A while back, I was talking about trends that influence education with a group of tech directors in Texas, and captured a shot of a young man who was playing a video game during the presentation. This morning I got a comment on a blog that said,
I’m the guy in the photo and I was playing Guild Wars. I’m ADHD but can multitask rather well. I was listening to David’s every word and also transposing those words to the screen in the game I was playing. Almost everyone there thought the ideas he was sharing were very good. ( My guild is almost all Adults) The only problem with what he was saying was that he was saying it to the Techs and not the Teachers. Most Techs I know truly believe in what he was saying and almost all teachers I know think games are bad. Hence I hope he gets a chance to tell it he same things to teachers in the near future.
Learning can happen in so many ways today, and most of them we can’t even imagine — as individuals. But as communities? — or guilds?
I was very discouraged about three months after my first real opportunity to experience the spirit and content of Web 2.0 at K12OnlineConference.org. I found very little receptivity to my story of the potential of web 2.0: creativity, collaboration and contribution. I agree that we need to continue to do more to bring the story of 21st Century Literacies beyond the echo chamber, but I am beginning to find “holes in the dike.”
My colleagues at many levels are beginning to listen, join the conversation, and contribute their own or their students experiences as examples to the story of tremendous change. I predict that by the year 2013 – just five years from now – everything we have been advocating will be very real in noticeable communities of significance in our society and our schools ~ transformed pedagogy through technology use in a flat world, more united than ever before. Pleased to be on the train…. Kids and learning are what it’s all about!
Yesterday I was reading an article on the vices of multitasking.
http://zenhabits.net/2008/06/7-habits-essential-for-tackling-the-multitasking-virus/
I thought about it all day. It sort of bugged me. I love this post. It’s a good example that many people are comfortable multitasking, and they’re not just half listening. I think their are strong implications for future best teaching practices.
I’ve been thinking that we may need to redefine what “multi-tasking” really means. John Medina in Brain Rules claims that it is impossible for the brain to multi-task. In fact, he cites research that suggests that those who try take twice as long to complete tasks and have double the error rate.
Are some people just better equipped to switch back and forth between tasks? Do games develop that skill?
glennw
I prefer the term, “Shift-Tasking”
But I’ve also thought about Medina’s work and the number of errors. I suspect, though, that today’s kids, because of their information experience, are probably much better at this than I am.
Interesting because at my school just the opposite is true. I think games are good and I’m a teacher. Our IT guy thinks games are bad and blocks them. My aim is to stay one step ahead of him!