“A lot of bad educational software was designed beginning with the assumption that human interaction is unnecessary, and teachers are superfluous. This is wrong. Good teaching still requires a teacher. A teacher’s two greatest tools are charisma and attention, both things that computers cannot offer. A teacher uses his charisma to create interest and excitement in the student, and uses his attention to reward, punish, and compel attention back from the student. A student knows that when a computer program says ‘Well done!’ it’s just a programmed response, and if she does badly or ignores the computer, the computer doesn’t really care. Computers don’t pay attention; all they do is sit and wait for input.
When you start talking about computer games, as opposed to other instructional software, the situation gets even more complicated. Now you’re not only trying to teach, but to do so in an entertaining way. Lately there has been growing interest in using computer games to teach, both in schools and in the home. As a longtime game designer, and as a more newly-minted teacher, I have a somewhat heretical view of this.
My heretical view is simply this: computer games don’t teach. I think the idea that you can teach using computer games is based on a flawed analogy between gameplay and learning. Here’s how the analogy goes. Players of games have to overcome obstacles in order to achieve victory. They do this by learning the weaknesses, or limitations, of the opponents they face. Similarly, students learn knowledge in order to pass tests. So learning a fact is equivalent to defeating an enemy, and passing a test is equivalent to achieving victory. And a great many educational games are created this way.
This is a terrible way of learning! Why? Because in playing a game, the instant an enemy is dead, we forget him. We are only concerned with him for as long as it takes to beat him. This was, in effect, what happened to me with the computerized logic course. I passed each lesson, and remembered its message only insofar as it was necessary to pass another lesson. When they were all done, I forgot the lot.”
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