Here is the video:
Even though I find this very helpful for our everyday life, I don't want to concentrate on that. Instead I want to explore an idea that came to my mind while watching the video. I want to analyze what he talks about and relate it to games for education.
First he talked about the Amygdala, a part of the brain designed to trigger a response when we feel threatened and that it shuts down a very important part of our "working" brain called the Prefrontal Cortex. I can't help but think of students all over the world with fears of making mistakes, failing a test and how their performance is greatly affected by how they react to the situation.
Vik gave some really good points on dealing with procrastination, which in a sense were tips on preventing anxiety and not triggering the amygdala fear response. here is the Bullet point list:
- Plan Goals
- Plan Time
- Plan Resources
- Plan Process
- Plan for Distraction
- Plan for Failure
these are all really good tips, many of these I do on my everyday life for doing work I need to do, here is a couple of examples of how I do this:
As you may notice, I like keeping track of things, but it is an extra load of work to do this, therefore it is not something easy for kids to do.
But we are lucky enough to not be dealing with paper any more. Computers would be able to open up a screen and help the kid determine what goals they have for the session, also keep track of achievements and keep them motivated in order to reduce any chance of discomfort.
My Thoughts:
This is how I envision these key points being integrated into a game to help keep the student focused and entertained.
-Have a pop up screen where the player chooses what to work on, so if it is a multiplication game, they can determine if they want to work on their fives, or their eights. This should allow for them to clearly determine how this will benefit them.
-Let them set a session time. the game could have short, med or long mode. at which the student would not feel forced into playing longer than what they would like.
-Resources is a tricky one, as the game should have all elements integrated.
-Process is another hard one. I could see maybe in a logic game, a player determining what strategy they are going to use. but it is also very hard to integrate.
-Distraction is a key challenge. they need to stay focused, so adding some distractions or mini games can also act as a stress relief moment. Something like the little side islands in Super Mario Galaxy
-Failure is inevitable, but I think a good way to add failure into the game is with a story. everyone likes a comeback, everyone roots for the underdog, so maybe, with characters you are able to create a story for the player. something like saying it was a great chance, but now, "name of player" you must gather your tools and get ready to try again. the town needs you!
Anyways, this was a very interesting video, I know I viewed it from a completely different point of view, but I have a strange feeling that there is a key element for educational games hidden somewhere in what he said.
Expect some prototypes of these ideas on the next Learning game from Impudia (the Math game).
No comments:
Post a Comment