Educational Transformation & Gaming

Vision

We are interested in: “creating transformative & engaging learning experiences that are embedded in games that have a rigorous pedagogical foundation.”

• We would like to be part of the Education revolution that is already occurring (Eg. KhanAcademy)

• The age of information has in some sense passed. The challenge now is to build on that foundation and leverage it for transformation and so facilitate the age of transformation.
• The focus is not on the technology whatever that might be (e.g. paper and pencils, overheads, computers, smart devices such as tablets) but rather on the transformative educational experience that technology enables.
• “Games” in their most general sense capture much more than the stereotype of some “shoot-em-up” diversionary activity but are innately part of what it means to play and in some deep sense discover what life is about. “The whole truth regarding play cannot be known until the whole truth regarding life itself is known.”¹
• The intention is not to blindly accept the current fashionable technology of the day. Rather we maintain that we can ground games in a solid pedagogical foundation.
• To potentially disrupt current para-school Math programs with a $1.99 game which is equivalent to a $ 600+ a month tutoring system cost!
• To satisfy the demand for educating children in an innovative way.

First Game

Free The Balloon is a first in a series of the above grand vision where we: “create a Math game for use by elementary students that will run on any smart device technology.”(e.g. iOS devices such as iPhone & iPad, Android phone or tablet). Free The Balloon is designed to teach skip counting.

• Skip Counting is a core math skill.
• By this age students are already technology savvy and verbally competent.
• Lessons learned in this can be used to expand the scope to more grade levels.
• The scope of deployment is huge. For example the development by India of a $50 Android powered tablet for wide deployment (hundreds of millions) could leverage games such as these in a powerful educationally transformative ways for large numbers of students.

A brief sidebar on Education & Gaming

Schell² is worth quoting in detail: “Traditional educational methods often feature a real lack of surprises, a lack of projection, a lack of pleasures, a lack of community, and a bad  interestcurve. When Marshall McLuhan said   ‘Anyone who thinks education and entertain-ment are different doesn’t know much about either,  ‘ this  is what he was talking about. It’s not that learning  isn’t fun,  it  is just that many educational experiences are poorly designed.” Examples of educationally transformative elements in Games include:

• facts can be easily integrated aurally and visually and linked with rewards & instant feedback
• games are innately problem solving contexts that may be paused and re-played
• games facilitate playing with relationships engaging Miller’s pyramid of learning (Knows->Knows How->Shows->Does) This can lead to new insights.
• games feed off curiosity which is foundational to learning.
• games can easily accommodate modal learning styles (auditory, visual)³
• Pre Math foundations such as The Structure Of Intellect(SOI) exercises for Arithmetic & Mathematics⁴ can be readily incorporated into game motifs. e.g. CSR exercises could be used as clues in a treasure hunt.

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1 Quoted in “The Art of Game Design”, Schell, Carnegie Mellon University, 2008 p. 38.
2 Ibid. His whole book is an amazing tour de force that transcends any stereotypes one has about gaming. He has some interesting comments on games & education on p. 443ff.
3 See “An Interpretative Guide with strategies for Using SOI” Mary Meeker, 2000
4 “SOI Math Preparation Modules: Preparation for the Math Curriculum” Mary Meeker & Howard Meeker 2002, p. 79ff