Untitled (27)

Untitled Here’s a very readable analysis of learning in games that might be useful for the theory class (or at least for students obsessed with gamification). The main point is that games sometimes build in progress that is not learning, but rather the provision of new affordances. The pleasure that comes from games is not necessarily the pleasure of gaining new skills. 

Could be useful mainly because the background section has good ~2 paragraph summaries of:     Ecological approach to perception and learning

    Affordances

    Perception & action

    Affordances & learning

    Affordances & tool use

“As a parent or teacher trying to motivate children to learn the things we think are useful for them, it is easy to look with some form of curious envy at how easily games seem to engage children.”

“If we use a ladder, we can reach the same spot as the rock climber without having to learn the skills he or she has. In the ecological perspective, using tools is a way to short cut learning. The use of calculators in schools can transform school mathematics into being more about problem solving and less about learning to do calculations. Yet calculators are seldom allowed in primary schools, where the idea is that children should learn to perform arithmetic calculations. Primary school teachers know that if they allowed calculators, children would be able to solve the tasks they have without learning how to perform arithmetic calculations.”