Comments on: ARGs and the Classroom

By: J. James Bono

J. James Bono — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 15:52:56 +0000

Thanks for your comments! I’m interested to hear if you’ve found a way to incorporate ARGs into your classes? Also, have you looked at World Without Oil? It was a game put on by the Institute for the Future which deals with peak oil. Outside of its civic component, the game is one of the few ARGs that are scalable and “replayable” to an extent. It also has an explicitly educational component and reaches out to teachers by providing lesson plans and course materials.

Http://www.worldwithoutoil.org

By: Bill

Bill — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 08:56:13 +0000

Tad, thanks for reporting on the conference. Very timely! ARGs are very familiar to me, as we use the concept in a big way in the Pentagon to explore future military capabilities and try out different strategies. I’ve run several joint wargames (pretty much as a puppetmaster) to understand what capabilities the US needs to develop, and “behind the curtain” are people we call the “white cell” (while the red and blue cells fight each other). Some games start in the current world, some start with fictitious events in the future. Some use a lot of multimedia, some none.

great report–thanks,

Bill

By: Laura Veprek

Laura Veprek — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 22:47:53 +0000

I agree with you Tad. See what I wrote on Maureen’s blog, I continued my commenting train-of-thought there. I think critical thinking skills are Very Important, but I don’t think that they are appropriate for every age. I think you need a foundation first–frankly, I feel that is an education that I missed somewhere along the way. Prime example is being asked to write an essay without ever having learned what an essay was. And, I guess since I’m not a student, though I happen to be taking a class, I do what to go where I want and do what I want. I will be guided –that is why I’m in the class. But, again, there is an age-appropriateness here. In college, I believe we are making that transition, or maybe today we’re making it even earlier, though I would probably argue we shouldn’t do too much too soon. Graduate school is where you are really trained and allowed and encouraged to do your own thing. And, actually, I remember being turned loose in a library quite often, with some instruction, say to find a biography about someone interesting. Seminar-style classes I, for the most part, have found disappointing. Some professors are certainly better than others at guiding and directing the discussion, but I believe their guidance is the key element here. And, again, to reiterate, this is all very different depending if you’re talking about high school, college, or graduate school. I’m not against all interactivity, I just don’t want it forced down my throat, which was the implication in the “Participation Inequality” article.

By: Tad

Tad — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 22:29:20 +0000

What’s wrong with reading texts and memorizing dates?

Well, it’s no way to give a student critical thinking skills. And personally, I think that’s a key element of why history is in school curriculum– humanities classes, when well done, encourage critical thinking and civic engagement.

As for going where you want and doing what you want, personally I think that’s just not a right students have. I think guided research is the best method for transmitting both deep knowledge and research skills that pertain to history, but just letting students loose in a library? Very few are going to come back with anything.

There’s a lot of interactivity in traditional education, if you look for it. Think about seminar-style discussions and essay tests.

By: Laura Veprek

Laura Veprek — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 22:13:32 +0000

To me, the idea of using a video “game” to educate our youth –or anyone for that matter– is off-putting, to put it mildly. I just don’t think learning has to be “fun,” or even that it should be. What’s wrong with reading texts and memorizing dates? I think America’s schools could probably stand a bit more of that, given how often we have statistics and examples thrown at us about how little Americans actually know about the world and history. I do, however, believe there is a time and a place for “fun” learning. (And just pure fun of course.) Sure, educational video games could be helpful in creating an entry-point to some tough, otherwise abstruse topics. Museums are a great place for this. But, as I said in my blog, I don’t think interactivity is always a good thing. I don’t always like to be lead down a path and then forced to explore some topic. I would prefer to go where I want and read what I want, depending on what interests me. I suppose for students, being told what to read and what to investigate is not an abnormal thing, so maybe in an explicitly educational setting, educational interactivity and video games could be okay, sometimes. Otherwise, I’m not so sure.

By: Karin

Karin — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 21:55:55 +0000

I tried to play Myst again this week and I wanted to hit that little girl…what a pain in the a$#. I work with children so this doesn bode well for me…