River City MUVE with Chris Dede, Ed Dietrle, and Diane Jass Ketelhut

June 25, 2007

Live blogging notes from River City MUVE with Chris Dede, Ed Dieterle, and Diane Jass Ketelhut

Reminder, my comments are in all caps but I have not been commenting much…

Dr. Dede and Mr. Dieterle (doc student) are both a Harvard and Dr. Ketelhut is at Temple University.

We live in an interesting time, as computers are changing what we expect out of graduates. We are now in a global, knowledge-centered society.

Panasonic challenge for education video, NEED TO FIND THAT AND MASH IT UP

What students do outside of the classroom for personal expression and entertainment looks more like 21st century work than the classroom does.

Technology is a  moving target. Looking ahead 5, 10, 15 years what will our graduates need?

We need to prepare kids not for a job but rather a series of careers, many of which do not exist.

He has an endowed share since 1967 when he used punch cards and a programming language.

He is referencing Tom Friendman’s Flat World book. Shows a picture of the book cover.

He recommends a book called the New Division of Labor by Levy and Murnane

Only two jobs will be left, the expert decision maker - mechanic after the diagnostics

Expert decision makers is the second one along with complex cmmunications.

We need to focus on a suite of 21st century skills

Problem finding before problem solving - this is because kids will be solving problems that have not existed before
Making meaning out of complexity
Comprehension by a team, not an individual

He is talking about distributed learning - orchestrated across classrooms, homes, workplaces, community settings

Three different kinds of interface important in the next ten years.

1. Desktop - accessing distant experts and archives

2. Multi-user virtual environments - will be as powerful as the desktop soon

3. Ubiquitous computing - mobile wireless devices generate augmented reality

He is describing a MUVE - virtual place with avatar (his are 30 years younger and 30 lbs thinner, joking)

Interact with digital artifacts. He is delineating this from WOW, Lineage, and other MMOG’s.

The range of users has widened in 10 years. 10 years ago it was all about middle school boys. Now there are SIMS, Star Trek, etc and the demographic of people involved has changed a lot.

People seem to like having an alternate life, and they are willing to spend lots of time and money. Engaging…

The learning processes we see is outstanding - HIS OPINION, MIND YOU

He mentioned guided learning - CONSTRUCTIVISM

Learning does not necessarily mean good things, think Grand Theft Auto, learning to kill doesn’t help in RL.

Moving onto River City MUVE. We’ve taken deep academic content and higher-order content and substituted that for the lower-end thinking but kept those things that led to higher engagement.

They sought out middle school because that’s when kids lose interest. Teachers say that prepping kids for the science fair.

He is showing tour of River City in Quicktime.

Ed Dietrle is approaching the podium.

He is a doc student advertising River City.

HE JUST READ A SLIDE TO US - ARGH

HE IS FLYING THROUGH A DISCUSSION OF STYLES - NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH GARDNER’S LEARNING STYLES

Our learning changes depending on the tools, resources, and environment in which we’re placed.

He is positing what are called neo-millenial learning styles. The characteristics are:

1. Fliency in multiple media
2. Seeking, sieving, and synthesizing experiences
3. Active learning based on experience - both real and virtual

Inside River City is Kent Brock, who plays the wise fool. He is a newspaper reporter who asks questions.

They have drawn from Understanding y Design and the interactions with Ken allow them to reflect on understanding.

Now it’s time for Diane Jass Ketelhut

Her pathway is odd. She was a classroom teacher for years, loved technology but never used it in the classroom. Most of it was reproducing what we already did well in the classroom.

Chris Dede approached her to work with them on the project.

She begins with comments from stakeholders in education. Parents report that schools are not preparing students for 21st century jobs. Teachers use the lecture format and students have no technology in science classes. There is a rapid decline from kindergarten to 12th grade in students who are interested in science careers due to recipe-driven lab experiments.

There are new pedagogies: scientific inquiry and situated learning.

Situating learning in authentic environments is the most powerful way to learn.

River City offers non-linear learning. Her daughter could never remember more than two directions at a time. Then when she was in 11th grade she had 8 IM conversations at the same time.

The students can experiment in River City. They can take samples of the water, check to see effects on water from pollution, hospital admissions, etc. They can change just one factor if they want.

Results - physical experiments are equally beneficial to virtual experiments

Good for schools with low budgets, low lab safety, and where science needs help in a school

Kids report liking asking their own questions., like being able to use tools to experiment, and they like that it’s like real life, or like being a real scientist.

Showing a video of a focus group of kids. One kid said he thought it would be boring but he turned into a mad scientist. He said he can experiment without getting “whooped”.

Teachers say that RC raised student awareness of inquiry, that it was a student-centered experimental design, that they liked the development of research skills, and would teach using RC again.

The last line is from teachers who were dragged into the project as decided by an administrator. They turned out to like the project.

A quote from a 3rd grader: my school should make sure that my science teachers are good and that the computers are all working.

Chris Dede is back to the front and center.

We can generalize from this presentation, especially if you don’t teach middle school science…

Teachers feel overwhelmed in trying not to lose the kids that are outside of the mainstream.

Simple ———- Complicated

Sleeping is fundamentally easy. If you’re designing hotels, you only need a few elements.

Eating is more complicated, since people like different foods, different dining experiences. Restaurant architecture, menu, etc.

Bonding is much more complicated still, People bond with sports teams, pets, other folks, etc. This is one of the most complex ideas that we know.

We treat teaching as though it were like sleeping, but it is really like bonding.

THERE IS SOME REALLY LOUD MUSIC FROM THE NEXT BALLROOM AND IT’S DISTRACTING.

Learning technologies must be customized for needs. Students must be first engaged.

It’s never been harder for teachers to get kids engaged. Once you’ve got enagagement, you need active learning. Once you have active learning, you have to have formative diagnostic assessment, not high-stakes testing that tells you too late.

We must also teach 21st century knowledge and skills.

ABOUT TO LOSE THE BATTERY JUICE, ENDING SOON

He says we need to unlearn, it is like wellness. He should reduce stress, eat better, exercise, etc. He doesn’t do them, but does understand them. Changing adult behavior patterns is emotional and social, not just intellectual. A cohort of people works best in the unlearning process.

We need virtual communities of practice as we wrestle with new technologies. We need virtual places for adults, not like River City.

Questions and answers time:

The software is Windows-only.

BATTERY IS GONE, SHUTTING DOWN.

Posted in General, necc07