Education in a gameAlistair Owens (28)   keen2learn What Teaching Resources Do We Really Need?Posted Thursday, September 04, 2008 (88 days 13 hours ago.) Viewed 19 times. In the space of 10 years the world as we know it can change dramatically. The educational games and teaching resources in the schooling content seen as essential at the start of a decade can be almost irrelevant at the end. So are we programming the right curriculum for our children as they start their 10 year schooling journey or are we just muddling through a series of fire fighting policies. Remember Y2K ? The 1st of January 2000. The world was scheduled to stop revolving, lifts to jam mid floor, bank accounts freeze and computers implode. The computer gurus had overlooked the implications of the date code of the new millennium. Suddenly we were desperately short of ICT personnel to rewrite operating programs and manufacturers to build new computers, servers and networks. The world at large joined in the furore, angst and paranoia. The hot ticket career in ICT reacted to a demand that nobody foresaw. Inflated salaries, bonuses and a massive workload reflected what turned out to be misjudged panic. Thankfully Y2K passed like a damp squib. The world managed to continue to spin controlled by clocks and computers that continued to work. But there were huge economic consequences. Operating budgets were raided, projects cancelled as funds for replacement computers and services were rushed into place. Teaching resources budgets that normally covered educational games were decimated. And then.nothing. Hardware manufacturers had a ball. Everyone had the latest specification computer, ICT guys had earned a fortune. But the bubble burst. The demand evaporated and the market flooded with skilled ICT professionals looking for a job. Doubtless we have learned something from this maelstrom. Since Y2Y we have seen the centre of gravity in ICT support moving to Bangalore, manufacturing to China and possibly the Financial Services market to Frankfurt? We need to reprogramme our teaching resources so children can meet the changing demands of a global market. Matching the future needs in the curriculum is complex, and critically, would require decisions a decade in advance. In the meantime we see continuing conflict in the performance of our National Curriculum. A huge number of children in primary school fall short of reaching an acceptable level in maths, English and ICT. The problem is passed to secondary school where teachers, already stressed, attempt to correct shortcomings as well as meet their own standards and targets. Perversely, success in exams is tempered with concern they have become too easy. GCSE's are criticised by the Confederation of British Industry that their content fails to meet the demands of the modern commercial world. The DCSF and OFSTED wail, gnash their teeth, change policy and muddy the water. The government have announced changes to the GCSE. Designed to encourage children and provide a better chance of success, on the surface the syllabus is to be brought up to date and coursework will become modular. But this laudable intention has met with an immediate backlash; schools claim their workload will become intolerable as they try to meet the demands of children at varying stages of progress and attainment. Critics claim it would be impossible for the children not to gain good grades. But is the final outcome for the children ideally matched to the career market they are to enter? Change will always induce reluctance, yet if we do nothing then nothing will change. Forty years ago the pace of change was more regulated. Children had some idea of a career in mind when selecting GCSE and "A" levels. Engineers went for physics, accountants for maths, doctors for the sciences. Today the changing employment options have left children with less focus. Historic careers have vaporised or can radically change within the schooling journey e.g. the Y2K syndrome and global market forces in manufacturing. Without specific career objectives children are bound to select subjects on their exam success potential. Maybe we should assess children for their likely career potential at an earlier stage to help programme their educational journey more efficiently. Pundits from the respective industry should be involved in the curriculum planning such that the syllabus incorporates developing techniques. The World Wide Web, email and computers revolutionised communications in the space of 10 years. We are intimately aware of environment issues. Global warming, animal migration and climatic changes are all in state of flux. We need to consider what teaching resources are best suited to the educational objectives that meet this fast evolving world. Alistair Owens believes education should be fun and use technology to meet the needs of commerce, industry and the environment of tomorrow. Teaching resources in the form of educational games and toys use technology to enthuse and make learning fun at school and home. Educational games using modern technology are already helping to teach children in school and at home. You can see examples here ttp://www.keen2learn.co.uk/l/64/ICT_Games.php 
Permalink Comments (0) Homework Help To Boost PerformancePosted Friday, July 18, 2008 (136 days 16 hours ago.) Viewed 7 times. The parent homework help dilemma; do you physically help or just make sure they do it? What sort of help is best for the children and the school? Why the worst option is to do nothing and how fun homework help with educational games can come the rescue. To most children homework is a bore or chore and wastes valuable recreation time. To most parents homework help induces a degree of anxiety; can they, should they help and if so how? To teachers homework is a vital element of lesson practice that results in 75, ( National Training Laboratory) homework has a critical role that is ironically predominately beyond a teachers control. Can it be true that one of the most significant elements of the education armoury lies largely outside of the school gates? This is comparable to a car with the turbocharger not working. The performance is limited, the car struggles to reach 70 miles per hour and the fuel consumption is much higher than it need to be. Homework, perhaps better described as - school work at home, is the single biggest opportunity for parents to turbo charge their children’s education. Modern educational games present a breakthrough to enable parents support to be enlisted as an additional teaching resource. Research has shown that what parents do at home to support learning can account for 80 of the year spent in school leaving 47% at home. The best way to include parents is to make time spent with their children fun. Access to the maths games, English grammar and fun science projects used in school can make a real difference when also used at home. Greater interaction is possible than with conventional homework allowing parents to participate in “homework help" that avoid any conflict with manipulating homework. More importantly it avoids the parent having to be an expert in the subject area. Educational games become “learning in disguise." The subject areas, developed in games format introduce key elements of the subject as an interactive computer game, bingo, card or board game etc. The learning process is hidden in the fun; 30 minutes playing these games allows a child to practice maths, English, biology or history with the parent in the role of learning mentor. Witnessing a child’s performance dynamically rather than waiting for end of term or year school reports allows more timely adjustments. Ongoing guidance provided by the teacher avoids wasting precious time. A survey of teachers in 2007 and a government report from the DCSF reveals unanimous support towards greater engagement of parents seen as crucial in the learning programme. With modern educational games toys and puzzles now available parents have the chance to rekindle their effective involvement and make a real difference to their child’s academic achievement. Alistair Owens remembers all too well the struggle to help with his children's homework ( now adults). He sees the fun element of educational games to help his grandchildren as a great opportunity to put some mutual productive fun into learning. See examples of fun homework help and educational games in these http://www.keen2learn.co.uk/l/15/Geography_Games. http://www.keen2learn.co.uk/l/42/History_Games.php http://www.keen2learn.co.uk"
Permalink Comments (0) Education Needs Learning Outside the Classroom.Posted Thursday, July 10, 2008 (144 days 21 hours ago.) Viewed 8 times. The UK government is championing what teachers have always said –children learn more and have greater fun in learning when there are taken outside the classroom and allowed to explore the practical application of the theory. It gives relevance to the text book and entices children to seek solutions. The learning time in a classroom is limited. Operational constraints can reduce the core teaching time to around 30 per cent of the lesson length, but outside the class children see a practical reference point to their learning that increases the absorption rate. A biology game played in the open can be used to reveal the difference in the size, shape and seed dispersal techniques of trees. Arguably so can a text book, the difference is the tactile nature of outdoors learning combing the feel, touch, smell and relative size of the subject and its association with its surroundings. Peter Carne, a former geography teacher with a passion for hands-on practical experience and a champion of “learning outside the classroom" says “Education in more than the acquisition of knowledge. Learning outside is a vehicle to develop the capacity to learn". There are some limitations. Planning a trip for 30 excitable children takes some organization which can sometimes limit the effectiveness. This is where parents can give great support or even take the lead role. Letting 30 children en masse see the inside of a synagogue, mosque or chapel needs tenacity and diplomacy. A parent and child combination introduces greater flexibility. The educational bond developed can turn the process of exploration into an educational game that supports progress back in class. History, science, biology and geography are obvious choices for practical learning through parks, museums and theme parks. But maths? I recall a class trip to Wandsworth library in London when I was 9. Learning about the reference system and book indexing before ISBN coding still holds memories. But the highlight of the trip was on the way back. A quick visit to the engineering company next to the school had us enthralled. Our teacher commenced to yank out strands of our hair - he was bald. Invoking a slight tear reaction – a little biology, psychology and more than likely now socially illegal the process produced the samples he was after. Using a micrometer the thickness of each strand was measured in thousands of an inch – pre metric days. We queued delightedly to suffer the anguish of the hair tug and record the result. Back in class, the realisation that black hair was on average thicker than blonde. An educational game with a lasting memory, it happened 50 years ago. Turning a trip out with mum and dad into an educational game is both great fun and mutually rewarding. The practical investigation and the relative knowledge gained help significantly back in class. The fact that the experience was gained outside the classroom provides a strong memory tag association when it comes to exams. What better way to appreciate the scope to the planetary system than look at the physical size of the Jodrell Bank telescope needed to study its detail? Marvel at engineering feats such the Thames barrier or see history in operation at the Beamish working museum. Whilst teachers need further encouragement, and time, to take the lead role wherever they can, the time spent in school only amounts to 195 days per year. The remaining 170 days, or using a little maths game; 47 percent of the total year are weekends and school holidays. Parents take note. Personal experience has shown the author the huge difference in the potential learning curve of a child who is enjoying learning compared to the slog approach. Modern technology has opened new horizons to learning and the potential for parents to take a lead is enormous. Alistair Owens at the tender age of 59 writes articles on the opportunity for fun learning that is all around us. http://www.keen2learn.co.uk/c/230/Biology_Games.php
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