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Denver, 10:23 PM
Sun Nov 22
16 posts in the last 24 hours
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07/23/09
07/23/09
07/23/09
07/24/09
07/23/09
07/23/09
07/23/09
07/23/09
04/22/09
04/22/09
04/22/09
Maybe the "reward system" would be better, like someone said at the study "complete your math lesson and then you get to play" yeah, this shit would get children motivated. But playing on class instead of studying? As much as I love gaming (and I think they do teach us a lot of stuff), a generation of lazy bastards is being born right now...
04/22/09
Changing over textbooks to digital reading material makes it cheaper than buying individual books for everybody. Plus, when new editions come out, it doesn't require buying entirely new books.
Also, the most important idea about putting video games in the class is to encourage the students to actively seek education. The games keep education in a fun context and create chances for participation. Too many classes still use lectures to teach and lectures are boring. I'm sure if more money goes into clever educational games, we'll all be enrich.
04/22/09
While I agree the digital age is going to replace standard textbooks with Kindle-like devices (which is a good thing to be honest), in my opinion the DS just doesn't have enough "real estate" to be used as an effective learning tool.
While I agree that video games subconsciously educate students, the effectiveness and retention is most likely not similar. I think it'd be one hell of a case study to see what works better to be honest!
04/22/09
Ferguson's right in that we don't need anymore barriers between teachers and students. Today's unfortunate reality is that most students arrive at college with a majority of their communicative experiences occurring through artificial media, i.e., through the Internet and cell phones. Unlike students just 20 years ago, they're more accustomed to that wall between themselves and whomever they're communicating with. When they get into a (liberal arts) classroom at the college level, instructors expect them to be able to interact with the other human beings in that room. It seems that with each new freshmen class, students are increasingly unable to do that. They can't articulate themselves in person nearly as well as they can through an electronic medium. My assumption, based entirely on anecdotal evidence, is that this is the result of today's college freshmen having no experience of a society in which cell phones and Internet access were not central to social experiences.
I have students who are more comfortable talking to me on facebook than they are saying anything in a "live" classroom full of their peers. There are undoubtedly complex reasons for why this is the case, but I think at the heart of it is this push toward increasingly mediated communication in every aspect of their lives. That creates isolated, alienated individuals (in a very real and a metaphorical sense), and something like this, I fear, would only exacerbate the situation.
04/22/09
04/22/09
Now, with the introduction of these GAMING systems, how much do you think these kids are going to take their studies seriously? Sure, there are educational games out there, we had them back when I was in school as well. While I learned a few things, it certainly wasn't as fast as "sit down and listen to this" methods my school had.
As it says in the article, the DS is VERY limited in being a tool for education, and should be used as a supplement, not the source.
*****
I could see this as another way though...if all these foreign countries introduce the DS into their curriculum, maybe the US kids won't seem so stupid after a couple years of "programming". XD
04/22/09
/rant
04/22/09
04/22/09
I also think some Brain Age math could help children learn math better.
But I don't agree with some of the sillier notions that they are employing. Nintendogs? Really? And comparing recipes in Cooking Mama to recipes in real life? That just seems like its stretching it. Children can play these similar comparison games on TV networks like Nick Jr. and Noggin.
But if some dedicated software was made for the system, more games that make math fun like Brain Age (I didn't like Personal Trainer: Math), and perhaps a library of books on one cart (as they have in England), it would be more economical and affordable in the long run.
Why not make the students purchase the systems?
Also, think of how useful it could be in terms of keeping track of curriciulums or lesson plans. Nintendo could provide software that could be accessed via Nintendo Wi-Fi that allows you to view a teacher's curriculum or the school calendar.
Not everyone can afford a computer. This puts one, albeit limited, right in people's hands.
04/22/09
If anything, Brain Age is the modern-day Flash Cards we used to use back in school. You sure as hell aren't being educated as far as WHY numbers are equal to something, but you practice already known skills with it and you can supplement your education.
The same should be said about the DS as a whole. It should NOT be required, but supplemental, much like our Flash cards back in the day. Reference tools, yes. Key parts of the educational system, hell no.
04/22/09
Given, they could probably do the same with a piece of paper and random math drills running down it. And test children to do as many problems as they can as fast as they can.
Although Brain Age does provide a slight pause for you to change your answer if it is incorrect. This allows you to quickly recalculate and try again.
Not to mention, a game makes it more fun. Children are more likely to respond to a game.
04/22/09
I don't know how you used Flash cards, but I wrote down the answers instead of just memorizing what was on them and going through the routine. As you implied, kinetic memory is definitely an advancement, but the problem is with the DS there is no history of this being written down, so no papers to review once you're done (other than seeing your answers), so kinda makes this half-kinetic if that's even possible.
Of course, I'd rather play Math Baseball, which also requires a social interaction with fellow students, versus the single-player drills that are on the DS. As mentioned in other threads in this discussion, socially speaking the system isn't the best for face-to-face communication, which could also be a handicap on it's effectiveness.
04/22/09
if all those rumours at that time about Nintendo selling up when the Cube wasn't selling would of come true,i wonder if i would of been happy now,as i wasn't at the time
04/22/09
It's bad enough that US children are raised on calculators for mathematics, before they really understand true mathematical concepts.
Ask people who were raised in India or China how to find the square root of a number without a calculator and they have no problem. As an American child and his head implodes.
Education is the number one concern of mine, and the US education system is the biggest joke I've ever encountered.
04/22/09
I completely agree with the math thing though. Sure, you may not use all of it, but neither will you most anything else. The point of the schools are to perk your interests into the direction you want to go with your life, and sadly now that the US schools are mostly being directed by standardized tests instead of free-thinking advancement, that spark is dying faster and faster each year. Makes me almost wanna home-school my kids when they get old enough... :/
04/22/09
Of course, you could simply give it on a paper, and ask the kid to solve it. What the DS does here, is stimulating the kid to solve it.. just the fact that you're writing on a screen, on a video game, motivates a 6 or 7 year old kid to solve the thing.
04/22/09
04/22/09
04/22/09
Just like we have underutilized teachers, we do have lazy ass teachers that I was not hesitant in giving the boot with little hesitation.
04/22/09
04/22/09
@MaWeiTao:
What? When was the last time you found children paying more attention to school than video games, unless they had a parent beating them over the head?
Combine the two, you have a winnar.
I mean, does nobody else have memories of childhood sitting in classrooms, playing on the crappy acorn computer with Math Circus or anything? How much fun it was?
I see no problem with having the DS as a teaching tool. Especially with the glut of 'My Language Teacher' and Brain Age type games on it.
04/22/09
04/22/09
If this ever took off, any moron who knows how to load a computer program could teach. It's bad enough I had to work with people like this at the collegiate level, we don't need the kids of the next generation getting a jumpstart on that!
04/22/09
04/22/09
04/22/09
You, like most people seem to have a very narrow definition of what qualifies as educational.
You say a computer is okay because computer skills are important yes?
Do you not also think that the ability to interface with a variety of digital mediums is an important computer skill? I do.
I am currently back in college taking many classes that are computer based. Many of my fellow students are professionals who already have jobs at Microsoft and a few other high profile tech places. However you would be surprised to see how slowly they adapt to a new interface and it really seems to hamper their learning.
They have computer skills but they do not have enough experience in different interfaces to be able to simply start working and experimenting.
Playing with a DS might seem kind of frivolous, but playing video games is actually a really good way to associate yourself with digital functionality and introducing kids to the touch screen functionality of the DS would be helpful as well (since touchscreens are on everything these days).
04/22/09
03/21/09
03/21/09
Brb guys, gonna go play Donkey Kong Jr. Math on the NES.
03/21/09