What makes a game educational? (summer press publications osha compliance)
No commentsBy Kevin Tuck
Parents and teachers are constantly thinking about this: When does a computer game become education, and when is it just entertainment?
Are those games really worth spending our hard earned money, time and energy on?
In Music there are all kinds of games: Some of the music games which are available today are nothing more than an evolution of the toy guitar that you’d give a toddler to play with. There are a few that are far more advanced, and are almost close to playing a real instrument.
Where do we draw the line? Most music teachers have a differing opinion on this issue. Most teachers probably won’t be spending much money on music games, they’ll be teaching just like they always have. Some aspects of the games however do deserve our attention, as there is some real educational worth there
This is the question we need to ask before engaging in any game activity: “What is this teaching me (or them, if thinking about your children or your students) that I didn’t know before?”
Learning something is the process of taking something which is unknown and making it known. it really is that simple Are you making anything known that wasn’t already when you are playing that computer game? If you are simply playing one level of one game over and over again nothing will happen except that you’ll be good at that one thing. You’ll really know that one thing, but nothing else.
The music game can be a great educational experience if you constantly introduce new songs and use the game as a vehicle to move forward with your skills.
When developing these music games it is my hope that the developers consult instrument specialists so that learning to play the game does not affect the students technique when learning the real instrument. I believe that most of the game companies do that research, however there is always cheaper versions who cut out the features and cut down on the educational value.
If you always ask this question: What is this game teaching me that I previously didn’t know? Then you’ll find that besides being very enjoyable that time spent on music games will actually build musical skills.
Kevin Tuck, the author of this article is a musician and music teacher of wide experience. In his work as editor at the fun music company he is currently developing educational music games for school students.
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Why More People Are Choosing Homeschooling
By Hong Kirby
For many years, homeschooling was the purview of those families who lived in rural areas and found the cost and/or time it would take to transport their children to school unbearable. For these people, homeschooling was and continues to be the only real option when it comes to their children’s education. Many rural families have traditionally relied on their children to help around the house, and thus homeschooling allowed them to pursue their studies around the family schedule, and work and education could be fit into the day according to a suitable timetable.
Another traditional reason for families choosing the option of homeschool was a fundamental disagreement with what was or is being taught in other schooling environments. Chief among this group are families whose religious beliefs clash with the prevailing educational methods. Families who choose the option of homeschooling are not subject to the rigid curriculum of established schools, and there are many options when it comes to homeschool resources that can offer as wide or as narrow a field of study as far as worldviews that the parent wishes.
A more recent development in the reason people choose to homeschool their children is that of safety. School ground violence seems to be increasing, and that has many parents worried. They feel that the best way to keep their children away from harm is to keep them close.
Hand-in-hand with the safety issue is a concern for the child’s self esteem. Bullying is a common issue within any school system, as any parent well remembers from their own school days. Many parents cannot bear the thought of throwing their children into the kind of system that breeds a pack mentality, and are choosing instead to have them educated at home.
A very recent development in the reasons for homeschooling is the fluidity in choices that homeschooling children allows. This is especially apparent in Generation X, who seem to be fairly insistent on independence and not being tied down to any one place or situation. Homeschooling eliminates the need to plan all vacations around established school holidays, as the pace is determined by the parent and child.
Finally, parents may choose to homeschool their children because they simply feel they can do a better job than any educational system. Parent of gifted children do not want to see the child wasted in the hard pressed for both resources and qualified teachers system that public schooling represents, and private schools are becoming increasingly unaffordable for the average family. Parents who believe their children need the advantages of a more intimate education are therefore turning to the option of homeschooling.
The rise in popularity of homeschooling has meant a corresponding rise in the materials available to the parent who chooses to homeschool. There are resources available to meet any educational needs, and with a little bit of homework a parent will find the curriculum they feel will best suit their children’s needs.
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Homeschooling and Reading Skills
By Hong Kirby
The extreme amount of flexibility offered by homeschooling creates many educational benefits. One of them, of course, is that “home” and “school” become one, so that the educational experience doesn’t have to begin and end with the ringing of a bell. By incorporating educational activities into your home life as a whole, you child will gain a more valuable educational experience.
One of the best things about home schooling is you can come up with an educational plan that suits your child’s particular needs. By working one on one with a child, you can create an individual learning system that can be more beneficial then the learning techniques used in a public or private school. When coming up with an individual education plan for your child, make sure you place focus on reading.
Much of the philosophy of homeschooling is about not being subject to the limitations of the public school system, and an area where the public school system commonly falters is in reading. Many public school students perform poorly on standardized reading tests, which is unfortunate as reading skills are crucial to a child’s education.
Reading can’t really be emphasized too much when homeschooling your child. While there should be a good balance of subject areas taught throughout the teaching day, reading should be encouraged during your child’s free time. While it may be difficult to get a child into doing math or science work in his or her free time, reading is a different story.
As soon as your child can read, he or she should always be reading something. As long as you find the subject matter appropriate, allow your child to read whatever he wants in his free time. Develop the habit at a young age of getting your child to always have a book on the go. By finding books that your child enjoys, your child will, from a young age, associate reading with a fun experience, which will do wonders for his further education.
You must also understand how important it is to set your own example. Try and set time aside during the day in which you read, and in the evening hours, when most children would be watching television, sit down with your child and read together. When it gets close to the child’s bedtime, imply that you will be going to be soon as well - because you have a good book to read.
Reading is a fantastic educational opportunity because it is the basis for which your child will learn many other things. When a child is reading a book they are not only bettering their reading skills, they are becoming privy to knowledge contained within the book. It is important that reading begins at a young age because mastering it is a slow process, and you will be doing your child a serious disservice later in life if you choose not to focus on reading early.
Every education should be well rounded of course, but reading is a building block from which other education follows. When homeschooling your child, encourage him or her to read from a young age. If you so do you stand a good chance of instilling a lifelong habit that will benefit your child until the end of his days.
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Monday, March 8th, 2010 at 6:20 pm and is filed under education. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
