Saving the World and Other Good Ideas

Jane McGonigal's idea of saving the world through gaming is intriguing, isn't it? My own son played countless hours of Fallout 3, and it would have been so much less annoying if I thought his time was spent solving problems like worldwide water shortages, instead of whether or not to activate a water purifier for the Wastelands.  But I have a question for gamers, which I don't remember Jane addressing: doesn't a complicated game like WoW or Fallout 3 rely on the game designer's proposed solutions, imbedded in the game itself?  How would players come up with original solutions outside the boundaries built into the game?  McGonigal's proposed games reminded me of Oregon Trail (anyone remember that?) which I bought for my sons because it seemed, well, educational. My kids played it--briefly--then went on to Red Alert 2 and Grand Theft Auto.  The Sim and Tycoon games also presented more or less realistic problems to solve, but did players really gain management skills or solve anything more important than how to make the baby stop crying? (I once heard my 12 yr. old mutter "Good!" when Social Services intervened and took the baby away.)  I'll be interested in hearing more about applications of McGonigal's theory, if they go beyond the Good Idea stage to development and marketing. I don't remember her shoes. Weren't they boots?

The Wiggins and McTighe article began with a shaky premise, I thought, but went on to convincingly argue the value of teaching for meaning and transfer.  The problem of bored and resentful high school students is painfully recognizable.  To say that the causes of disengagement all come down to "one underlying factor--the lack of clarity about the goals of a high school education and how those goals should inform instruction, assessment, and curriculum design" seems a leap of judgement without evidence.  Not that it matters, if we agree that the discussion that follows is well worth considering. Would Ferris Bueller have stayed at school if his history teacher had talked about free trade with China and set up a Skype interview with a Commerce Department bureaucrat?  Probably not, but it's still a good idea. The meaningful sequence outlined in the article is another good idea, and while it may not "engender a love of math" in students it promises more than a talking head lecture on why math is good for you. 

The HPL chapter on Learning and Transfer also shares examples of lessons that facilitate effective transfer of knowledge, reminding us of the importance of prior knowledge and context. I wish memorization was not always dismissed as old school and meaningless, however. While of course learning cannot be limited to "a fixed set" of facts and procedures, memorization of multiplication tables, state capitols, and even a poem or two would be no more difficult than memorizing the names of Pokemon characters or the lyrics to a Kid Rock song.  The trick is to make it meaningful, right?