I attended a webinar in 18/3/2015 about:Education in Play with Lee Sheldon, Associate Professor in the Games and
Simulation Arts and Sciences program at Rensselaer Polytechnic
Institute.
He said:The children of today need the techniques of today to learn. This does not mean
a blind faith in technology, such as video games or social media clumsily
shoehorned into a curriculum like a stepsister’s foot vainly squeezed into
Cinderella’s slipper. The multi-player classroom is not a class that uses video
games to teach; instead it uses the craft of game design to create an entire
class as a real-time multi-player game. Elements include grading by accretion,
learning by failing, intrinsic rewards, peer teaching and more. Recent studies
bear out initial anecdotal evidence from hundreds of teachers: the average grade
for a class has risen from a C to a B. Students are creating their own
assignments. Class attendance is almost perfect. The multi-player classroom uses
the techniques today’s world uses to communicate with us, so that we can teach
our children in a language they understand. In this webinar for the edWeb.net
Game-Based Learning community, Lee Sheldon explored the multi-player classroom.
Topics covered included: an introduction to the history and philosophy behind multi-player classrooms; identifying ways to apply elements of games to your own
classes; and methods for turning parents, other teachers and administrators into
enthusiastic supporters of the multi- player classroom.
But when the professor was asked about a clear way for assignment he didn't have any answer, he said that this is another people job, that what made things come complicated because he suggested an idea that is not complete yet.


