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create a team within our TED community working on ideas that can became educational games.
What do we want to teach our kids - globally?
Who can give us background information - facts and figures?
Do you want to became part of that team - and creating projects about educational games?
Topics:
computer games creativity games thinking
Sargis B.
Barry Miller
I think games are one great way to go. In my experiences as an after school site director I used team building games, outdoor activities, and job related activities to keep the attention of my high school students. Part of what most of these kids needed was to know that they mattered and that people do care about them.
Matt Murray 500+
a fancier version is thin wood stock that get lasered. it's massed produced, light and can be shipped anywhere in the world for a few pennies. i've approached oliver hess TED Fellow and Principal of Didier Hess. he thought it was a fantastic idea and has some of his fabricators in LA looking at how to create it.
I'm also spoke with John Werman of citizenschools to drop these templates into his school system.
chess teaches three dimensional thinking, critical thinking skills, sportsmenship, math, etc.
the media campaign along with it would be "Be a Queen" or "Be a King" The overall idea is called "Chesster" as in jester and chess.
any thoughts?
matt
Christopher Webster
You can check out an experimental math game I created for my students at:
scratch.mit.edu/projects/webstermath/1436268.
yuval kashet
i would love to come back and read more about it.
generally i think that becouse childrens in education system are expected to learn more thay neglect the abillity to improve other skilles. when lern a certien skill a person is being empowered and obtain a succesful exprience.
in studies what replace this expirience is succeeding a tests. after the tast is done this new knowledge lead to advenced knowledge and advenced test.
it could be difficult for a game designer to create a game that would last a whole kid studying period enthusiastic.
what i suggest instead, is to encoruge the new 'gamers' to expirience a whole range of correlations with generating thoghts and processing information.
i belive that a kid that learned something would be thrilled to teach another child, and that a group of kids sent to explore a certain area whould love to show their findings and to share information.
this is mearly a game solution but more of an interactive studies with other students.
also i think that when the platform will be available it will almost run on its own and we as adults will have a lot to learn from and only than we'll be abale to realy ask.. What do we want to teach our kid?
and yes. i would love to be part of such team very much :)
thank you..
Lee Wilkinson 20+
Ilhyun Jo 10+
What I'm trying to say is that gaming and education are opposite elements. If gaming teaches people, it's not gonna do a very good job. It's sacrificing true intelligence for easily obtainable facts done in a different fashion.
Rasmus Andersson
I also think that you're notion that games and education are opposite elements is plain wrong. In fact, I recommend that you listen so Salman Khans speech from this years TED, where among other things, he mentions that something as simple as gaming's ideas of highscores and achievements is proving very efficient. I don't think that there are any reasons to think that other elements of gaming is worthless.
In the end, gaming is about simulation of real world elements. Personally I think that to believe that we can't use that to teach is absurd, as it already is a vital part of education today and always has been.
Christophe Cop 500+
So anybody who wants to help me with it is welcome.
"Save the planet, save your allowance ; An integrated domestic edutainment game"
The basis is simple: we couple the energy that enters a house (the electricity meter, or 'smart grid' data) to a game-platform (like this Conversations, but with more level up and graphic things).
As such, any kid can play this game: the more energy he saves around the house (turning of lights & stand-by modes,...) the more XP he get's for his character.
As a bonus, the energy bills of the parents go down. As such, the kid can be rewarded with the money saved (he ought to)
=> While playing, one learns to understand energy use and conservation, becoming eco-minded. By earning the money, the kid becomes entrepreneurial. And planet and parents profit from it as well
We might need Jane Mcgonigal involved in this too ;-) http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/jane_mcgonigal_gaming_can_make_a_better_world.html
This can be extended to gas and water consumption, adding 'things to improve' quests
Note: this game needs to be designed to be adaptable to multiplayer mode.
Any people ready for a startup?
Mark Meijer 100+
If you want to raise awareness of these issues in kids (and adults), instead of awarding XP, make it visible by some estimate of how many habitats, species, and human lives etc. were saved that day from exploitation and future disaster. "Facts and figures", as OP calls it. Isn't that what "we want to teach our kids"?
Make it the ultimate god-game: Show them how their energy savings impact the world. It is inherently massively multiplayer (everyone playing this game is on the same persistent world server called Earth). And in the process they are taught that, whether they know it or not, whether they are casual players or hard-core, they really can and do have a lasting impact on the world.
Briannin Gross
If its worldwide the participants in the game could connect with others throughout the world and come up with new ideas on how to save energy. They should be rewarded in some way for connecting with others and coming up with ideas. After all, real issues are not solved by one man alone. These kids should learn that early and have it built into them how to form communities.
Christophe Cop 500+
(all others too of course)
It does complicate the way of designing it, doesn't it? so how show the complexity of the 'real' positive impact you are having?
But if you could help me figure out the details: would be great.
(now I only need an entrepreneur, programmer, game-designer, electricity expert and some funding) ;-)
Dessislava Boshnakova 500+
SANTHIP KANHOLY
Ilhyun Jo 10+
Rasmus Andersson
What type of game it is doesn't really matter in initial steps of research of this form. In fact, I think that type of game is a perfect fit for early experiments, as it's cheap, easy to maintain and very barebones.
Ilhyun Jo 10+
Nobody really goes through an epic win very often. They might once in a while when they play strategy games but in games like world of warcraft you just play for levels, not epic wins. Plus you feel good while playing but bad afterwards.
Rasmus Andersson
Stating that "you feel good while playing but bad afterwards" is something that is completely alien to me, and to me seems that you have a really odd relationship to games and continue to spit out bold statements based on nothing (such as "You can't make a fun educational game", which in fact is wrong, as I've played fun educational games).
Ilhyun Jo 10+
You might be right about me having a wrong and weird view towards games but statistics show that it has a negative effect on the brain
Plus the education will most likely come in the form of hard facts, not critical thinking.
Ivana Korom 500+
The idea to use games in education is great and it is something that kids today use and understand more than just sitting at the table and reading from a textbook. I'm a trainer also, and my team and I use different kinds of games - both with kids and adults, and they really work, everybody likes them.
And games are not "just" games or entertainment. Jane McGonigal clearly pointed out that while playing a game, we experience a lot more than just fun. We just don't tend to look at it that way. While some of them may not be educational (although I wouldn't agree, even in the "stupid" games you learn something, or at least something about yourself), I don't think that formal (textbook) education is sufficient in the world today. What about social and emotional skills? Collaboration? It's not games per se that teach kids, it's the dynamics of games. And the content can really be anything we want to teach them.
I suggest another great talk on the subject: http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/seth_priebatsch_the_game_layer_on_top_of_the_world.html
Kristine Sargsyan 500+
I am a consultant and during my trainings I often use games. Adults just enjoy playing all types of games and then reflecting what they have learned. So kids will definitly appreciate it initiation ...
Dessislava Boshnakova 500+