Does Education Evolve or Collapse?
The clarity of Seymour Papert’s vision was remarkable, and his analogy of the collapse of the former Soviet Union and impending collapse of the education system as we know it was striking. I completely agree with his opinion (in 1998) that our current method of education was/is not relevant for the learners and the societies that depend upon it.
But, I don’t believe that a total collapse will occur. I believe that we are already seeing today that the Millennial generation of learners is causing such a rapid evolution that education will be forced to evolve before that collapse could occur. This megachange in education is going to “just happen” much in the same way that the web “just happened”. It wasn’t planned, it wasn’t administered or governed, it just happened.
I am completely convinced that the use of online multiplayer games for elearning will be the single most significant factor in this coming megachange, on a scale comparable to the advent of the web. The incoming generation of learners are game players. Online multiplayer games are the ideal environment for constructivism. The technology exists and it is already capable of “localizing” – allowing a global community of learners to participate with language being transparent. So, if you can situate learners into a social learning environment that is ideally suited and with which they are already familiar, and this environment can extend the learning environment to a truly global scale, and the technology required to do so is already being used by millions of users world-wide, how can it not be the future of learning?
What if you met someone that told you that they were teaching at the college level. And, in the course of the conversation they stated that they don’t use the web, they didn’t care for computers, and they felt that neither were appropriate in their classroom or curriculum? What would you say?
In one year, or two years, maybe three years downhill with a tailwind … not incorporating multiplayer gaming may be just as unthinkable.
What do you think?
But, I don’t believe that a total collapse will occur. I believe that we are already seeing today that the Millennial generation of learners is causing such a rapid evolution that education will be forced to evolve before that collapse could occur. This megachange in education is going to “just happen” much in the same way that the web “just happened”. It wasn’t planned, it wasn’t administered or governed, it just happened.
I am completely convinced that the use of online multiplayer games for elearning will be the single most significant factor in this coming megachange, on a scale comparable to the advent of the web. The incoming generation of learners are game players. Online multiplayer games are the ideal environment for constructivism. The technology exists and it is already capable of “localizing” – allowing a global community of learners to participate with language being transparent. So, if you can situate learners into a social learning environment that is ideally suited and with which they are already familiar, and this environment can extend the learning environment to a truly global scale, and the technology required to do so is already being used by millions of users world-wide, how can it not be the future of learning?
What if you met someone that told you that they were teaching at the college level. And, in the course of the conversation they stated that they don’t use the web, they didn’t care for computers, and they felt that neither were appropriate in their classroom or curriculum? What would you say?
In one year, or two years, maybe three years downhill with a tailwind … not incorporating multiplayer gaming may be just as unthinkable.
What do you think?
posted by Jim Kiggens at 11:13 AM
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