In last week's Economist an article titled "Games Lessons" appeared in the Education, psychology and technology section.I have a question, though. Why would saying "the future of schooling may lie with video games" "sound like a cop-out"? To "cop-out" of something means to "avoid taking responsibility for an action or to avoid fulfilling a duty"... so how is using an extremely effective medium in an educational setting to improve students' learning and performance... a cop-out?
It seems that the author (not sure who wrote the piece) disapproves of "transferring much of the pedagogic effort form the teachers themselves (who will now act in an advisory role)" to the games the students are playing.
Obviously this author has never been a teacher.
The main focus of the article is on the Quest to Learn school in New York. One of the theoretical foundations of the Quest to Learn school rests firmly on the work of James Paul Gee (click here to see a couple videos I posted a while back of an interview with him), though James is not directly involved with the school itself.
One of the neatest things about the Q2L school (at least, if you ask me) is the reworking of the traditional class periods. English? Science? History? Math? Adios. (No word on whether Spanish is being replaced.) Here's the PDF of Q2L's Overview of Curriculum. Really interesting stuff. "The Way Things Work, Being, Space and Place, and Wellness being just a few examples of course blocks.
You may be asking, "Yeah, sure, sounds like fun. But what can you possibly do with an education like that?" Seems that the Q2L folk have heard that before. Here's a list of Future Careers the school suggests for graduates:
Doesn't sound half bad to me.
Urban planner · Organizational Management · Economist · Engineer · Scientist (all) · Computer Scientist · Financial Analyst · International Relations · Entrepreneur · Business and Finance · Design (all) · Political strategist · Judge · Sustainability and Environmental Scientist · Human Factors Researcher · Anthropologist · Writer · Investigative Reporter · Learning Scientist · Inventor · Information architect · Playwright · Actuary · Biotechnologist
Anyway, the Economist article does make a good point in that the level of success will take a few years to find out. The school plans to admit pupils at the age of 12 and keep them until they are 18, so the first batch will not leave until 2016. If it fails, traditionalists will no doubt scoff at the idea that teaching through playing games was ever seriously entertained.
Let's just hope it does. I mean, what kid wouldn't love a school whose supply list for the new school year includes a pack of blank CDs, a pack of blank DVDs, a flash drive (at least 2 gigs) and a pair of USB headphones.
To keep tabs on exactly what's going on at the Q2L school, check out the Q2L Parents blog. Tell 'em who sent ya.
(Originally posted at Teach Video Games on September 10, 2009.)