Before Every Child is Left Behind
From a new podcast by David Williamson Shaffer:
Houston, we have a problem. And Dallas, and Pittsburgh, and New York, and Omaha and Wichita. The problem is that good jobs are leaving.
The United States is outsourcing standardized jobs, and will continue to send them overseas until, in the very near future, the only good jobs left will be for people who can do innovative and creative work. Yet in the face of this dramatic economic change, our schools have been spending more time on basic skills for standardized tests and less time teaching children to solve challenging problems and think in innovative ways.
This Wisconsin Center for Educational Research (WCER) podcast looks at how epistemic games can solve the coming crisis in education.
In the podcast, David talks about how the problem isn’t that Johnny can’t read, but that Johnny can’t innovate. And that, in large part, is because we are not thinking about education in innovative ways.
The podcast is available in three parts in the mp3 format (to download: right click for PC’s/alt-click for Macs):
WPR
On January 15th 2007, David Williamson Shaffer talks with Larry Meiller about epistemic games and How Computer Games Help Children Learn on Wisconsin Public Radio.
You can listen to their conversation as a RealAudio stream here.
Simulation Nation
David Williamson Shaffer contributes to a video on the website www.edutopia.org about how computer simulations and games might just be the future of education. The video accompanies an article that discusses the rationale for simulations in school, as well as describing some obstacles and strategies for overcoming them.
Check out the video and article, which is available as a pdf download, here.
What’s taking so long?
The headline of a new article in eSchoolNews online:
Parents, teachers, kids speak up on ed tech: Communication, access are important to students; most parents believe technology is underused in schools
The article practically cries out for epistemic games, echoing many of the arguments in How Computer Games Help Children Learn. Reporting on the second year in a row that a national survey has found similar results, the article explains:
Students want to learn math and science through real-world problem solving, visiting places where they can view science in action, and talking with professionals in the fields. Teachers also believe that teaching these subjects within the context of real-world problems is the most effective method.
We know that epistemic games can help kids get interested–and stay interested–in science and technology. Here’s why that’s so important:
One area of concern that stood out in the survey was the decline in interest among students in pursuing a career in science, engineering, mathematics, or technology (STEM). Eighty-six percent of students in kindergarten through second grade said they were interested in specific STEM-related careers. But starting in third grade, that interest begins to wane. More than a third of third- through 12th-graders said they were no longer interested in pursuing a STEM career.
The time is ripe for change. Let’s hope it comes in time….
