakes to proceed to higher levels. They are rewarded for pushing the envelope.
• Thinking about the big picture. In A Whole New Mind, Daniel Pink discusses six different senses essential for success in our age, one of which is "symphonic thinking," or the ability to see the big picture of situations, manipulate multiple variables and add invention to solve problems. In today’s rich and detailed game environments, players must successfully learn to do exactly that to achieve the goals of the simulation.
• Collaborating and cooperating. With the introduction of online video games, successful achievement of objectives requires communication and collaboration amongst multiple players. In today’s world, these are clearly skills that one needs to achieve success.

While the so-called edutainment market is small, educators and entrepreneurs alike are in the process of bringing the true educational value of computer games into the classroom.

Is the shift going to be rocky? Absolutely. As an example, look at the debate around a "historical action" game called Six Days in Fallujah and the mainstream discussion that has taken place on NPR and in Newsweek. Will this genre of game become a new form of documentary? If contextualized appropriately by a teacher, can this breed of games represent a serious way for students to experience the civics, political science or world history first-hand? After considering that, check out Games for Change, an example of a new breed of online games for teaching and learning a wide variety of topics with significant human impact. This is a challenging and productive debate, one that will take the marriage between computer games and the instruction of content and skills to the next level.

Edutopia recommends many resources for further exploration of the value of computer games in education, including:

• Let the Games Begin offers a wonderful perspective on the educational value of games.
• Schools Use Gaming for Learning and Assessment (video) presents an overview of the benefits of computer gaming simulations.
• In Big Thinkers, Professor James Gee (mentioned above) discusses the opportunities and advantages that gaming provides for learning and assessment.

What role do you think video games should play in education?  Share your perspective on our Scientific Learning Facebook page!

Categories: Education Trends, Family Focus, Reading & Learning

Tags: assessments, decision making, digital natives, innovation, learning environment, learning through play, motivating students, novelty, play, social studies, technology in education

Using the Human Element to Make Science Fun and Approachable

• June 17, 2010 by Sherrelle Walker, M.A.

In recent years, our nation has been spending a great deal of time, energy and dollars to ensure that our students receive a solid educational foundation in reading, writing and mathematics. Today, much of the nation is also increasing its focus on the sciences.

In a recent article, "Science is gaining momentum in American schools," EducationNews.org noted: "It has taken prodding by industry, business, and government leaders — alarms going off, even — but science education is getting an upgrade in many classrooms..." Why the heightened awareness? Given the changes in the global economy, parents, educators and policy makers alike are demanding that we provide students with more opportunities to develop the knowledge and skills that will serve to springboard them into fields like energy technology, health care and engineering.

So how can we cultivate our students’ passion for science and discovery? It comes down to the two parts of a single idea: "WE can spend more TIME."

Regarding TIME: If we simply spent more TIME teaching science, as it turns out, more students would be likely to end up pursuing science-related careers. At Springside School in Philadelphia, they have put a great emphasis on science, and in recent years, about half of their graduates have expressed an interest in pursuing such paths. (Read more at the Springside School site.)

But what if WE put more of OURSELVES into our classrooms? I propose that in bringing in the PEOPLE element, we can bring back the fun and the wonder. With our students, we can hatch more butterflies, build more baking soda and vinegar volcanoes, spend more nights stargazing, and maybe even make more electric pickles. Such experiences offer great ways to spur both discussion and show students that it’s wonderful and HUMAN to have a passion for scientific discovery.

Overall, I think we can simply do a better job of showing students that science is about people, and that it’s the people who make it exciting. We can bring in parents with science-related careers as guests to help with experiments and discussions. We also have a lot to learn from great "science celebs" like Bill Nye the "Science Guy" and Steve Spangler; they offer all sorts of resources and ideas that we can use to light that fire for discovery in our students.

Categories: Reading & Learning

Tags: academic success, learning through play, motivating students, novelty, play, science, teacher impact

In a Rut? Give Your Brain a Workout

• May 20, 2010 by Sherrelle Walker, M.A.

When was the last time you got stuck—I mean really STUCK—on a problem? Instead of being able to bring your mental muscles to bear on the challenge, did your mind feel tired or fatigued or just plain empty?

As it turns out, our brains function more like muscles than we realize. Consider a well-trained athlete: she might be able to trot six or eight miles in a stint and feel absolutely fabulous. But take that same athlete and have her run those same six miles backwards. The next day, everything will be sore from that buildup of lactic acid in those muscle groups that rarely get such activity.

The brain works in much the same way. While it is most certainly not a muscle, it behaves like one in that the more we work it and the more varied the challenges we can bring it, the more it will function at optimal levels when we most need it.

We regularly get our brains to perform repeat tasks through establishing patterns. Everything from speech to doing mathematics to driving a car to enjoying music is based on learning and using patterns. Problems that don’t fit our established patterns of thinking represent the greatest challenges. They also demand our greatest creative thinking.

So, how can we train our brains to more effectively and creatively address the unexpected? Try looking at some of your established patterns and changing them to work your brain:

• Brush your teeth, write the grocery list or dial the phone with the OTHER hand.
• Look up a new word and use it in conversation at least once each day.
• Listen to a new piece of music—really listen to it—from beginning to end without interruption.
• Do a puzzle; crossword, Sudoku and the good old Rubik’s Cube® are like brain pushups—the more, the better.
• Select a poem and memorize it. For more of a mental marathon, try a Shakespearean soliloquy.

For a more long-term commitment to brain fitness, try an activity that represents learning a whole new set of patterns for your brain, such as taking up a martial art or yoga. If you’re not that physical, you might give photography or cooking a try. Aside from the benefits of adding new experience and dimension to life, activities and hobbies like these, in time, result in better brain function.

Here are a few references for further reading:

• This article on Ehow offers five simple steps on how to strengthen your brain.
• If you are an educator, Dr. Kathie Nunley helps make connections between the latest research and classroom practice at www.brains.org.

Posit Science offers a complete Brain Fitness Program including software and games developed by Dr. Michael Merzenich.

Categories: Brain Fitness

Tags: brain plasticity, creativity, how adults learn, how children learn, novelty

Lifelong Learning and the Plastic Brain

• April 23, 2010 by Sherrelle Walker, M.A.

Remember the old saying, "You can’t teach an old dog new tricks?"  Well, we are actually finding out that you CAN teach an old dog new tricks. Decades of research tell us that the brain has the capacity to continually grow and re-wire itself. 

The ability of the brain to change itself is termed brain plasticity or neuroplasticity. A good question is "how do we translate this knowledge of neuroplasticity into success for all learners?"

First, we need to understand what "learner" means. According to TheFreeDictionary.com, "learn" is defined as "to gain knowledge, information, comprehension, or skill."  Lifelong learning is described as learning in which a person of any age keeps the mind and body engaged by actively pursuing knowledge and experience. 

Dr. Michael Merzenich, a leader in the field of neuroplasticity research, claims that we can constantly change the structure of the brain and increase its capacity to learn. His research shows that if the brain is not challenged with new learning, the brain's function can gradually erode over time, leading to decreased memory and cognitive function. Collaborative experiments by Merzenich and William Jenkins, Ph.D showed the adult brain demonstrated change and adaptation in response to stimuli.¹

Lifelong learning is not confined to childhood and has extended beyond the traditional classroom environment. Learning takes place in Tai Chi classes for senior citizens or in sandboxes where children can create the future. Many community education programs include lifelong learning courses on a variety of topics, including photography and naturopathic medicine. These activities offer new opportunities for the learner to experience new things, learn new concepts and stimulate the brain in a new way, thus keeping the brain "plastic." 

Educators are learning that brain fitness for students is just as important as physical fitness. Adults, especially Baby Boomers, are embracing lifelong learning as way to keep the mind and body healthy. Some are even looking at voluntourism (combining volunteer work with vacationing) or educational travel (combining lectures, explorations and leisure time) as a way of pursuing lifelong learning.

So, try learning a new language or playing a new musical instrument, teach reading in Romania, or maybe even learn how to do magic. You really can teach an old dog new tricks and you should!

For more information on lifelong learning and neuroplasticity, refer to Norman Doidge's book, "The Brain That Changes Itself" or the video, The New Science of Learning: Brain Fitness for Kids. For more information on educational travel, visit http://www.learninglater.com/travel.php.

¹ Jenkins, W. M., Merzenich, M. M., & Recanzone, G. (1990). Neocortical representational dynamics in adult primates: Implications for neuropsychology. Neuropsychologia, 28(6), 573-84.

 

Categories: Brain Fitness, Brain Research, Reading & Learning

Tags: cognitive skills, how adults learn, how children learn, lifelong learning

The Technological Lives of Today’s Students

• April 16, 2010 by Sherrelle Walker, M.A.

Today, students’ lives are steeped with technology in all its shapes and sizes and forms. They don’t stop to ask directions. They have iPhones and GPSs and they just keep going forward at full tilt. If we wish to understand our students so we can affect their lives and their futures, we—as parents, as educators, as mentors—must not only understand that mindset, but embrace it.

Think about how different the education experience is today from what it was in the 1960’s, 70’s and even a brief 20 years ago in the 80’s. Back then, learning materials were still delivered in print. Biology and chemistry labs were performed in labs or in the field. Students, side-by-side with educators, really got in and got their hands dirty.

Today’s students are likely to be reading their lessons online, performing those same experiments in simulated environments, and turning in their lab reports via a class website as opposed to writing out assignments, and looking their teacher in the eye as they hand them a written report on paper. While we might feel nostalgic for those kinds of interactions, we can—and must—take a different mindset. Essentially, this represents a new aspect of the challenge that every educator has faced: ours is to uncover ways of connecting with our students in ways that are meaningful to them. Technology has provided a new paradigm for the classroom, redefining how, when and where learning happens. Now, educators have a limitless library of tools to add depth to learning experiences. No doubt about it, technology presents challenges, but it has also added great variety to teaching and learning, making it more exciting, interactive and, yes, fun.

A number of insights can help us understand this world where our students reside:

• Our students experience their world through technology. This is one of those simple, undeniable facts that we can rail against or embrace. According to a new Kaiser Family Foundation study, the average 8 to 18 year-old spends more than seven and a half hours a day using smart phones, computers and other devices. Include texting and cell phones and the number jumps to nine and a half hours. (Levin)
• The use of technology and electronic media in K-12 education is on the rise. Every year, more wonderful, brave educators are adding more technological arrows to their classroom quivers. A research report that Grunwald Associates created for PBS indicates that almost three quarters of K-12 teachers use downloaded or streaming content from the Internet as an instructional tool. (Grunwald Associates) If you’re one of these educators, kudos to you for implementing ways to connect with your tech-savvy students!
• It has been said that our school systems are, in general, behind the rest of society. "Most students say they ‘step back in time’ when they enter the school building each morning." (Project Tomorrow) This is a hard fact to swallow, but we must accept it and deal with it, head on. If our task is to prepare students for a technology-driven, knowledge-based global economy, the mastery of technology they are getting outside of school must be just as important a part of their education as the content and skills they are learning in school.

Of course, access to technology is not a given; the economic health of the communities where our nation's students live and learn is not a constant, and we must challenge ourselves at all levels of society to ensure that every student gets a quality, relevant education. If we are to prepare our students for the world that awaits them, educators need to not only welcome technology, but we must approach the world using the high-tech eyes and speak the high-tech languages that our students use every day. As we do that and gain an increasingly deeper understanding of their technological lives, we will be able to more effectively connect them, educate them, and send them forward with the knowledge and skills that they will need to sail on to success.

Categories: Education Trends, Reading & Learning

Tags: early learning, elementary learning, elementary school learning, high school learning, how children learn, innovation, learning environment, learning through play, motivating students, technology in education

Do Teachers Give Students Math Anxiety?

• March 23, 2010 by Sherrelle Walker, M.A.

As educators, we are accustomed to seeing our students get anxious on occasion—it’s a normal, healthy reaction to being asked to perform. It gives students that jolt of adrenaline that drives them forward. Some take a breath and work through the feelings, and some need a bit more coaching. Some experience tears, but with a bit of one-on-one help and caring, they can experience great success and learn how to overcome their perceived limits.

What about when that anxiety becomes a debilitating impediment to success, such as with true math anxiety? One recent investigation by Beilock, Gunderson, Ramirez, and Levine of the University of Chicago looked into how math anxiety in teachers can affect math achievement in students. (The full study report is available online, but for an easier read, a very nice, accessible write up appeared in the January 2010 Los Angeles Times.)

Their study went something like this: At the beginning of the second-grade school year, teachers were assessed as to their levels of math anxiety, and students were assessed for math achievement. At this time, the data showed no relationship between the teacher’s math anxiety and student math achievement.

By year’s end, study data showed that the more anxious the teachers were about math, the more likely the girls were to have lower scores than the boys upon assessment. Moreover, the girls were more likely to believe the gender-based stereotype that "boys are good at math, and girls are good at reading." The girls who held this belief "had significantly lower math scores than girls who did not and lower than boys overall."

As educators, we all understand implicitly that our opinions and emotions can deeply affect our students. With this study, we now have an even deeper understanding of the functions, as well as a perspective on the social and academic implications of teacher math anxiety.

If you know students or teachers (or anyone, for that matter) who struggles with math anxiety, there are some great resources online to help, such as Math.com (see study tips at http://www.math.com/students/advice/anxiety.html) and Math-and-ReadingHelp.com (see "Ways to Overcome Math Anxiety.")

Categories: Reading & Learning

Tags: elementary school learning, emotions in learning, how children learn, math, teacher impact

Educational Video Games

• February 25, 2010 by Sherrelle Walker, M.A.

Video games in the classroom? Yes, indeed according to Jim Brazell who recently gave the keynote speech at the Florida Education Technology Conference. Video games can be effective learning and teaching tools, not just entertainment.

We all know that mammals learn best through play. Video games have learning embedded in playing. They are very motivating with their interesting graphics, sounds and strategies. They have built in reward systems where players move up a level after achieving certain results.

Students in a new class called "Videogames & Learning," offered at the University of Michigan, are exploring how video games can be used in the classroom and are looking at the connection between video game technology and social science research in education. Traditional educational video games have been used to teach hand-eye coordination and drill skills such as spelling or math. One student, a junior in the class, points out that video games that are typically used solely for entertainment can be used to teach many different skills and concepts from time management to forward thinking and planning.

The military is at the forefront of using technology for teaching, using simulators and virtual experiences to present situations that cannot be recreated live. In the classroom, video games can incorporate tremendous amounts of data giving the students an opportunity to make decisions and apply knowledge in very complex environments that integrate virtual, physical and imaginary realities. This level of complexity cannot be achieved with other classroom teaching tools. Brazell has used video games and gaming technology for career simulation with K-12 students.

He has noted a tremendous amount of interest by teachers in using gaming in the classroom. His recommendation? Start by determining what it is you want the students to learn. "Never start with the idea that you're going to use a video game (as a teaching tool). Decide what you want to teach and then find the right application."

Categories: Education Trends, Reading & Learning

Tags: how adults learn, how children learn, innovation, learning through play, motivating students, technology in education