Why Playstason Ain't Dun Me Lerning Ani Harm

Following on from my last post I have been looking into the possibilities currently available for online gaming based learning (OGBL). Leigh facilitated this change in direction for me after my last post and put me on to the work of Marc Prensky. I've travelled a slightly different course at the moment away from Second Life (don't really like it much - seems incomplete, unfinished) and more towards the idea of learning through games.

One of the ideas that I've picked up on based on his work is how to his mind the "digital natives" - kids who have grown up with technology - are no longer being well prepared in class as the style of learning we provide is not how they learn any more.

Two articles relating to this are attached here. They have created some interesting debate when circulated in the staffroom.

http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/erm0553.pdf
http://www.ascd.org/authors/ed_lead/el200512_prensky.html

I'm interested to see how others see these articles relating to their work, especially in a secondary school environment...

Learning by Accident (or Justifying Your Online Gaming Addiction)

One of the things I am looking to do for this course is a 10 min presentation on the online game Travian. It has been a curious experience and one that I started up by accident while investigating online communities in the second half of this year. I started playing - not really expecting to get too in to it - and then I became addicted. The say acknowledging that you have an addiction is the first step to overcoming it...

I've kept playing now because of the community I have become a part of. As a war game you need allies or colleagues to support you so that you don't get attacked by others. The camaraderie that has developed has more for me emphasised the difficulty that any online community has to overcome (including this one) - the desire to learn being overwhelmed by the desire to socialise. I still see online communities end up as a social gathering first and that learning occurs accidentally afterwards. Ironically even playing Travian I have seen learning opportunities - even when I try.

I've seen links to all sorts of areas of the curriculum:

• English
• Mathematics
• Science - Chemistry and Physics
  
• Social Sciences - History and Geography
• Music
• Technology

And after all the only reason I play is because there is so much more to learn and it's important for this course... right?