Regarding Hedgie

My younger daughter’s 2nd grade class has a pet bearded dragon, Hedgie, who is getting very old. Last week, the teacher wrote a note to the class parents to let us know that Hedgie was very sick, and would pass away soon. She brought Hedgie in to class at the end of the week so the kids could say goodbye.

I’ve written before about the power of virtual worlds to make us experience things–feelings, sensations, situations–that seem incredibly realistic. But it is good to remember from time to time that there are some times and places where there is no substitute for reality itself.

I’m fairly sure that any thoughtful proponent of computer games in education would agree with that statement.

The question, in other words, isn’t whether there is a line between virtual worlds and the real world. The question is where to draw it. On that issue there seems to be a lot of disagreement.

The line has been shifting for some time–and will continue to shift, I think–narrowing the realm of things that “have to” take place in the real world.

Maybe one day computers will be powerful enough to completely simulate reality.In that world, kids whose teachers could not keep a pet in the classroom could still have the experience of interacting with an animal, feeding it, talking to it. More kids could have the same kind of experience my daughter had with Hedgie, and that would be a good thing.

Now, maybe it says something about who I am as an educator, a father, and a person, but I still don’t think my daughter would be better off knowing only a virtual Hedgie.

To my way of thinking, though, means that we should work all the harder to make virtual worlds available to all the kids who couldn’t meet Hedgie in person.

The best shouldn’t be the enemy of the good.