Official Session Name: (10:30am)
Panel: “From Slate to Chalk to Tablets and Apps”
Summary / Ecampus Takeaway:
The conference really gets started, with some great discussion of the real world state of educational gaming (with some specific examples/links).
Raw Notes:
From slate to chalk
Jamie from Turk is a small division within Edge [?]. Not on the brief. Scott is dude on the end (Older, with beard and notable nose. see photo).
Talks about state education being driven by common core. Claims a new shift in focus (a change) is needed to connect information across grades. Not sure how to apply metrics to this longitudinal learning focus.
Scott: makes games that get used. But also thinks of it as research. Recently made an ARG with the Smithsonian.
Michael: ran state education things in Pennsylvania (deputy secretary). Claims Educurious is focused on how to change the classroom to take advantage of changes around it. (!)
[ I skipped Kathy: to look up Michael. ]
Jamie: First game was blue mars a virtual world. A Martian graveyard. Currently working on canaries in a coal mine project.
Kim [moderator?] asks for examples that show why games work.
Scott notes the state of the research is far behind the state of development. Notes that when students were engaged in mystery, they were flattered to have paleobotanist using big words at them.
Michael claims 9th grade is the most boring year of school, when more drop out. To solve, kids need to come to school eager to learn. Need to know. So we need to connect them to work in the real world. (scientists and research). When presented with an expert in field they care about, they step up. Realize this is their chance.
Need to help them realize how their interest is connected to learning.
Kathy mentions hour long PBS special on digital learning. (FIND IT!) available online. Shows that a lot of programs are going on outside the schools.
Jamie notes kids are going to games, whether they are in the classroom or not.
Scott notes the practice of playing games is science. Testing hypothesis.
Kim asks what skills can we assess with games, that we can’t currently with tests?
Jamie – the trick is how to embed. There is no multiple choice exam at the end of Halo,or in the real world. Rather, what you produce is what you are measured by…
(Makes me think of biometrics and the need for a strong one on one interviewer… Maybe a chat bot could provide this service, and turn unique answers into stats?)
Kathy looking at Edusteps. How do you really evaluate creativity. Mentions book “Reality is broken, why games make us better”.
Mentions a good report on kids using games around the world, from birth to 5 years old. In slums of Mumbai (missed name).
Michael mentions “psychomatricians” (metricicans).[?] Quickly spits out what they measure, too fast for me to write. … One was
Temporal disassociation (loading time). Another was school attendance. Then mental cognition… Thinking like a mathematician and understanding tools around you. And ultimately progress towards competency. … He mentions badges given out, and not knowing what value they have.
The last is the world we live in… Notes rubrics and not needing a multiple choice test. U. …I don’t follow this last.
Scott points out standard assessments are the wrong thing. Points out halo is the assessment. Says web served games are powerful for measuring. Mentions NAPE exam, and he was in Washington recently … Talking to some dudes about this. Hoping with common core there is possibility to measure things like how long students stick with it. And others… (spoke fast). Has this interesting idea that games are the test.
Audience Q&A
Q:Evidence?
A:Scott mentions you have to look at Quest To Learn. A NY school.
Michael notes they use blended learning model, so you can measure how far the project went into the field to deliver final result. And notes teachers have to have an open stance, or it won’t work. Teacher manages culture in the room.
Q:What are best examples post secondary?
Scott notes nobody worries about teaching methodologies in college. They just do what they want. Look up TEAL at MIT for project based learning.
Kathy says I hope everyone has heard of pubtropica. [Poptropica] … PBS Kids also comes up, doing a lot of research.
Base networks? [bayesean?]
…
There are equity issues around using games as homework.
Scott says real question is whether home atmosphere supports homework. Notes not every kid may not have Internet at home. But not against it.
Check Back Later For:
Edits to the text? photo…
