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Education in a gameAlistair Owens (6)    keen2learn What Teaching Resources Do We Really Need?Posted Thursday, September 04, 2008 (1 year 81 days ago.) Viewed 24 times. Government educational policies striving to improve standards are constantly criticised. If the pass rate improves it's down to easier exams, and if they deteriorate it's due to the wrong teaching resources or technique. But the rate of change in the now global markets is placing different demands on the educational content. Are we matching the output with the actual demand? 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) Education Needs Learning Outside the Classroom.Posted Thursday, July 10, 2008 (1 year 138 days ago.) Viewed 19 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
Permalink Comments (0) The English Language as Educational GamesPosted Tuesday, June 17, 2008 (1 year 161 days ago.) Viewed 60 times. The dynamic expansion of the internet, global travel, TV and films have all conspired to extend the use of English even further and add to its international content. English is not a pure language. Words in frequent use originate from the Anglo Saxons, Italy, Spain, Germany, India, China, France, Greece as well ancient languages such as Latin. We are not alone in this activity. Some English words, or to be more precise, words used in England, have been exported and at no charge – aren't we generous. Interestingly some words and expressions that have moved overseas have been largely abandoned in England. "The fall" used in the USA to describe the season that in the UK is referred to as autumn was in common usage in England, travelling to the States with the pilgrim fathers. The fall, as a word, is perhaps a lot more descriptive of the season. Maybe we should grab it back. Spelling had also evolved. Colour has become color in the states, humour is humor. So here is another English game, this time an English spelling game - Deadletters: List as many words that contain letters that are not pronounced in the word. The H in ghost for example; the word could just as well be spelt as gost without any change in the sound of the word. There is a society in the UK that want all redundant letters to be removed from the English language. Should this be leters removed ? ( You can imagine the spellcheck facility on this PC has just about given up at this point. The page is a sea of red underlining ! ) Here's another literacy game based on phonetics - Phonetricks; How is ghoti pronounced? The answer is fish. The word is formed by pronouncing the "gh" as "f" as in cough. The "o" is pronounced as " i" as in women, and the "ti" is pronounced as "sh" as in station . How many weird words can you make up with unusual spelling from the phonetic sounds rather than the correct spelling? The last game is similar a it also revolves around phonetics - the sound of words. Fonetix is a game where words are made up that can be easily pronounced but spelt differently from the real word? Replace existing words with a clearer amd much shorter interpretation based on the sound. This is the forte ( 4tay) of advertising agencies who use the technique it to invent similar sounding words to avoid competition and register the name as a trade mark. Weetabix and of course keen2learn, U-haul for You Haul are examples. The great thing is the adaptability of the English language. Just think of the new words or spelling being developed by a generation of children texting on mobile phones (fones) . But don't take the games too seriously. We all have exams to pass and some of the words that can be developed don't exist in the eyes of the examiners – yet.
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