2 Mar, 2012 with 0 comments so far
Recently a PBS Wisconsin Media Shift blog post got people talking about Epistemic Games. Aran Levasseur highlights David Williamson Shaffer’s book, “How Computer Games Help Children Learn,” and positioned epistemic games as the future of education—an idea that the Epistemic Games Group has been arguing for years.
Levasseur gets straight to the point when he says schools need to be looking to the future, not the past, for innovations in the classroom.
“As schools aim to prepare students for life outside of school, they need to realize that the world now values knowledge and skills that can be applied in creative ways. Epistemic games fit the learning requirements of today’s world because they allow students to role-play professions while learning skills that they apply in the game.”
Levassuer’s article is a great review of the epistemology that is behind Epistemic Games and learning through play.
“In playing games,[students] are doing explicitly, openly and socially what as adults they will do tacitly, privately and personally. They are running simulations of worlds they want to learn about in order to understand the rules, roles and consequences of those worlds.”
25 May, 2009 with 0 comments so far
Read what people are saying about How Computer Games Help Children Learn, the definitive work on games for learning in the digital age of global competition:
Seymour Papert, Professor Emeritus, Media and Education Technology, MIT Media Lab
‘A must read for anyone who cares about learning…. Studying games–how they are designed and how they are played–is one of the best sources of insight about learning, and Shaffer is an excellent guide to making the most of it.’
Kurt D. Squire, Assistant Professor of Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Game Designer
‘Like Dewey, Piaget, and Papert before him, Shaffer challenges us to rethink learning in a new age. He uses vivid examples – backed by solid research – to show what education should look like in the 21st century.‘
Barry Joseph, Online Leadership Director, Global Kids
‘Shaffer offers practical advice to assist parents and educators to respond to his call to radically transform an increasingly outdated educational system…’
Continue reading »
22 May, 2009 with 0 comments so far
If you’ve read How Computer Games Help Children Learn and want to learn more about thinking and learning in the digital age you can…
Read papers about epistemic games and the future of learning
Browse a list of related books at amazon.com
Read a bibliographic essay on related readings on amazon.com
Additional suggestions welcome in the comments….
