I’ve been thinking about the “educational” computer games that are increasingly prevalent and available. Especially the idea of gamifying education.
In my experience, they’re generally a failure on both educational and gaming fronts: the games aren’t as well-designed as commercial games, and they generally don’t help kids learn any faster.
I know that as a teacher, I might think, “The kids are going to be playing video games anyway: they might as well be learning grammar while they do.”
But.
It’s equally realistic to flip a few words.
“The kids are going to be learning grammar either way: they might as well get further addicted to video games while they do.”
I’m all for innovation in education, and for using the massive computing power in our hands to help our kids learn. But we need to think carefully about what we want our kids to look like at the other end, and be aware of all the results of our educational choices.