Profile Information
- Home Town:
- Stowe
- School or Organization:
- The Global Challenge
- Website or Blog
- http://www.globalchallengeaward.org
- About Me:
- I'm Research Assistant Professor in the College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences, University of Vermont and Executive Director of The Global Challenge (www.globalchallengeaward.org), a team and project-based learning and scholarship program for high school students funded by the National Science Foundation that engages small teams in studying science, technology, engineering and mathematics in order to solve global problems. My research and publications include work on complex systems analysis and modeling of education, Web applications and the future of learning, and the use of technology to personalize education. My book “Games and Simulations in Online Learning” outlines the potential for games and simulation-based learning. I led the creation of simSchool (www.simschool.org), a classroom flight simulator for training teachers, currently funded by the US Department of Education FIPSE program. My business, CURVESHIFT, is an educational technology company (www.curveshift.com) that assists in the acquisition, implementation and continuing design of games and simulations, e-portfolio systems, data-driven decision making tools, and emerging technologies.
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Very cool. Keep me in the loop.
FYI: I'm working on a modification of the World Without Oil alternative reality game for middle school students. In this first conceptualization, middle school literacy scaffolds will be used to facilitate student growth in both their reading comprehension of global issues and their persuasive writing skills as they play and blog during the game.
Thank you for commenting on my blog. I'm thrilled to have a gotten a positive response from a leader in the field of educational games and simulations. You've made my day.
I appreciate and applaud your work in providing authentic challenges that connect students with the real-world. As a former teacher/mentor of award-winning Intel ISEF students, I have seen firsthand how contests have the potential to really bring out the competitive spirit in students and teach them lessons about real life.
I would have loved to have joined your global challenge this year, but my students are not yet of age. I teach students who are 13 years and younger.
Nevertheless, I continue to be inspired by your work and am already working to modify some of the goals of your challenge to make them work in my context. I've been conceptualizing how I might adopt Jane McGonigal's World Without Oil materials as a three week lead-in to a hands-on curriculum designed to teach the principles of biofuel production.
The way the course is currently conceived would align it well with your technical innovation plan, with a very major difference ... The curriculum designers (moi, et al) are the drivers. Alas, the motivation is outwardly imposed and teacher-driven.
What intrigues me most about projects such as yours is that it is student-driven. For me that is true education, but one that does not fit well into the current model of public education. From my perspective on the ground, I find our school systems suffer by isolating subject areas into their own separate islands. Furthermore, as a response to the pressures of the NCLB many districts have adopted pacing guides designed to cover a broad range of pre-selected topics in a tight schedule. The unintended consequence is that there is no breating room for open-ended student-driven learning and exploration.
It is within this environment that I try to innovate at the edges. I seek allies who have a larger vision that can support outside-the-box thinking. Fortunately, my principal also works with that kind of vision along the edges of the strict mandates that he is compelled to follow.
I am looking forward to the time when public education in this country has the vision that will allow innovations like yours to flourish in all school districts around the country.
Until then, I am playing my small part in a local school district and work hard to incorporate open-ended simulations. I have the sense that the administration is more open to educational innovations that have a strong research component to support their effectiveness. With that in mind, I have obtained the green light to pilot the River City virtual world simulation (from Harvard's GSE) with a small group of students this year.
I look forward to seeing how your work with the Global Challenge progresses and evolves.
All the best in your work,
Greg
~Amanda