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Joe Virant

Does Easy Do It? Children, Games, and Learning - 29 views

  • The kind of product I shall pick on here has the form of a game: the player gets into situations that require an appropriate action in order to get on to the next situation along the road to the final goal. So far, this sounds like "tainment." The "edu" part comes from the fact that the actions are schoolish exercises such as those little addition or multiplication sums that schools are so fond of boring kids with. It is clear enough why people do this. Many who want to control children (for example, the less imaginative members of the teaching profession or parents obsessed with kids' grades) become green with envy when they see the energy children pour into computer games. So they say to themselves, "The kids like to play games, we want them to learn multiplication tables, so everyone will be happy if we make games that teach multiplication." The result is shown in a rash of ads that go like this: "Our Software Is So Much Fun That The Kids Don't Even Know That They Are Learning" or "Our Games Make Math Easy."
  • What is worst about school curriculum is the fragmentation of knowledge into little pieces. This is supposed to make learning easy, but often ends up depriving knowledge of personal meaning and making it boring. Ask a few kids: the reason most don't like school is not that the work is too hard, but that it is utterly boring.
  • game designers have a better take on the nature of learning than curriculum designers. They have to. Their livelihoods depend on millions of people being prepared to undertake the serious amount of learning needed to master a complex game. If their public failed to learn, they would go out of business. In the case of curriculum designers, the situation is reversed: their business is boosted whenever students fail to learn and schools clamor for a new curriculum!
  • ...3 more annotations...
  • watching kids work at mastering games confirms what I know from my own experience: learning is essentially hard; it happens best when one is deeply engaged in hard and challenging activities.
  • The preoccupation in America with "Making It Easy" is self-defeating and cause for serious worry about the deterioration of the learning environment.
  • I have found that when they get the support and have access to suitable software systems, children's enthusiasm for playing games easily gives rise to an enthusiasm for making them, and this in turn leads to more sophisticated thinking about all aspects of games, including those aspects that we are discussing here. Of course, the games they can make generally lack the polish and the complexity of those made by professional designers. But the idea that children should draw, write stories and play music is not contradicted by the fact that their work is not of professional quality. I would predict that within a decade, making a computer game will be as much a part of children's culture as any of these art forms.
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    Dr. Seymour Papert describes ways in which gaming enhances learning. June, 1998.
anonymous

1 Enlightenment, liberty and revolution - French Revolution - OpenLearn - The Open University - 8 views

    • anonymous
       
      Social distinction was evident in France and America. Something connected to a time period rather than a particular country.
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    Catherine the Great of Russia, once the darling of two of those leading figures, Voltaire and Diderot, was by 1794 voicing the suspicion 'that the aim of the philosophes was to overturn all thrones, and that the Encyclopédie was written with no other end in view than to destroy all kings and all religions'
Lisa DuFur

Mapping America - Census Bureau 2005-9 American Community Survey - NYTimes.com - 40 views

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    Browse local data from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey, based on samples from 2005 to 2009. Because these figures are based on samples, they are subject to a margin of error, particularly in places with a low population, and are best regarded as estimates. Create tons of lessons around this data. WOW
Ryan Trauman

Paige - Closing Argument - 0 views

  • Freeman wrote in the research article
    • Ryan Trauman
       
      Nice job coming back to Freeman. I would like to have seen more of this back-and-forth between the authors.
  • Mark Fenton expressed in the article “Battling America’s Epidemic of Physical Inactivity: Building More Walkable, Livable Communities” many different things we can do to help the obesity problem in America. Fenton states, “We must create environments in which physical activity becomes a routine part of the day for more Americans.” By creating a more pedestrian friendly atmosphere it will encourage people to walk or bicycle to their destination instead of always using their automobiles. I agree with what Fenton is trying to explain within in his research. Children learn by the examples that are being set around them. If they see everyone driving in their cars every where they go the only thing they have in their heads is, “I can’t wait until i can drive.” Instead of realizing they can go the same exact distance on their bike and be much more healthy than if they were driving a car. Fenton expresses, “We all must become role models by walking and cycling whenever possible and inviting others to do so with us.” People don’t like feeling abnormal; they want to do what other people are doing around them. Which is a very true assumption on Fentons part, we must become the role models for the youth around us. We set the standards of what is acceptable and what isn’t. We need to change the “norms” while it’s still possible and contribute to reversing the obesity problem
    • Ryan Trauman
       
      Great job here dealing with your source material. You quote, come-to-terms, reflect on the material you've introduced, and offer your own position. Then you come back to another quote by Fenton, and do much of the same. Excellent!
Ryan Trauman

The Astro Banshees | Blog | Closing Argument - 0 views

shared by Ryan Trauman on 21 Apr 11 - No Cached
  • In Dennis Burgess article ‘ObesityPproblem stems from Laziness’, he adresses the root cause of obesity. Burgess claims the root of obesity to be laziness. He argues that America does not have an ‘obesity problem’, rather a ‘laziness problem’. More specifically, Burgess makes mention of the correlation between children and parents concerning obesity. ‘As a child, I would go outside and “play”. This involved getting up off the couch and exerting myself. But many of today’s children don’t participate in this type of play. And many of today’s parents sit on the couch right next to them’ (Dennis B. Burgess). Burgess makes the correlation by stating that the parents often times discourage active play by not setting the example. Parents would rather sit with their kids on the couch than take the initiative and go outside with their kids and take a walk or play ball. Parents do indeed play a role in their children’s health and ultimately have some effect on their children’s health. Healthy kids most often have healthy parents who encourage their kids good health by setting the example well and partaking in activity with their kids.
    • Ryan Trauman
       
      Excellent work here, Lizzy. You stick nice and close to the quotation that you actually introduce. Then you reflect on it some. Then you offer your own position. This is a great job.
  • Andrea Freeman addresses the issue of fast food in her article ‘Fast Food: Oppression Through Poor Nutrition.’ Freeman considers fast food in respects to low- income families. ‘Fast food has become a major source of nutrition in low- income, urban neighborhoods across the United States’ (Freeman, pg. 1). Less privelaged families must make do with their current financial situation. The easiest most convenient food source for low- income families is that of fast food. Therefore, parents have a direct effect on their children’s health.
    • Ryan Trauman
       
      This quotation is less successful. You really don't reflect on Freeman's quotation at all.
Ryan Trauman

Lizzy - Closing Argument - 0 views

  • In Dennis Burgess article ‘ObesityPproblem stems from Laziness’, he adresses the root cause of obesity. Burgess claims the root of obesity to be laziness. He argues that America does not have an ‘obesity problem’, rather a ‘laziness problem’. More specifically, Burgess makes mention of the correlation between children and parents concerning obesity. ‘As a child, I would go outside and “play”. This involved getting up off the couch and exerting myself. But many of today’s children don’t participate in this type of play. And many of today’s parents sit on the couch right next to them’ (Dennis B. Burgess).
    • Ryan Trauman
       
      Excellent work here with your quotation. Now you've just got to work with double quotation marks, not singles.
  • Parents do indeed play a role in their children’s health and ultimately have some effect on their children’s health. Healthy kids most often have healthy parents who encourage their kids good health by setting the example well and partaking in activity with their kids.
  • Andrea Freeman addresses the issue of fast food in her article ‘Fast Food: Oppression Through Poor Nutrition.’ Freeman considers fast food in respects to low- income families. ‘Fast food has become a major source of nutrition in low- income, urban neighborhoods across the United States’ (Freeman, pg. 1).
    • Ryan Trauman
       
      Your use of quotation here is less effective because you don't really come to terms with the quote. You just quote it, and then state your own position. Spend more time with the quotation.
Siri Anderson

Building America Curriculum Resources on Labor Issues, Immigration, and Mining - 24 views

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    Enjoy these curriculum materials developed by students at Bemidji State University in an undergraduate Social Studies Methods class.
Katie Muhtaris

The Connected States of America | Visuals - 129 views

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    A project done by MIT that gives visuals and maps on how we connect with others.
Carol Mortensen

WWW.History - 75 views

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    "This feature is our annotated guide to the most useful websites for teaching U.S. history and social studies. We have carefully selected and screened each website for quality and provide a paragraph annotation that summarizes the site's content, notes its strengths and weaknesses, and emphasizes its utility for teachers. Information is provided on the type of website (Archive, Electronic Essay, Gateway, Journal, Organization, Syllabi/Assignments) and the type of resource (text, images, audio, and video). Browse sites by topic and time period or look through a list of some of our favorite sites on this page. The full search feature allows you to quickly locate WWW.History resources by topic, time period, keyword, or type."
Amy Burns

Welcome · Digital Public Library of America - 151 views

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    Fantastic collection of free resources, including apps to take researching to a new level.
bheath

From Farm to Table | Orion Magazine - 23 views

  • “Farmers’ markets aren’t sexy anymore
    • bheath
       
      Read on and tell me why Farmers markets have failed to advance the sustainable and local food movement.
  • What we need is a system of local “food hubs” that can process and bundle local foods and deliver them to the places where America eats.
  • Perhaps the only thing all these food hubs share is a conviction that there is value in preserving regional identity, artisanal character, and sustainable practices—in saving some products from the great meat grinder of industrial food distribution.
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • Some simply bundle the produce of multiple small farms to reach the consistent volumes and product diversity required to supply local markets. Some are purely virtual marketplaces that allow chefs to find available produce from regional farms and buy it directly. Some have a social mission to not only bring foods to underprivileged neighborhoods but to increase food literacy as well, or to guarantee fair prices to farms and farmworkers. And some specialize in incubating new producers like Pete
  • See an audio slide show about the Mad River Food Hub at the Reimagining Infrastructure series homepage, www.orionmagazine.org/infrastructure.
danthomander

http://www.hks.harvard.edu/pepg/PDF/Papers/PEPG14-01_NotJust.pdf - 14 views

  • educational challenge in America is not just about poor kids in poor neighborhoods,” he said. “It’s about many kids in many neighborhoods. The [test] results underscore that educational shortcomings in the United States are not just the problems of other people’s children.
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    Comprehensive study illustrating U.S. performance in math.
Sharin Tebo

High School Graduates Feel Unprepared For College and Work, Survey Finds - College Bound - Education Week - 44 views

  • 5. Have an assessment late in high school so students can find out what they need for college (77 percent.)
    • Sharin Tebo
       
      What kind of assessment? I mean, if it is a standardized test, does that really help students prepare for life, whether college-bound or not? 
  • So, how can high schools better serve students and bridge this divide? Respondents' top suggestions for change: 1. Provide opportunities for real-world learning (90 percent);
  • A recent survey of public high school graduates finds about half feel they are unprepared for life after high school and most would have worked harder if they had realized the expectations of college and the workplace.
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    I'm not so sure that I believe that less than 1,500 graduates nationwide over the span of just three graduating classes is exactly representative of all high school grads in America, but at least it was conducted by a nonprofit and not one of our education deformer companies or a textbook publisher. Also, isn't a certain amount of laissez-faire attitude a normal teenage brain condition? "I wish I'd paid more attention in high school" was a major theme of conversation at *my* 20 year high school reunion last year (did I just date myself)  BUT I did feel better prepared in study skills and habits, perhaps because in 1993 we weren't so test-centered. Just sayin' Thanks for sharing!
Deborah Baillesderr

Colonial House . Interactive History | PBS - 42 views

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    Colonial Interactive history site.
Comrad Compadre

DOJ won't help FCC fight state laws that harm municipal broadband | Ars Technica - 1 views

  • DOJ attorney told a federal appeals court last week that "Respondent United States of America takes no position in these cases."
    • Comrad Compadre
       
      Arguably one of the best lines to come out of the US DOJ
  • The DOJ's decision to stay out of the case was cheered by Randolph May, who was an FCC lawyer between 1978 and 1981. May opposes both the municipal broadband and net neutrality decisions and today runs a "free market-oriented think tank" called The Free State Foundation. He wrote that "the Department of Justice's curt statement advising the court that it takes no position in the appeal of the FCC's preemption of state laws restricting local government broadband networks is very curious. As someone who served as FCC Associate General Counsel, I can tell you this is a very rare occurrence."
Joe Hirsch

Share"feedforward," not feedback - 83 views

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    Turns out, corporate America and teachers both dislike traditional feedback. Is there a better approach?
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