Skip to main content

Games that teach

As children spend time learning from digital methods - like playing games on the iPad or tablet etc., a moot question comes to mind. Are they learning? If so, how much and what?

This really is a sequel to my post of yesterday where I figured how 'Subway Surfers' is making the little ones think about resources and resource allocation. They have a limited number of gold coins that they have accumulated by playing which can be used to 'buy' various things. Some of them useful, some useful, some worthwhile, some just embellishments. So, there are various temptations that are 'short term gains'. Should they go for the short term gains or wait for their 'long term goal'? The younger one is all for short term gains while the elder one wants to wait.

And this is not the only game. In many games they have to try out a particular maneuver many times before they get it right. They need to wait and see a pattern before they jump into something. They need to try out various strategies before one succeeds. And I am sure, that is a very limited range of the things they need to do. Many a times, they go through a maze before finally hitting a eureka moment.

And this sort of learning is better than learning that is taught. Somewhere as parents, it might be a great way to integrate learnings from some games back to them (but I am yet to figure out how). Right now, I have opened my eyes to the various types of learning that happens in games. And this happens in a world that they are completely in charge of - where, if at all they fail, all that happens is one more attempt or some more perseverance and what better safe arena to try out than in a game?

Does it teach them a little planning? Or perseverance? Surely, the games will not teach them everything, but perhaps at some point, their mind will pull in all these experiences together?

I think it will...

Clearly the debate between whether the iPad is a waste of time is not going to end anytime soon, but the answer like in everything else lies in moderation. And secondly, technology is going to be around - and we are better off trying to make friends of it than enemies. And in any case, this interactive technology is far far better than watching non-interactive television. And moving away from television is a world of good anyway...
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Be Civil. Make nice!

Popular posts from this blog

The man who saved Pumpelsdrop

This was a story we had in college if I am not mistaken. Perhaps it was in school, but a delightful story it was. The story goes somewhat like this ( reproduced from here ), but the college version we had was slightly different from this.  I t was a dull, gloomy and a depressing morning in a town named Pumpelsdrop in northern England. The Great Depression had brought all the businesses to a standstill. The bored automobile dealer was spending time alone, as usual. But, this seems to be an unusual morning as an odd entity (customer) appeared on the horizon. A man in a bright suit walks up to the dealer and says, "I need to buy a Rolls Royce Phantom II. We have a business conference coming up and I need to impress my customers". Then proceeds to pay 10% of the deal with a single check for 2000 pounds. The rest he says will pay when he takes the delivery.   The auto dealer was stunned. He was delighted to hear that someone is holding a business conference of some kind and ...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Most Powerful Idea in the World

The above titled book by William Rosen (and I am still reading it) has set me thinking. As it goes through the industrial revolution (rather, the beginning of it) - it explores as to why the industrial revolution happened when it happened. Rather, how a lot of factors came to play in making it happen. For that alone this book is worth a read. It is worth reading how a 'dotcom' kind of ecosystem existed in England with the combination of tinkerers, rich patrons, correspondence and of course, the right kind of institutions. When one studies engineering, or even science, what we hear are the rock star stories. For instance, we know that Archimedes had a 'Eureka' moment. Likewise, in this book, I realized how a 'Eureka' moment helped James Watt resolve the problematic steam engine into a workable design. While it is very romantic to believe that discoveries happen accidentally, the fact remains that somebody like a James Watt (or others) slogged through many man...
Post a Comment
Read more

Narendra Modi, Presentation Skills

This is the latest speech by Narendra Modi which was delivered yesterday at the India Today Conclave. Much analysis has been carried out on this speech, but here is a different perspective. I have written about Presentation skills - and to me this is a video that touches upon almost all aspects of presentation skills. For someone who wants to learn public speaking, presentation skills this speech is a great example. It is well worth your time, if you want to see presentation skills in action (and the bonus of a great speech). The speech is largely in Hindi, though there are parts in English as well.  Mr. Modi uses a video at the start (which is missing here) - so the speech uses other media as well - surprising the audience - since politicians arent generally given to videos. That initial video has made the audience look forward to more. The speech is extempore - which can only happen when one knows the subject thoroughly. I personally don't know how much Mr. Modi practices...
1 comment
Read more