Last night in class I showed the below video - Jim Gee presenting a case for why games and game play demonstrates the type knowledge, skills, and interactions we should value in education. One of the strongest arguments one might extract from the clip is that there are is now a very strong impetus for being creative and innovative in the classroom and out. It is no longer an academic exercise, but an economic imperative to allow kids to be more sophisticated learners. BTW, I’m by no means the first to pass this excerpt along as others have earlier gotten the word out (see: Brainy Gamer).
Another term that came out of last night’s discussion, was design thinking. Although I have yet to find a definitive definition of the term, Fast Company has an article, Design Thinking…What Is That? that dances close enough around the idea to get the gist. From my understanding, it’s the type thinking exhibited by folks in professions such as industrial, interaction, and instructional design - a cognitive ability to deal with ill-structured problems in a disciplined, yet innovate, fashion. It’s an ability to deal with ambiguity and less-than-desired outcomes as well.
Tags: 21st century skills, design grammars, design thinking, education, endogenous games
