What+is+happening

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﻿Marc Prensky stated that one of the reasons that education is boring and not being successful with a large number of learners is because "we are working hard to educate a new generation in old ways, using tools that have ceased to be effective" (Prensky, 2001) ======  The way the school children of today learn is very different to the way the teachers learnt. Even those who are comfortable with technology in the classroom and are adapting to the changes will obviously retain their learning behaviour from the past. If you consider the learners graduating from high school at the moment they have spent less than 5,000 hours reading books but over 10,000 hours playing video games and 20,000 hours watching TV.(Prensky, 2001) Many teachers are horrified by this thought and are unaware that todays learners are thinking and processing information fundamnentally differently for the teachers. [.....] (Prensky, 2001, pp1-2)

 More information can be found in the following up loaded documents:

Every parent will know that video games and the internet are part of childhood like never before. This is extremely positive and gives children the opportunities to learn and to have fun while learning. They communicate in ways that previous generations could only dream of but it is a huge challenge to parents and teachers alike. (Bryon, 2008) The education system as it is now, is a system that was set up for the producing of workers for the industrial age, but society has moved on from the industrial age into the knowledge age with the advent of the the PC, internet and web 2.0. The current education system has not caught up with the needs of the learners today as it is still being measured against an industrial system of education. This is evident in all aspect of education from early childhood through to teritary level.

 A quick survey was completed of the local schools around Hawkes Bay and even though it investigates equipment and its useage it also looks at the negativity of some teachers to using ICT generally to help learners. As a quick snap shot it can not be taken for anything other than a quick snap shot of the particular area but it is concerning that still many teachers in New Zealand have such negative attitudes towards ICT in schools and do only the bare minimum. We tend to forget when conversing with other like minded teachers that there are other teachers who have little or no knowledge of how to use ICT in schools. media type="custom" key="7079853" width="77" height="77" align="left"

Learning Potential of Video Games
Games such as Age of Empires, Age of Mythology are found readily in homes and the players are required to move through bureaucracy, think strategically and deal on a multi-tasking bases. They have to deal with unforeseen disasters all while learning aspects informally about the history of the world. The problem here is the informal learning is not seen as "proper learning" as it does not involve a teacher talking to a class. James Gee and Elizabeth Hayes argue that this is a form of public pedagogy. They go on to argue that people are tolerant of this type of popular cultural thinking until it goes against their own political positions. They then block the way for change.(Gee & Hayes, 2009)

 Affinity spaces are places in a virtual world on Internet sites where people interact and often band together using avatars to interact with people who have similar interests. Such sites as "Second Life" where people can participate in Shakespearean roles, solve complex crimes, learn to build boats, visit a marae, (New Zealand's contribution) and communicate with other like minded people from around the world. These sites allow the spread of knowledge in a safe environment and encourage people to share and learn. It allows collective knowledge to be pooled and easily accessed.(Gee & Hayes, 2009)

 Embeded here is an You Tube Video entitled

**__Educational Uses of Second Life__**

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOFU9oUF2HA&feature=related

__**An example **__  Gee and Hayes go on in the article "Public Pedagogy through Video Games" to talk about an example of a young girl who uses the "The Sims" during a university sponsored program to enhance girls interests in technology. This young lady decided she would like to learn to put real clothes on her Sims. This lead to her work extensively with real photos and photoshop to turn them into virutal clothing of a realistic nature. She spent many hours learning experiential skills in design clothes, her standing socially sky rocketed and she became a teacher to other students. Her designs are now used around the world. She then opened a shop in teen second life and started selling her creations for Lindens, the currency of second life, which she was able to sell on for real money. This young lady learnt skills such as design thinking, digital technologies, collaboration with others, how to run a business, persistence, how to teach, use of photoshop and high-level literacy and technical skills. All skills of the knowledge economy and the 21st century.(Gee & Hayes, 2009) For further reading on affinity spaces and learning go to this link: []
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 Derek Robertson does not mince words in his article on game based learning and teaching in schools. Here is a link to his article which urges teachers to get the video games out and start learning. []

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> In his article he talks about the motivating factor for the reluctant learner. Derek Robertson states that we need to make sure that school is a place where learners want to be and how games help to fire the imagination of learners. Is this not what we are wanting for our learners?

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> Small pockets of facilitators are trying to accommodate the needs of the learners but are being hampered often for a number of reasons. The following page will investigate a number of the stumbling blocks for these facilitators.