Why School - Topic 1 

Based on Richardson’s prologue to the book and Part 1: Old School, do you think games should be a part of learning, especially networked, online, massive, multiplayer games like “Minecraft”? What kinds of learning were demonstrated by Richardson’s son and his friends?

(I am posting this question to my blog so I can remind myself and refer back to the discussion thread as necessary.
There has been a great deal of very thoughtful, insightful and thought provoking discussion to this prompt/question.) 

In reading "Why School" I couldn't help relating Richardson's son to some students I see in the library as well as my own son. Minecraft definitely has huge impact and has many levels of learning. I love the collaboration that takes place. The interaction amongst players from all over the world is something that would absolutely astound my grandfather, who had been a teacher all his life. He went out of his way to connect students from all over the world through pen pal groups, old photos and stories.

When considering that Richardson's "Why School" was published in 2012, nearly six years ago, I can't help think about some other games and online, multi-player based activities that have more recently had considerable impact.

Pokémon Go! had sizable impact around the world. I often heard of the negative factors surrounding Pokémon Go! however, I saw some amazing learning and collaboration take place while observing groups of kids (and adults) engaged in this app. Folks were out exploring areas that they may never have otherwise found. I spent a great deal of time with my kids, walking through various parks searching for the various items and we constantly met people from all over the city, country and world! We spent far more time walking, exploring and being outside than usual. We ended up at PokéStops located in libraries, museums, historis buildings, parks and many more place we certainly would not have otherwise visited! It was bit strange to have my 14 year old son begging me to take him to every library in the city! The summer learning that took place in 2016 was huge.

For an article talking about the Pokémon app and summer learning opportunities, please follow this Link.

Currently, many intermediate, secondary and high school students are quite engaged in Fortnight. As a parent, Fortnight is not a gaming platform I would want to hear my kids were taking part in at school and I do have some reservations about this game. My son calls it "Call of Duty for kids". While I don't think there will be as much opportunity for summer learning with Fortnight as there was with Pokémon Go!, it is good to see kids connect over something. As a positive factor, tt helps build reaction times, as proven by son who is now 16 and learning to drive. He had a deer run out in front of the car and has managed to navigate the situation perfectly. 

I do feel that it is good to introduce games to students in order to have them use different skills and abilities. It engages and connects learners who may not otherwise be engaged or connected. However, it is important for our school districts to support these learning platforms. Schools need to have adequate technology and tech support to move forward and offer these opportunities without having to spend too much trouble shooting the problems.