How Much Heat Does Your Classroom Generate?

Came across this simple scale from the LoTi® Organization .

A fantastic way to help all of us get a better sense of what innovative learning can be. PBL, GBL or anything else - this scale speaks for itself as great learning.

Enjoy.

March Madness and Games-Based Learning: 5 Takeaways

This is a repost from 2013, shared to kick off March Madness. 

UPDATE: I've had some great discussions on this topic, and just for the sake of clarity...

1. "Games" can also be described "Learning Experiences". These experiences do not necessarily need to be confined to single "lesson" (or basketball game). They can take the form of quests, projects, etc. that evolve over many days.

2. I am not advocating that all games need a winner/loser.

3. For 2019, I'm picking North Carolina!

I love sports. Hardly a day went by when I was young where I wasn't playing basketball, tennis or something else.

I just returned from ISTE, hearing a great keynote from Jane McGonigal on the benefits of Games-Based-Learning. We're making progress (but still have a ways to go) in our attempt to create games that can be integrated into the classroom easily.

Sure, we can acknowledge that there will be adoption resistance by some schools and urge them to come on board. But we also need to acknowledge that we are not creating games that generate genuine, intuitive, widespread interest for teachers' use in the classroom while at the same time addressing the 21st Century skills we want to target. We are struggling to create games that link content to purpose. Until we do, we will only get early adopters and innovative teachers as consistent users of GBL.

There are characteristics of team sports that need to be better incorporated into the games we design for learning. These are the characteristics that make team sports so challenging and so rewarding for players - both in the moment and for their future.

We need to design game experiences that move beyond rewarding "right" answers with points and badges as the main goal. We need to start designing games with these five elements - present in almost any team sport, and sadly lacking from most classroom games.

If there are games out there that do all five of these (or even a few of them), please share. We need to recognize, honor, and PLAY these games!

1. Students need to create and regularly be able to adjust that creation to solve a specific problem. A basketball player is making multiple decisions every second. He is both planning and executing his creation in real time.

2. Students are simultaneously evaluating the actions of each other and making adjustments accordingly. Is someone shooting well? Get her the ball. Has the other team (player) changed there defense? I better adjust my offense.

3. The player's actions effect the entire game and all who are playing. 

When I decide to go for a steal, what happens if I miss? What will be the consequence? How will my teammates handle this?

4. The game is dynamic, constantly changing due to the actions of the other players and the outside factors. (coaches, referees ... aka: teachers)

5. Most important: There are multiple and competing goals with no right answer.  As a player within a team, there are multiple ways that we can strategize to try to win. That strategy is important and may change throughout the game. But in the quest to get a team victory, there are a hundred sub-plots going on. Should I shoot more if I feel like I can score against my defender?  What if I'm not my team's best shooter? Should I deviate from our planned offense?  What will my teammates think of me if I do this often? Is my girlfriend in the crowd... and what things could I do that might look good to her but harm my chances to have my team win?

A basketball game is multi-dimensional. We are individuals within a context of a community and those roles are sometimes confusing. If the classroom games we play are simply one-dimensional representations where there is a right answer and we want to try to find a fun way to have students arrive at that answer, we are sadly misrepresenting what the real world holds and missing out on a whole level of engagement and challenge. 

Give em a basketball instead.



Derek Luebbe is the founder and CEO of Jetlag Learning, makers of simCEO.
He is also the current Head of School at the Shanghai Community International School (SCIS), Pudong Campus.
Follow him on Twitter at @dluebbe and @simceo

3 Ways For Students to Experience 21st Century Learning

We're excited to see how simCEO can change learning, and we want to share a few ways that more students can experience 21st Century Learning.

1. Enter the promotional code:   AuthenticLearning 
to earn 30 simCredits at the introductory price of  $99.00.

This promotional code is good through March 31. But don't worry, you can redeem your simCredits anytime in the next 12 months.

How?
1. Visit the "Buy simCredits" page after you register.
2. Enter "1" Classroom" purchase - normally $349.
3. Enter the promotional code below. Your discount is automatically applied.  
4. Click the button to "Pay By Invoice" or "Pay By Credit Card".
5. Follow the instructions and 30 free simCredits will be added to your account within 24 hours.


2. Earn 25 free simCredits for each friend you refer.
Pass along an innovative learning resource to other educators, earn their gratitude and respect, and receive free simCredits. No purchase is necessary. What could be easier? 

How?
1. Each friend you refer will need to share your username upon their initial registration.
2. When that friend purchases simCredits, an equal number of simCredits will be added to your account. (Maximum of 25 simCredits per friend, but there is no limit on the number of friends.)

If you think simCEO represents an innovative model of learning, then why not share it with other educational innovators !

3. Earn a $1000 worth of simCredits if you are teacher number 1000.

With teachers in over 60 countries who have played simCEO thus far, we're nearing teacher number 1000.  And we want to say thanks to all of the teacher-innovators who helped us get this far by sharing a $1000 worth of simCredits with the teacher that puts us over the hump. 

Stay tuned. It could be you.