08
Aug 11

Inspirational Educator: Prof. Gordon Stubley

Teaching and Inspiring through Engagement

Top Hat Monocle’s main mission is to increase engagement for students. Of course, even with all the technology in the world, there is never a substitute for a good professor. This past month, we’ve gone and talked to some professors from the Waterloo region who have been recognized for their exemplary teaching through awards. We’ve learned a lot from these profs in just one quick sit-down, so we’re sure their students have learned even more.

Gordon Stubley, University of Waterloo

Prof. Stubley has been instructing full-time at UW for almost 30 years. In that time, he has used teaching as life lessons for himself, and has constantly adapted to his students’ learning styles as opposed to hoping that they adapt to his teaching style. He was awarded with a teaching award in 2009. Though Stubley remains humble about his achievements, he acknowledges that his lifelong learning heavily contributes to his success.

What are the specific subjects you work in and research?

My field of research is in the fluid mechanics area. I do computer simulations of flows. In that field we call it computational fluid dynamics. On the teaching side related to that type of research, that means that I’ve taught a lot of courses in fluid mechanics, applied fluid mechanics like turbine machinery and pumps and air pollution. I’ve also taught courses in applied engineering mathematics and numerical mathematics.

What were some of the merits for which your teaching award were chosen?

I wasn’t involved in that side of it, but my understanding is that it’s probably factors related to how I approach the organization of my courses, what I try to get the students to accomplish and how I work with the students.

What is unique about your approach?

That’s a hard question, because what I do to me seems obvious, and so it doesn’t seem noteworthy or unique or anything else like that. Now I strive to set up my courses and when I present the material either through homework or in my lecture to try and present that material in a way that I think is natural for people to learn. So I try and start with presentations that show things where you don’t have to understand much theory and you can just kind of see what’s happening and then once you see what’s happening, try to figure out why it’s happening, and then use that knowledge in different situations and to solve problems.

Do you integrate technology into your lectures in any way?

I’m not a luddite, on the other hand, I’m not a first adapter in many technology pieces. There’s no question that over my time in teaching, when I started teaching it was primarily with what I could do on the blackboard. I’ve taken advantage of having access to computers. Especially in large-core courses, it enables me to show more things to students to be able to start our discussions. So I take advantage of being able to show videos, being able to present simulations and data in a way that we can then work with in the classroom. That used to be difficult before. You could do a little with things like overheads.

Are you okay with your students using laptops in the classroom?

I’m not at all opposed. Often they need it.

Is there anything you’ve learned from your years as a professor?

It’s hard to isolate them because the process for me is a continuous learning experience. It’s a combination of even before I’m in the classroom with my students – how I work out the material and put it together. What goes into homework, what goes into lectures, what goes into lectures. That continually changes as I spend time with the material. So I learn from the material and learn from thinking about it. And then when I’m working with my students by both the questions and the observations that they make, I find that I’m continually learning how I think about my subjects, but also how they think about the subject. And that’s a key part of teaching and learning. It’s not just about the facts of your subjects lined up – it’s about how your students see it and how they engage with it.

04
Aug 11

Classroom Response Systems: What Sets Us Apart

Top Hat Monocle–not just another “clicker”

Just yesterday, Mashable posted this article about Socrative’s new in-class response system that operates through laptops and smart phones. Presented as a convenient alternative to clickers, it would appear that this tool is similar to Top Hat Monocle.

Actually, it’s made us consider what makes Top Hat Monocle so different from other in-class response systems – and it’s not just the fact that we operate through students’ mobile devices. That’s never been it. That’s the icing on the cake for us.

We truly embrace the concept of active learning, and we do so through the various features on our tool.

Creating questions is one thing. Being able to add in different types of questions, such as alpha-numeric responses, sorting questions, click-on-target questions, and matching questions is another. Creating interactive demonstrations and engaging in open-ended discussions is another. Being able to instantly view the grades of what you have participated in is another. Being able to ask the teacher questions without interrupting the class is another. Easy-access and near-instant support is another.

Above: A poll through the Top Hat Monocle web interface.

We also care a great deal about accessibility. That’s why we include the ability for students to text in their answers via SMS phones. The Mashable article even states that only somewhere around 30% of high school students own smart phones or laptops with Internet connections. Though that number is higher in post-secondary institutions, adding the text-in answers for SMS phones (which cannot support our interface) makes the tool as close to 100% accessible as possible for students.

Above: an interactive demonstration through Top Hat Monocle.

Additionally, the different item statuses we created (“active,” “visible,” “active/visible,” “inactive/visible,” “active/invisible,” “review”) allow these questions to go beyond just the classroom – they can be left up on students’ consoles for when they return home. They allow profs to assign questions as homework, or leave questions and demos up for students who could not access them in class.

Without those features, you’re really just turning a phone or laptop into a clicker. Top Hat Monocle is not a clicker – it’s a whole different learning tool.

02
Aug 11

Inspirational Educators Series: Spotlight on Professor Rowinsky-Geurts

How Prof Rowinsky-Geurts Brings Active Learning to the Classroom

About the “Inspirational Educators” Series

Mercedes Rowinsky-Geurts, Wilfrid Laurier University

Prof. Rowinsky-Geurts is an instructor of Spanish language and culture at WLU and has been teaching there since the early 90’s. Rowinsky began her elementary teaching career as a teenager before moving on to teach at a university level.

She specializes in teaching her students about exile and feelings of displacement when a group transitions from one area to another.

As a teacher at a Canadian school, the majority of her students have little to no Spanish experience prior to entering her classes. She challenges her students to push their own limitations and integrates Spanish into their daily lives through multi-media.

Her first-year students must complete a culminative project in which they tell their own life story through video and music entirely in Spanish.

Our interview with Professor Rowinsky was inspiring to say the least. Her passion for education is clear in every word she speaks. We also admired her use of the “digital stories” project since she admitted that she had previously not used technology in the class.

Active Learning / Education / Technology — No comments —

28
Jul 11

Have Undergraduate Universities Lost Their Way?

How Active Learning Can Help Them Find It

The following is a commentary on the University Affairs article, Universities have ‘lost their way’ on undergraduate education (http://www.universityaffairs.ca/universities-have-lost-their-way-on-undergraduate-education.aspx).

In a two-day workshop on “Transforming Canadian University Undergraduate Education” held in Halifax, speakers came down unusually hard on the current state of universities. As University Affairs noted, the general consensus is that universities put more of their attention toward the “high-end” outputs such as research and post-graduate studies.

Much was aired about the accumulation of frustration that university educators have been facing over the past year – but the more refreshing thing is the fact that students were invited to the workshop to participate and contribute as well. The students present reported feeling valued as opposed to being “token students.” Many critics in the past have made the mistake of only focusing on educators’ frustrations and not students’ frustrations. It is naive to assume that students don’t want more than they get out of their education.

In fact, what many assume is bratty disinterest from students is actually disappointment. From childhood, many young people are brought up to believe that university is a place where they go to be stimulated and receive an exciting education. It’s not too uncommon for these students to become jaded and seemingly lose interest or motivation.

And ultimately, these university presidents are right on the money – many institutions are in a rut, and it is no one’s fault. It is as the result of no ill intentions, but perhaps fear. There is a fear of taking chances on new teaching styles, approaching matters from a different angle, etc.

Speakers at this conference agree.

It may be cynical, but with many critics stating that undergraduate universities have lost their ways, one has to wonder if that will mean anything is done about that.

Many universities boast students who are highly interested and engaged in the school’s extracurricular activities and even the politics of the university. It’s not uncommon for students to convene together and protest things that they see as injustices in the university administration such as spending more money on one faculty and leaving another faculty in the dust. And most would agree that it’s admirable. But why are so few students this gung-ho on their in-class experience?

Unfortunately, aside from a few small elaborations, not very much has been said as to why undergraduate universities are failings its students. Perhaps it is to spare the feelings of administrators and educators. Instead, they speak in general terms. Mount Saint Vincent University president Ramona Lumpkin stated that the students are afraid to take risks, largely as a result of educators not taking risks. “They are absolutely driven by the tyranny of marks.”

The “tyranny” of marks as opposed to the reward of an exciting and unique education – sounds like the wrong motivation.

But it will ultimately be important to remind students that the reward of an exciting and unique education is still possible.

It was noted that attendees left the workshop with positive energy feeling hopeful for a future where universities can pull themselves out of this rut.

We believe that they can as well, as long as they start taking the chances that they are vowing to take. This could potentially be a great move for active learning – the active consumption of the classroom experience rather than passive observation. If enough profs recognize this “rut” undergraduate education is supposedly in, perhaps they will consider using interactive tools in the classroom.

Education — 1 comment —

25
Jul 11

Programs that make university assignments fun – for humanities students.

The world is going to great lengths to “make learning fun” for students – but by “students,” they only seem to mean the K-12 range. Students age 18 and up – the college and university crowd – are not only stuck with monotonous lectures, but monotonous assignments – research this, type that.

These programs are programs that university professors – many of whom have won prestigious awards – have used for assignments and boasted a high success rate for engaged students.

Skype

If there has been any development that has brought us closer to the Jetson’s idea of the future decades ago, it’s Skype. Skype has changed the way we communicate with one another from a distance – and it’s made it free.

For students studying other cultures around the world, often, traveling to other countries to experience the culture firsthand is merely a dream which financial constraints can keep them from achieving. However, Dr. Michel Desjardins of Wilfrid Laurier University’s religion and culture department has decided to make that possible for students.

Though Desjardins also partakes in educational trips to other countries (most recently he has come back from Cuba with a group of students), for his students who would not have the opportunity to do so, Desjardins has set them up with other students of similar ages around the world to learn from. These students learn from their “buddies” and use their conversations to complete assignments and gain a broader perspective.

Windows Movie Maker, iMovie, Adobe Premier Pro, or Final Cut

The first two programs, while not as advanced, come completely free on new Windows or Mac computers. The latter two are admittedly expensive but a solid investment for those willing to take film-making seriously and considering a career in media editing.

Dr. Mercedes Rowinsky-Geurts, recipient of a national teaching award at Wilfrid Laurier University, encourages students to create multi-media presentations in her Spanish language and culture class. Her students, first-time Spanish speakers, are all assigned to tell the story of their lives through films. They are asked to incorporate photos, videos, narration, and soundtrack.

While Premier Pro and Final Cut require some thorough training, young adults are used to adapting to such technology quickly. The programs make it easy to express one’s self through simple movies. Rowinsky-Geurts noted that she was always highly impressed with the quality of the videos, given that the majority of her students do not have a background in video editing programs.

Garage Band or Adobe Audition

Several years ago, cultural studies professor and educational developer at the University of Waterloo Trevor Holmes decided to give his students the freedom to submit response assignments in their own medium. Many chose to create videos, others chose visual projects. A few students opted to create podcasts or audio presentations featuring songs and their own recordings.

Teaching students to create podcasts is a fantastic alternative to essays and write-ups. The best thing is, they’re incredibly easy to create. To record their own voices, all students need is a USB headset microphone (extremely inexpensive). If they’re truly strapped for cash, most laptops also have built-in input. Adding in songs and integrating stock sounds is as simple as clicking and dragging.

Podcasts are a growing trend for companies, corporation, and educational groups. Assigning students a “podcast challenge” asks them to use their critical thinking, creativity, and computer skills.

Pages or Adobe InDesign

Written composition is a great way for students to express themselves – so why let the creativity stop at the written words?

Learning to design and lay out a page, whether it’s for a creative project or something like a resume – is an essential skill that is often ignored. In order to appreciate the aesthetic of written material, students should spend time developing it themselves.

Putting programs like Pages or Adobe InDesign in students’ hands is a great way for them to gain an understanding of how the journalism industry and the design industry works. In communications, marketing, or business classes, asking students to formulate white papers, press releases, and newsletters are excellent firsthand experience that prepare them for work that they will undoubtedly complete in the future. Furthermore, literature students could become familiar with the way a particular author laid out his or her works and emulate that. Students studying drama could create cue sheets like the ones used in those times.

These programs are not novelties – they’re used every day by businesses and by regular people with hobbies. Learning is getting more and more interactive – why not make assignments interactive too?

Education / Technology — 1 comment —

21
Jul 11

K-12 Schools Embrace Digital Literacy, Post-Secondary Schools are Still Hesitant

Of all of the buzz words popping up in the education sphere, “digital literacy” is one of the most curious.It’s not curious because it’s not a self-explanatory concept, and it’s not curious because it’s a new concept (it isn’t). Digital literacy is curious at the moment because it has become so much more thorough than simply knowing how to use a computer, and it is being taught to younger and younger children.In this article (http://www.edsocialmedia.com/2011/07/literacy-just-literacy/) it’s remarked that digital literacy is being embraced not only to assure that children know how to use computers and understand them, but how to create with them. It certainly would appear that things have come a long way from the past fifteen years, when teachers were hesitant to even let children construct written assignments on computers because they did not want the students to depend on spell-check.

Students are being asked to complete projects such as story-telling through simple video editing software. The brilliant thing about this is that students are not just learning to use these composition programs for the sake of learning – they’re learning something that can result in a new hobby and a new career interest.

But perhaps the most curious aspect of digital literacy is the fact that it is encouraged at such a young age, but completely dismissed at the post-secondary level. Why is it that university lecture settings seem so “technophobic” but K-12 schools are steadily getting with the times and emphasizing digital literacy?

It is not uncommon for university classes to assign essays and research projects where they specify that students are not even allowed to use secondary sources found online. Regardless of the credibility – even items such as an online peer-reviewed journal, essay, or online scholarly articles are banished – the Internet and computers in general are treated like a mere passing phase that have no place in academia.

Ask a teacher of younger students and they are more realistic: mobile technology is here to stay.

While some stand-out professors have allowed students some freedom in using technology and learning actively, they aren’t progressing nearly as quickly as K-12 teachers.

Education — No comments —

18
Jul 11

The “A” Word: What is Active Learning, and What Does it Have to do With Top Hat Monocle?

For some time now, the Top Hat Monocle blog has been known as the Active Learning Blog. The Active Learning Blog focuses not on our products and services, but on philosophies about education – giving students independence, trusting them, integrating technology in a creative way, gamifying schoolwork. It’s been a pretty fun change for us, but we’d like to explain one thing – why we decided to shift to “Active Learning.”What is “Active Learning?”

In the simplest of terms, Active Learning is the absence of lazy learning – the state that we feel many classrooms are unfortunately in at the moment.

How does one “learn lazily?” Well, it’s as a result of being taught lazily. This is not to discredit the hard work that professors put in every day nor the years they spend getting educated. We have no doubt that these educators try to be as creative as they can. Unfortunately, they too are made to feel like they can only teach a certain way – that something like giving your students the freedom to choose to use their cell phone or laptop is a recipe for disaster.

If you look at a lecture hall today, you will see roughly the same thing you would have seen decades earlier. The only differences are: more students crowded into said lecture hall, and those students learning off of a PowerPoint full of words instead of a blackboard full of words.

Is this really “active?” Or is this simply putting the words on a different canvas?

Active learning gets the wheels in a student’s head turning and gets them intrigued.

What can be done to gradually integrate active learning?

If you introduce even one element of active learning, you would be surprised at how well your students respond. Studies have shown that students’ attendance and even grades improved when there is a fun challenge integrated into the course, such as gamifying quizzes and increasing opportunities for student participation.

This is why in-class response systems need to be more interactive. If students are sitting with a remote, reading a multiple choice question off of the board, and pressing “A,” “B,” “C” or “D”on a remote when asked, how is that any different than raising their hands when the professor asks, “Who thinks the answer is ‘A?’”

This is why we truly do believe our response system is different from others. It takes a device the student already owns and makes it into a handheld homework game. You can integrate images, animations, demonstrations, and open-ended discussion – even after you leave the classroom.

Professors who have used our system have noted an increase in attendance. This can’t be a coincidence. It may sound cheesy, but learning can be fun (provided the student is in a field of study he or she is fond of in the first place).

Dr. Michel Desjardins of the religion and culture department at Wilfrid Laurier University has remarked on this. “There are some students who, for whatever reason, shouldn’t be in academia,” he says. “Or maybe they’re in the wrong field [...] it’s my responsibility, as an educator, to make sure that all students, including those who might not ‘get it,’ get the most out of the experience and find their niche.”

Dr. Desjardins is right. When a professor becomes actively involved in a student’s education, it makes the whole experience of getting an education more rewarding.

Notice the “a” word?

Education — 2 comments —

14
Jul 11

Tools vs. Toys: Why Technology for Technology’s Sake Does not Enhance Learning

It’s always nice to talk to different educators about their philosophies on education. So many teachers have such a passion for their subject that you’re quite sure must be contagious to their students.One of the most disheartening things to find, however, are the educators who lazily toss in tepid attempts at integrating technology, then complain when the students still do not pay attention.

The students of today live in a fast-paced world. We are more stimulated than any generation before us – but because of how rapid technology evolves, we cope extremely well with new technology. We adapt quickly. The downside is that when we are put in a slow-paced situation, we often feel frustrated and our minds drift.

Some label it as “attention deficit disorder.” However, as Sir Ken Robinson stated in a TED Talk, blaming students for this is the wrong approach (yet it is what happens most often). Moreover, this needs to stop being regarded as a negative thing. Many look at this as the student “refusing” to slow down. However, it could easily be turned around and looked at as the schools “refusing” to get with the times – to speed up.

What’s worse is when educators make a halfhearted attempt to make it look as though they have caught up with technology, but everything is still as slow and dry as ever.

I’m referring to the teachers who take the lessons they already had on paper or a blackboard and merely transcribing it to a PowerPoint to make things more “exciting,” or who pop on a Youtube video that vaguely relates to the point being made and zone out while their students undoubtedly do the same.

Students (yes, even children) are intelligent enough to know that just because something is plugged into the wall doesn’t mean it’s exciting.

Over Twitter, researcher Greg McVerry remarked, “The focus needs to be on the pedagogy of the tech. It’s a text issue, not a tech issue.”

McVerry is right – technology cannot be used as a mere medium for material without any thought. Teachers should take time to think of ways students can interact with the material through technology. It will take time and planning, but the results will be well worth it.

From a student’s perspective, though I do prefer my learning to be accompanied with some sort of technological feature, I would rather deal with a professor who had a strong stance against technology than one who had a flimsy stance on it.

Technology — No comments —

11
Jul 11

Educational Games: Our Personal Favourites

One reason we’re always so surprised that so many teacher and professors are hesitant to embrace gamification of the classroom is because games that teach and reinforce reading, writing, math, and other skills are nothing new.Games of all sorts – console games, handheld games, board games, computer games – have been the norm for quite some time. They’ve occupied living rooms across the nation. The best part is, these games do not go unused – at home.

What you have to wonder is why none of these games have been brought into classrooms. I have many distinct memories of being “assigned” word-searches and maze sheets that had absolutely nothing to do with what I was learning (being asked to find the names of Canadian cities in a large jumble of letters does not count as a relevant assignment), nor did they refine or sharpen any of my skills (I’m still awful at word-searches). This happens all the way up to high school for some. If these pass as work, why can we not integrate true gaming into class as well?

Staff at Top Hat Monocle were asked to reflect on some of their favourite computer games, mobile games, and board games, that taught them useful skills. The results spoke to the diversity of skills that games teach.

“The right game will stimulate an interest you never knew you had.”
Bree Rody-Mantha, Community Manager
“At age seven, I had little exposure to human geography or history. What little I learned in school had not been overly stimulating as it was mostly limited to colouring in maps. While visiting some out-of-town family friends, I was introduced to a Where in the World is Carmen San Diego? game. In the game, you are a detective hopping from country to country in pursuit of a criminal who has stolen items important to one particular country (example: in the India case, someone has stolen Gandhi’s glasses; in the Denmark case, someone has stolen all of the original works of Hans Christian Andersen).
By speaking to the townspeople in each location, you gather clues as to what the suspect looks like, and also the country he or she has fled to. While some of the clues seem slightly ambiguous (especially for a child), they’re all easily solved by a quick look through your own personal world encyclopedia.
After a few tries at the game, my parents picked up a copy of the game for me to bring home. I cannot count the number of hours I spent in front of the computer until every single case was solved. Not only did the game teach me human geography, culture, and history skills that put me ahead of my classmates, it also taught me how to conduct research (and how to do so efficiently).
The game lead to an interest in world cultures, which then resulted in me focusing on sociology, anthropology, world religions, and global social justice courses in high school. In university, I major in English and Cultural Studies and still have an insatiable appetite for learning about other countries and cultures – a trait that might not have developed had I not been introduced to this game at a young age.”

“Games can teach kids ethics responsibility.”
Anson Mackeracher, Senior Developer
“One game from my childhood that really stands out is Sierra’s adventure game, EcoQuest. In EcoQuest, you play as a ten-year-old adventurer named Adam Green who snorkels through an underwater adventure in search of a fictional underwater kingdom. Despite the fact that you are talking with animals throughout the game, it has a very realistic approach to the ecosystems of the world and the state that they are in.
The game taught me about how harmful and destructive pollution can be to a fragile ecosystem. EcoQuest even gave players bonus points for picking up litter.
It can be difficult to communicate to young students the consequences of activities like littering. By encouraging positive environmental messages as a core part of EcoQuest, Sierra was able to help educate me about the environment.”

“You remember the answers for life.”
Mary Ann Eperthener, Academic Solutions Consultant
“Although I may date myself with this submission, I must say that two of my favorite games were board games. I was a huge fan of both Chutes and Ladders as well as Operation, both of which I believe are still in circulation.
One of the reasons these games were so addictive was because of the instant results and feedback given. If you succeed, you earn immediate reward, but if you fail, you are set back.
Of course, this motivated me to master the games and out-wit my competitors. Games like this really bring out your competitive nature – a trait that can be applied to schoolwork and homework too, if teachers and professors give it a try.
We all had so much fun learning and to this day will never forget the answers to some of the questions.”

“Even as an adult, games can build your skills.”
Mohsen Shahini, Co-Founder and COO
“One of the best educational games I’ve played was one I actually stumbled upon as an adult, but was still very educational, and – more importantly – addictive.
The game is called Scramboni and I played it on my iPod Touch against my friends and other players around the world. It is a multi-player online word game and requires you to have some sort of Internet connection so that you can race against your opponents.
You’re given a set of letters and you must spell out a word with those given letters before the clock runs out. If you spell it before your opponents do, you get an additional bonus. You can re-scramble the letters to see them in a different light.
The competitive nature of the game was what that made it so fun for me. As a non-native English speaker, it helped me to expand on my growing English vocabulary and also taught me how to spell them correctly. It is really cool and a little shocking to learn that you have been spelling words incorrectly or using them in the wrong context for a long time.”

“Games don’t make work seem like work.”
Melody Campbell, Academic Solutions Consultant
“All of my games were offline because I didn’t have a PC or Mac as a child. However, when my kids were young, they loved games. My son – who is now eighteen years old – played a math computer game. I cannot remember the name of the game, but you had to progress through different levels and beat a ‘boss’ at the end.
By the time he was in the seventh grade, he was already prepared for algebra well ahead of his classmates. Of course, as a parent, I like to think it’s because he’s smart. But I have to give credit to the game – the environment of ‘play’ opened his mind to thinking mathematically without it seeming like a chore. In fact, my son hates school work – but put a game in front of him and he’s a genius. It really speaks to how the nature of gaming motivates kids – it gives kids a competitive streak and motivates them with clear rewards and consequences. When they work towards an ultimate goal – like winning a ‘boss battle,’ then it becomes fun and addictive.”

Top Hat Monocle wants to hear from you: what were your favourite educational games as a child? What were life skills you learned from playing games? Comment below!

Education / Technology — 1 comment —

04
Jul 11

Gamifying English Class – Can it be Done?

Cliché as it may seem, I have always had a lust for learning. It may have been as a result of the various educational games my parents sat me down with as a child – various Magic School Bus computer games in which I learned about space and rocks, a Where in the World is Carmen San Diego game that taught me more than my fair share of geography and culture factoids, and even Roller-Coaster Tycoon, which sharpened my fourth-grader entrepreneurial skills (when I wasn’t admittedly having fun purposely crashing my roller-coasters).

The very first interactive game that subtly taught me while I had fun was The Incredible Machine, a late-80s/early-90s PC game that allowed kids to construct elaborate Rube Goldberg machines. In the twelfth grade, when my class was assigned a group project to construct our own Rube Goldberg machines, I suddenly remembered The Incredible Machine, found a copy for download online, and showed the game to my group to use for ideas.

With all of the neat little games and gizmos to teach me science and business skills, one has to wonder how I somehow ended up an English major.

Every morning, I sit on the bus with professionals on their way to work and no one reads – even newspapers. Their noses are pointed down towards their Blackberries and Nintendo DS’s (yes, forty-year-olds play them too). It’s tragic to me that reading and writing for pleasure is something that is eschewed come adulthood, but it doesn’t come as a surprise. The lack of interactivity and gamification incorporated to English class makes it seem like the skills one learns have little to no “real world” application.

Game-like scenarios often help students – especially those suffering from a lack of motivation – helps to show students that subjects are indeed applicable to real life and also encourages them by allowing them to visualize their progress.

Can it be done for English? Many believe it cannot, but I believe that they simply are not trying hard enough.

Instead of straight-up adventure games and point-and-click mini-games, English “games” should focus on three C’s – collaboration, construction, and creativity.

Even bringing in already-existing programs such as Pages and Adobe InDesign to ask students to lay their work out in different styles can stimulate an interest in the subject. Using those programs for creative projects – such as mock-news articles and commonplace books can make teachers’ jobs easier as they simply serve as guides while students flex their creative muscles.

For fun, last week I asked my friends, roommates, and co-workers – all people around my age – if they knew what a commonplace book was. The only “yes” came from a friend who knew because she had read The English Patient. It is quite a shame that my senior writer’s craft teacher was one of the only teachers who thought to ask us to keep one. The project helped us to hone our writing as well as our composition skills, and allowed us to learn about ourselves in the process.

The whole concept may seem a tad airy-fairy, but perhaps students wouldn’t be so deterred from the idea if it were presented on an interactive interface.

Of course, this falls back on the controversial idea of giving students freedom with technology – having a few computers in the classroom (especially in the case of English where collaboration can enhance learning, having several students at the same work stations will have positive outcomes) for students to work on will make this all possible.

Even if it’s not the same style of gaming that one could integrate into math or science, gamifying English not only works, but it helps. There is an increasing dismissal of English as something you simply need to graduate high school and not something that is fun or useful in the real world. If teachers use tools already available to get students excited about reading and writing, perhaps someday on my commute, I’ll see more noses in books than on Blackberries.

Education / Technology — No comments —

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