…from the
…of the
WHAT CAN
YOU
[Educational Policy Makers]
DO FOR
US?
[The Millennials]
“Give us
21
st
Century
Tools!”
We are growing up during a
VERY
DIFFICULT
“For the first time in
history,
we are no
longer limited by our
teachers’ ability and
knowledge.
”
– Mark Anderson
Sadly,
YOU
are
LIMITING US
So we ask you,
as Policy Makers
To please
SET US FREE !
BY GIVING US
Today, you are
so focused on
CONTENT
FOR MOST OF US,
OUR BIGGEST NEED
IS NOT
WE NEED
BETTER
UNDERSTANDING
&
E.G.
Knowledge filtering
Using our connectivity
OUR TEACHERS
CAN
PROVIDE US WITH
BUT WE CAN’T GET
21
ST
CENTURY SKILLS
THEY
DON’T HAVE
E.G.
Knowledge filtering
Using our connectivity
EVEN
IF YOU
•
10,000 hours Video Games
•
250,000 emails
•
10,000 hours on cell phones
•
20,000 hours TV (incl. MTV)
•
500,000 commercials
•
< 5000 hours book reading
•
2 billion
ring tones per year
•
2 billion
songs + movies per month
•
3 billion
text messages per day
Conventional Speed
Step-by-Step
Linear Processing
Text First
Our e-Life
Communicating
email, IM, chat
Sharing
Blogs, webcams
Buying & Selling
ebay, papers
Exchanging
music, movies, humor
Creating
sites, avatars, mods
Meeting
3D chat rooms, dating
Collecting
Searching
Info, connections, people
Analyzing
SETI, drug molecules
Reporting
Moblogs, photos
Programming
Open systems, mods
search
Socializing
Learning social behavior,
influence
Growing Up
Exploring, transgressing
Coordinating
Projects, workgroups,
MMORPGs
Evaluating
Reputation systems–
Epinions, Amazon,
Slashdot
Gaming
Solo, 1-on-1, small &
large groups
Learning
About stuff that interests
them
Evolving
OUR
TEACHERS,
HOWEVER,
TO US THEY HAVE
AND MOST OF THEM
DON’T UNDERSTAND
THE NEW TECHNOLOGIES
•
Quantum entanglement
•
Search technologies
•
Texture mapping
•
Steganography
•
3D modeling
FOR A LOT OF WHAT WE NEED
OUR DIGITAL IMMIGRANT
TEACHERS
CANNOT
and
DIGITAL NATIVE
teachers
WHAT DO WE
DESPERATELY
WHAT YOU CAN,
AND MUST,
PROVIDE US WITH
IS:
POWERFUL
ENGAGING
TOOLS
THAT WILL
LEAD TO
THE
UNDERSTANDING
&
THAT WILL
TO GO
BEYOND
OUR TEACHERS’
ABILITY
AND
AND TO
SUCCEED
IN THE
POWERFUL
ENGAGING
TOOLS
E-LEARNING
Out of School
we are
EMPOWERED
“Whenever I go to
school I have to
‘power down’
”
– a high school kid
GOOD TOOLS
EMPOWER US
AS LEARNERS
“On the Internet you can play
games, you can check your
mail, you can talk to your
friends, you can buy things,
and you can look up things
that you really like.”
– A High School Student
Yahoo
The e-Life
Communicating
email, IM, chat
Sharing
Blogs, webcams
Buying & Selling
ebay, papers
Exchanging
music, movies, humor
Creating
sites, avatars, mods
Meeting
3D chat rooms, dating
Collecting
Searching
Info, connections, people
Analyzing
SETI, drug molecules
Reporting
Moblogs, photos
Programming
Open systems, mods
search
Socializing
Learning social behavior,
influence
Growing Up
Exploring, transgressing
Coordinating
Projects, workgroups,
MMORPGs
Evaluating
Reputation systems–
Epinions, Amazon,
Slashdot
Gaming
Solo, 1-on-1, small &
large groups
Learning
About stuff that interests
them
Evolving
P
OWERED
B
y
O
ur
What’s different about our
new technology is that it is
programmable.
– Alan Kay
What we
put into
the
Internet is much more
important to us than what
we take out of it.
– Tim Berners-Lee
We are
producing as much
as we are consuming
– perhaps more.
– JC Herz
If we don’t
make it ourself,
it’s not fun.
– Stuart Bonn,
Former VP at EA, now VP Fun, There
The most important things
to remember are:
multi-player
creative
collaborative
challenging
competitive
– a high school student
HERE’S HOW YOU CAN
EMPOWER US
1
GIVE US THE
HARDWARE
TOOLS
THAT WILL
EMPOWER US
EMPOWERMENT
MEANS HAVING
OUR OWN
COMPUTER
GET US TO
1:1
ASAP
BUT…
DO IT RIGHT!
BE SURE THERE IS
CONSISTENCY
AND
MINIMUM STANDARDS!
“Project Inkwell”
SCHOOL COMPUTERS
NOT
RANDOM BUSINESS
COMPUTERS
WITH BASIC MINIMUMS FOR
RUGGEDNESS
POWER
GRAPHICS
SCREEN SIZE
ETC.
… in our pockets!
DON’T
BAN
MAKE THEM
•
Always in our pocket
•
Powerful and inexpensive
•
Communication-first devices
•
Full-featured
e.g. Cameras, GPS, internet
•
Easy to download content into
•
Open to external input & output
2
GIVE US THE
SOFTWARE
TOOLS
THAT WILL
EMPOWER US
YOU SHOULD BE DOING
INFINITELY
MORE
IT IS A
NATIONAL SCANDAL
…TEACHES ALL KIDS TO READ
BEFORE THEY ENTER
…TEACHES ALL
WE CAN’T
RELY ON
THE MARKETPLACE
TO PROVIDE THE BEST
EDUCATIONAL
We need a
“MANHATTAN
PROJECT”
For
EXAMPLES:
Tools for:
•
Teaching the basic subjects
•
Creating persuasive arguments
•
Enabling effective communication
EMPOWER
US
“Hidden Agenda”
TOOLS MUST BE
NOT ONLY POWERFUL
BUT ALSO
ENGAGING
WE ARE NOT
“ADD”
BUT
E
NGAGE ME
Or
HOW
CAN YOU MAKE OUR
SOFTWARE TOOLS
DUH!
WHAT
So Use
As
3
GIVE US
GAME-TOOLS
TO
ENGAGE US
WE
KNOW
GAMES PRODUCE
LEARNING
WITH
WE WANT TO
LEARN
WITH ENGAGEMENT
WE WANT GAMES
NOT BECAUSE THEY ARE GAMES,
BUT BECAUSE THEY’RE THE
…AND WE KNOW
IN FACT,
LEARNING
IS THE
BIG SECRET
REASON
WE PLAY GAMES!
Why Games Engage Us
Fun
Play
Rules
Goals
Interactive
Outcomes & Feedback
Adaptive
Win states
Conflict, competition
Problem solving
Enjoyment and Pleasure
Intense involvement
Structure
Motivation
Doing
Learning
Flow
Ego Gratification
Adrenaline
1. Doing and reflecting
2. Appreciating good design
3. Seeing interrelationships
4. Mastering game language
5. Relating the game world to other worlds
6. Taking risks with reduced consequences
7. Putting out effort because they care
8. Combining multiple identities
9. Watching their own behavior
10. Getting more out than what they put in
11. Being rewarded for achievement
12. Being encouraged to practice
13. Having to master new skills at each level
14. Tasks being neither too easy nor too hard.
15. Doing, thinking and strategizing
19. Relating information
20. Meshing information from multiple media
21. Understanding how knowledge is stored
22. Thinking intuitively
23. Practicing in a simplified setting
24. Being led from easy problems to harder ones
25. Mastering upfront things needed later
26. Repeating basic skills in many games
27. Receiving information just when it is needed
28. Trying rather than following instructions
29. Applying learning from problems to later ones
30. Thinking about the game and the real world
31. Thinking about the game and how they learn
32. Thinking about the games and their culture
33. Finding meaning in all parts of the game
Why We Learn From Games
visual selective attention
multiple task processing
rule understanding
strategy
morality
ethics
identity
flow
traditional literacy
digital literacy
stress relief
scientific thinking
intellectual development
affective development
social development
transfer
comprehension skills
academic skills
strategies & procedures
use of symbols
What We Learn from Games
What We Learn from Games
(simplified)
•
How
(to do things)
•
What
(Rules)
•
Why
(Strategy)
“…after Joan of Arc’s
victory, the entire myth of
English invulnerability was
destroyed.”
– Alex, Age 9
“I don’t want to
study
Rome in high school.
Heck, I
build
Rome every
day in my online game
(Caesar III).”
– Colin, Age 16
WE KNOW WHAT WE
LEARN FROM
OUR GAMES
•
History
Valuable Learning:
93% +
Gettysburg The New World Civilization III Pharaoh
Medieval Total War Viking Invasion
Rampage Across Britain Stronghold Crusader Caesar III
The Age of Kings
History
Emergency Room Emergency
Emergency EMT Vet Emergency
Roller Coaster Tycoon Airport Tycoon
Cruise Ship Tycoon Big Biz Tycoon,
Roller Coaster Tycoon Mall Tycoon
Startup
Job Simulation
Resource Mgmt
Business
Physicus Chemicus
Green Globs and
Graphing Equations
Math-Science
Commercial-off-the-Shelf (COTS) Games
Revolution Eyewitness Spanish Inquisition Qin Making History Tropical America Mass Balance City Planning Corporate Greed Power Politics
The Political machine President Forever
Social Studies
Building a Home Entertech ReaL Lives Virtual U. Incident Commander Road Quiz Streetwise Flood Ranger Park Ranger Waterbusters Job Simulation
Resource Mgmt
Language
The Algebots
AND WE WANT
SOME
CREDIT
and RECOGNITION
WE THINK
ALL
OUR LEARNING
WHEN IT ISN’T,
WE EITHER
“We have learned to
"play
school."
We study the right
facts the night before the
test so we achieve a passing
grade and thus become a
successful student.”
MOTIVATION IS
MORE IMPORTANT
FOR US
DON’T
“[The Millennials] call the
shots.
Anyone who bores
them will be getting
blocked, zapped and tuned
out for years to come
.”
WE
CAN GET
THROUGH
GAME DESIGN
IS CRUCIAL
KEY THINGS ABOUT GAME DESIGN:
includes
•
Continuous decision making
•
Good pacing
•
Complexity
•
Engagement
Game
Design
Curriculum
Design
Focus
Mode
Decisions
•
Frequent and important
•
Gameplay
•
Content
•
Relatively Rare
WHAT WE DON’T
YET LEARN IN GAMES
IS
CURRICULAR
GAMES
ARE
BY
SUPPORTING
THE DEVELOPMENT
OF
MAKING THESE
TOOLS
It’s
ART,
We
CAN’T USE
TRADITIONAL
“Whenever you
add an
instructional
designer,
they
suck the fun out
”
GAME DESIGNERS HAVE
ALREADY
INSTINCTIVELY
INCORPORATED
James Paul Gee:
“What Video Games
Have To Teach Us
OUR JOB IS TO
COMBINE
GAME PEDAGOGY
WITH
Today:
TOOLS AND
GAMES
CAN ENRICH
Very Soon:
TOOLS AND GAMES
WILL REPLACE
CLASSES AND TEACHERS
“Beat the Game,
Game
“Logical Journey
of the Zoombinis”
Elementary:
Logical Thinking
In Stores. Also:
“Rapunzel”
“The Typing
of the Dead”
“The ESP Game”
“English Taxi”
“The Algebots”
Middle School:
Science
“
Revolution”
“Tropical America”
“Making History”
“Eyewitness” (
Nanking Massacre)
“Under Siege”
(Palestinian Freedom Fighters Game)
“The Monkey Wrench
Conspiracy”
GAME
3 levels, save station
30 graded, w/self-evals
TASKS
Immune Attack (NIH)
High School:
Biology, Virology
Design Only
http://www.educationarcade.org/gtt/Virus/Intro.htm
Coming
“Corporate Greed:
Names, Faces and Deeds”
High School:
Law
“Objection!”
“Virtual Leader”
(Interpersonal Relationships)
High School:
Business
“Airline Tycoon”
High School:
Business
In Stores
“Start-Up,”
“Capitalism,” etc.
“Environmental
Detectives”
HS-AP:
Environmental Science
“Supercharged”
HS-AP:
Physics
www.socialimpactgames.com
Education
Health and Wellness
Public Policy
Military
Political and Social
Advertising
COTS
RE
FE
RE
NC
WE WANT
YOU
TO GIVE
1
GIVE US
HARDWARE
TOOLS
TO
EMPOWER US
SUPPORT 1:1
(WITH STANDARDS)
+
CELL PHONE INITIATIVES
2
GIVE US
SOFTWARE
TOOLS
TO
EMPOWER US
SUPPORT PROJECTS
TO CREATE
EDUCATIONAL SOFTWARE
THAT TEACHES
21
ST
CENTURY SKILLS
3
GIVE US
GAME-TOOLS
TO
ENGAGE US
SUPPORT
AND ENCOURAGE
GAME-TOOLS
FOR LEARNING
“For the first time in
history, students are no
longer limited by their
teachers’ ability and
knowledge.”
– Mark Anderson
Give us the
21
st
Century
Tools we need!
www.games2train.com
www.marcprensky.com
www.socialimpactgames.com
www.dodgamecommunity.com
www.gamesparentsteachers.com
