Order Chloramphenicol With No Prescription http://melaniemcbride.net emergent learning, culture + play Sun, 25 Sep 2011 14:35:32 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1 Order Chloramphenicol With No Prescription http://melaniemcbride.net/2011/03/17/gamification-in-the-classroom-another-creepy-treehouse/comment-page-1/#comment-4060 Making Game Based Learning #gbl – research & principles – Learning to nurture ideas Sun, 25 Sep 2011 14:35:32 +0000 http://melaniemcbride.net/?p=1419#comment-4060 [...] a thought provoking, passionate post by educator and game research scholar @melaniemcbride on Gamification in the classroom (and how to stop it)  backed by comprehensive [...] [...] a thought provoking, passionate post by educator and game research scholar @melaniemcbride on Gamification in the classroom (and how to stop it)  backed by comprehensive [...]

]]> Order Chloramphenicol With No Prescription http://melaniemcbride.net/2011/03/17/gamification-in-the-classroom-another-creepy-treehouse/comment-page-1/#comment-3499 Melanie Mon, 04 Jul 2011 00:23:41 +0000 http://melaniemcbride.net/?p=1419#comment-3499 Tim - thanks for your comments. "cutting the soul" out of gaming was precisely what inspired this post. You get it 100% if we're going to do really cool stuff in the classroom we need to understand that part of what makes it "cool" is not the thing itself but the context in which it occurs and the nature of what makes it cool. many wonderful things in life cannot simply be relocated or contrived on cue. I won't list the examples but I'm going to leave it to you to think of some from your experience of life ... try and imagine if we attempted to situate them in the classroom, with people observing and grading it. Surrounded by people we didn't choose to learn with. The main problem is school itself. It simply doesn't support much of what makes learning authentic and meaningful. And like you pointed out, it's just empty talk to say "make it meaningful" nobody can MAKE somebody else experience meaning. You either experience it or you don't. But much teacher talk is filled with hubris anyway - the very notion of "empowering" (when there is an external actor who believes they themselves willed that empowerment rather than the subject coming to it on their own). Tim – thanks for your comments. “cutting the soul” out of gaming was precisely what inspired this post. You get it 100% if we’re going to do really cool stuff in the classroom we need to understand that part of what makes it “cool” is not the thing itself but the context in which it occurs and the nature of what makes it cool. many wonderful things in life cannot simply be relocated or contrived on cue. I won’t list the examples but I’m going to leave it to you to think of some from your experience of life … try and imagine if we attempted to situate them in the classroom, with people observing and grading it. Surrounded by people we didn’t choose to learn with. The main problem is school itself. It simply doesn’t support much of what makes learning authentic and meaningful. And like you pointed out, it’s just empty talk to say “make it meaningful” nobody can MAKE somebody else experience meaning. You either experience it or you don’t. But much teacher talk is filled with hubris anyway – the very notion of “empowering” (when there is an external actor who believes they themselves willed that empowerment rather than the subject coming to it on their own).

]]> Order Chloramphenicol With No Prescription http://melaniemcbride.net/2011/03/17/gamification-in-the-classroom-another-creepy-treehouse/comment-page-1/#comment-3498 Melanie Mon, 04 Jul 2011 00:15:57 +0000 http://melaniemcbride.net/?p=1419#comment-3498 Eric! Ya, I want gaming in school - even though the title doesn't convey that. but I only want it there if it's going to be done right. I agree with what you're saying about the importance of the teacher knowing what we like to do - the other part is that they understand the conditions that make it fun or not fun. One of the main things we know about play and games is that participation is voluntary. If it's not voluntary it is something other than play. School is a context of involuntary participation. Not only is it involuntary but the social groupings are not our choice either (versus when we choose to play with certain friends because we like or trust or feel safe with them - particularly when we're noobing it up). As well, we're constantly being observed and evaluated. When I play wow, which is usually at night, usually with a snack and beverage of my choice and the freedom to do whatever I want in the game. I also enjoy the fact that nobody is watching over my shoulder. With the exception of raiding, which most of us prepare for, the rest of our time in the game is pretty much up to us when we want to endure scrutiny (in a random) or search for herbs - or do sweet nothing just sitting on a dragon in front of Orgrimmar looking pretty. I realize it's possible to do some cool stuff with this game in the classroom but I also wonder a lot about what it might be like to HAVE to play a game I enjoy at a time, place and social context that is NOT my choosing. This is one reason I started to tire a bit of raiding. We had the set nights we raided. Things come up, you're not in the mood. You might not feel well. Whatever. Having to play because you are obligated, part of a team, sort of sucks. Particularly if you haven't had the time or inclination to watch the tankspot videos or deal with all the domestic negotiations involved in a raid night - for the other folks who share space with you. When WoW started to feel like a job that's when I started to tire of it. There's no question that there are great rewards for being part of a team and doing scheduled gaming but we got to have some freedom somewhere in all of that or else it's not fun but playbor. Eric!

Ya, I want gaming in school – even though the title doesn’t convey that. but I only want it there if it’s going to be done right. I agree with what you’re saying about the importance of the teacher knowing what we like to do – the other part is that they understand the conditions that make it fun or not fun. One of the main things we know about play and games is that participation is voluntary. If it’s not voluntary it is something other than play. School is a context of involuntary participation. Not only is it involuntary but the social groupings are not our choice either (versus when we choose to play with certain friends because we like or trust or feel safe with them – particularly when we’re noobing it up). As well, we’re constantly being observed and evaluated.

When I play wow, which is usually at night, usually with a snack and beverage of my choice and the freedom to do whatever I want in the game. I also enjoy the fact that nobody is watching over my shoulder. With the exception of raiding, which most of us prepare for, the rest of our time in the game is pretty much up to us when we want to endure scrutiny (in a random) or search for herbs – or do sweet nothing just sitting on a dragon in front of Orgrimmar looking pretty. I realize it’s possible to do some cool stuff with this game in the classroom but I also wonder a lot about what it might be like to HAVE to play a game I enjoy at a time, place and social context that is NOT my choosing.

This is one reason I started to tire a bit of raiding. We had the set nights we raided. Things come up, you’re not in the mood. You might not feel well. Whatever. Having to play because you are obligated, part of a team, sort of sucks. Particularly if you haven’t had the time or inclination to watch the tankspot videos or deal with all the domestic negotiations involved in a raid night – for the other folks who share space with you. When WoW started to feel like a job that’s when I started to tire of it. There’s no question that there are great rewards for being part of a team and doing scheduled gaming but we got to have some freedom somewhere in all of that or else it’s not fun but playbor.

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