Play with Learning
Archive for August, 2011
Psychology & Neuroscience articles
NCSU research: Study Shows Sports Can Help Communities Recover From Disaster http://j.mp/o0bzkz
Distract Yourself or Think It Over? Two Ways to Deal with Negative Emotions from Association for Psychological Science http://j.mp/l37Fnm
Too much choice is a bad thing – Journal of Public Economics http://j.mp/kJXbgT
Snooze you win? It’s true according to Stanford reseasrch http://j.mp/iCsjtQ
The sharing of stories or information may be driven in part by arousal according to new study. http://j.mp/jCeDqH
Text message support for smokers doubles quit rates. From the Lancet. http://j.mp/k9CmP7
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs key to wellbeing but order unimportant – University of Illinois http://j.mp/lfSR5O
Practising a little can make lasting impact on brain according to study from McMaster Uni. http://j.mp/kTz1Dz
Being born & raised in a city is associated with greater lifetime risk for anxiety & mood disorder. From Nature. http://j.mp/jrjGpu
Multi-tasking not all it’s “cracked up” to be? Stanford Study shows? bit.ly/16ko3N
Learning Styles: The Cognitive Side of Content by Johnny Holland http://j.mp/izrUDk
Teens still learning to plan ahead from Child Development journal http://j.mp/kzyUhz
Youth cybercrime linked to friends’ influence from Michigan State University http://j.mp/iBAKm3
Social Justice articles
Upwards social mobility reduces stress – Journal of Epidemiology & Community Heath http://j.mp/nJfdO9
UC Research Points to Best Practices to Reduce Recidivism http://j.mp/pQCNVc
Socioeconomic status as child dictates response to stress as adult according to University of Minnesota http://j.mp/qDZRZ8
High technology, not low taxes, may drive states’ economic growth. Penn State research. http://j.mp/iqX536
Death by Poverty? The effect of wealth and education on mortality. Study by Mailman School http://j.mp/jiAGoT
Prisoners give their time back to community in pioneering project #timebanking http://tiny.cc/hu2d3
More evidence that the tax & benefit changes are hitting the poor hardest. From the Institute For Fiscal Studies http://j.mp/iDaUat
Youth cybercrime linked to friends’ influence from Michigan State University http://j.mp/iBAKm3
Even better if
workshop
I have the pleasure and privilege of working with all sorts of people. I’m continually learning from them. On my piece of work for the UN, I am collaborating with a long-time friend, Karen Ardley. Karen has successfully run her own business, Karen Ardley Associates, for many years now and is one of the UK’s top educational leadership experts. Although we’re working together, I often sit in quiet awe as she leads her parts of the workshop we’re running.
Karen has a collection of “tools” that she developed over many years. They are highly effective techniques for organising and refining thoughts and ideas, skills and practice. One that particularly caught my eye in our recent workshop was something Karen uses to evaluate events. It is brilliantly simple.
Most events conclude with some form of audience evaluation. Typically, they score the proceedings and give participants the opportunity to flag strengths and weaknesses. Karen’s tool does just that but far more elegantly and constructively. As well as identifying the things that have gone well, she explores the things that haven’t. But, and this is the genius of it, rather than simply gathering a list of negative comments, Karen uses the prompt “Even better if…” It turns complaints into solutions. For example, rather than saying that the room was too hot, this approach records that next time we need better air conditioning; rather than complaining that the slide font was too small, this method suggests bigger text; rather than bemoaning the lack of time for questions, we propose short presentations or longer sessions.
The Even Better If approach means the session finishes with a positive and forward-looking activity. And that is precisely what is needed.
It’s a brilliant idea.
Media for learning
workshop
I’ve had the pleasure of working with Head teachers, Principals and education officers in the West Bank this week as part of my work with Karen Ardley for UNRWA.
We talked about the relative strengths and weaknesses of the media available to us for the leadership development programme we’re putting together. Some of the points are (inevitably) similar to my thoughts on multiplatform formats.
Achieving the right blend is important for a number of reasons:
- Fitness for purpose
Maximising the capabilities of media: Recognising that human experiences might be best communicated through video, while complex theoretical ideas lend themselves to print.
- Accommodating learning preferences
Understanding that our attitudes towards learning are different and that providing ‘something for everyone’ is more likely to engage our audience across the piece.
- Reinforcement
Offering multiple perspectives and varied experiences of the same point helps learners absorb, remember and contextualise information and ideas.
- Texture
The programme will take many hours to complete and the issues are complex and challenging, a varied blend helps to create ‘texture’ in the experience. This texture helps maintain interest and motivation.
It was a fascinating discussion; I’ve summarised the ideas below.
| Strengths | Weaknesses | Good for | |
| Face to face |
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| Strengths | Weaknesses | Good for | |
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| Strengths | Weaknesses | Good for | |
| Rich media |
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| Strengths | Weaknesses | Good for | |
| Online |
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We recognised that such an activity is fraught with ambiguity. It is hard to disentangle the medium from the means. Likewise some characteristics are dependent on use context. Still, it provided a useful catalyst for the group as we considered the most effective way of distributing content across media.
What do you think?
Riding a bike
bicycle
I talk about learning all the time, it’s often learning situated in classrooms or in the workplace. Of course, I see examples much closer to home too.
My little girl is 5 years old. She started school in January. She hasn’t stopped learning since the day she was born and whilst that might be true for all of us, a child’s development is so much more dramatic. Every day she learns something new, every day she applies some novel approach or improved understanding, every day she discovers something different.
It is fascinating to watch this process first-hand and to play some minor part in it. Often I just watch as she interacts with her friends, plays on her own or does something with one of the family. I know that much of Scarlett’s behaviour and approach to life is a reflection of my and her mother’s. We are modelling attitudes all the time either consciously or subconsciously. It can be a terrible responsibility especially when I see my worst habits reflected back to me through her. It is of course, a tremendous privilege at the same time.
A recent event has highlighted my role as “teacher” to my daughter: Scarlett’s attempts to ride a bicycle without stabilisers. Her bike is probably a little too small for her now and yet we bought it for her when she was too young. It has had stabilisers since the day it came home from the shop. I’ve always wondered about their effectiveness because they teach a child that it is unnecessary to balance and that you don’t have to put your feet down when the bicycle stops. When you’re learning to cycle these are fairly catastrophic assumptions.
So today I took off the stabilisers and we set off for the Park. Although Scarlett has ridden her scooter to school all year, I wasn’t going to let her attempt to ride the bike solo straightaway.
Riding a bike requires three skills:
- Understanding the mechanics
- Developing balance
- Having confidence
Although we might take these things and this process for granted, for a 5-year-old each step is a real challenge.
She needed to understand the propulsion of pedalling, the effect of the brakes and the sensitivity of the steering. These things aren’t academic – understanding the basis for movement is fundamental to moving. Initially her understanding might be shaky but eventually she’ll do it and deconstruct, able to make sense of the information in the context of her new experience.
She needs to learn how to shift her weight and move her centre of gravity to keep the bike upright, and later how to take corners. What’s more, she needs to figure out how to do this while pedalling. There’s a physical element to making sense of the knowledge.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, she needs to develop the confidence to challenge what she know and try something new. She’s learnt that the stabilisers keep her up; now she has to prove herself wrong. It’s not just bravery, it’s turning a worldview upside down.
And so my role as teacher, isn’t just to explain what to do and stand back. Nor can I do it for her. No, the explanation was just the start. Some of these things she learns by simple repetition – holding the brakes while she steadies the bike in preparation to push off, some she learns through experimentation, some she learns through a leap of faith. My most valuable contributions are a steadying hand and words of encouragement.
Being right next to her is absolutely essential until that time when she has enough confidence to go it alone. Only when she feels safe will she feel prepared to take responsibility for our own learning and even then, when she falls, which she inevitably will, I will be there encouraging her to try again.
Play and games articles
Some of the articles about play and games that I have seen in the last few weeks.
Theory
Online Games & Interest-Driven Learning are Transformative for Today’s Young Learners by @constances http://htn.to/anmyvV
Three Qualities That Make Video Games Better Teachers Than Teachers from EdReach http://j.mp/lNARUV
Gamification time: What if everything were just a game? From BBC News via @jonkingsbury http://j.mp/jdbxTK
Video Games and Learning « Sam Pabón’s Ed-Tech Zone http://j.mp/juDIHp
Parents are forgetting how to play with their children, study shows – article from The Guardian last year http://j.mp/jdoiSR
Video Games Help Learning Difficulties – PC Advisor http://j.mp/jIJg55
The British secretary for education Michael Gove and video games as a tool for learning> http://ow.ly/5w90f
Examples
Celebrity Calamity! – a game about financial literacy via @mcdanger http://j.mp/qBH8kj
@SixtoStart and BBC team Up for “The Code Challenge” @bbccode from ARGNet http://j.mp/iNEZfx
Video: A Fast-Moving Video Game Played On Scrolls of Printer Paper from Popular Science http://j.mp/joGpik
Carlton Reeve
Carlton is the founder of Play with Learning. He has a PhD in the design, development and deployment of game-based learning resources. Complementing his academic background, Carlton has years of practical experience at the BBC and commercial media production companies producing and commissioning world class and award-winning media for the likes of the United Nations, BBC, National College for School Leadership, Open University and the Victoria & Albert museum.