The Education Business Blog

Why don't textbook publishers use more humor? Humor frequently plays a critical role in revealing truth and puncturing pomposity. Textbooks should be a path to the truth - and they are frequently so pompous they could bore a narcoleptic sloth to death.

As an example the "You Suck at Photoshop" series on YouTube is pure snarky genius. Our guide and teacher is the hapless Donnie Hoyle. During serious lessons on Photoshop we learn about Donnie's unfaithful wife, his lame World of Warcraft buddies, and his egomaniac boss at Phebco (motto: Innovation, Vision, Waste). He uses the mesh tool to paste a copy of his marriage certificate in the windshield of the boyfriend's car, compound paths to paste his wedding ring into a barren dessert scene, and pucker and bloat to reveal his bosses inner piggishness.

View episode 1 to get a taste of the series (warning - strong language, adult themes, and snark).

Something this edgy would never work in school where a wide range of moral codes should be respected. But I share it anyway because I think it brings out some interesting insights into how humor can support teaching.

1. There is a story line. The humor works partly because it builds over the videos. The tools he shows are all very different, but the reason he is using them (revenge!) provides a thread. We want to learn what is going to happen next to his marriage and job. It provides a real world context for how you can use the tools - although one with tongue firmly in cheek.

2. There are easter eggs that draw us back in. A lot of the humor is never stated, it is in the images that flash by while he narrates (the titles of his friends photos for example). This leads to repeated viewing to get all the jokes. Every time you watch it the underlying Photoshop lesson is etched a little deeper. It provides a motivation to review the material.

3. The humor itself is a mnemonic form. To recall the techie Photoshop tool you just have to recall the joke, which is much more accessible to most human brains.

4. Snark is the new black. We live in a Mad Magazine culture that is a reaction to the spin and hype that we swim in. It is a defense mechanism against the 4,000 ads a typical urban dweller sees in a day. If we want to connect with youth culture we need to take this aspect of it into account.

If you are interested in learning more I recommend an academic paper titled "Using Humor In the Introductory Statistics Course." No joke.

Humor is hard and as an art form it is risky. But that doesn't mean it shouldn't be used where it can help engage, motivate, and anchor new learning experiences.

But I don't harbor any illusions - the risk averse world of textbook publishing is not likely to move in this direction any time soon. On the other hand, that risk aversion creates a business opportunity for carving out a niche for someone brave.

Thanks to Donnie I now suck slightly less at Photoshop.

Does real learning happen in virtual worlds?

Cable in the Classroom Magazine published an article I wrote on this topic in their March issue.

The premise is:

"There have always been scientific concepts our children should experience that are too dangerous, too expensive, or too time-consuming for school. For these activities - some of the most thought provoking in science - we have had to settle for lectures and reading.

Virtual worlds change this equation. In a virtual world, students can use million dollar apparatus, experiment with lethal substances, and compress years of activity into a few weeks...."

The article goes on to describe how the Texas Workforce Commission is using Whyville as an outreach vehicle for biotechnology. It also addresses why virtual worlds are particularly attractive to tweens because of where they are developmentally.

If you have thoughts on what I wrote leave a comment here and I'll respond.

Download the complete article (PDF) by clicking on the image to the right.

All the links referenced in the article are below the fold - continue reading to see them.

Continue reading "Virtual Worlds = Real Learning" »

Marketing departments have tried to control brand identity with years of research and oceans of ink (and pixels). But the concept that a company can control its brand is a myth and it always has been. At best a company can contribute to its brand identity, but in reality that identity is created by the market. That identity includes not just the nice polished stories pumped out by Marketing, but all the crappy and in between stuff that happens when product meets customer.

This topic was brought home in a lively discussion at the Austin Social Media Club breakfast this morning. Bryan Person led a conversation about how to lead people to Web 2.0 who are outside of the technology bubble. One theme that surfaced was marketers' reluctance to give up controlling the message. That "control" is a total conceit on their part.

With Web 2.0 customers can talk to each other about the things they always talked about, but now Marketers can see it. This is hugely disorienting for a tribe that thought they "controlled" and "managed" their brand identity. But all of us as consumers are gravitating to this new way of interacting with each other. For companies that can adapt it will result in much more authentic conversations with their customers. We need more focus on contribution and less on control.

Later in the day Andy Pass from Classroom 2.0 and I were talking and he stated that the challenge is that companies don't need to develop an on-line voice they need to develop on-line ears. They know how to shout, but they are terrible at listening. Until you can stop shouting and start conversing you are not in tune with where customers are going today.

The net effect of 80 years of broadcast culture has been the development finely honed BS Meters among the general population. When you read your marketing copy does your own BS Meter peg into the brown zone? Lighten up, get real, and learn to listen more.

Students at Westlake High School in Austin TX are in their second year of creating a virtual Vietnam Memorial to those who died in the war. Carolyn Foote, the Librarian at Westlake, has written movingly about it on her blog.

Students are assigned a soldier, conduct research, assemble a presentation, and then post it all on the web. This has spurred the interest of veterans one of whom said:

“Your school is about to do something that none of us thought would ever happen. Our beloved leader will be known to many in a time that others have been forgotten. You truly are paying a tribute to one of the finest men that ever lived.”

This is the kind of project that engages students in the larger world using Web 2.0. The fact that people who knew and loved the soldiers are paying attention makes it meaningful in ways that most schoolwork never addresses. Using a mix of music, photographs, and text the students are painting a bigger picture of each of those honored than found on traditional memorials.

It is part homework, part public service, and all heart.

I'm pleased that my son is one of the students working on the project this year. We've already had some interesting dinner conversations about it and we are looking forward to seeing the final results posted online.

If you want to track the project the students have a blog.

In Japan novels are serialized for cell phone delivery and published as dead tree editions only after they are hits. John Rice has a great post on on this at his Educational Games Research blog.

While this works because of Japan's rather unique commuting environment the central point that any reading helps build fluency is well taken. Here is the money quote:

"It boils down to literacy events in the life of a child. The exposure to text, in whatever venue, increases the reading and writing skills of children. If children read a book, a comic book, or the story line in a videogame, they are reading. And that makes all the difference."

This novel approach hits on two interesting themes. First, it takes advantage of the new format rather than trying to shoehorn the old way of doing things into the new platform. Publishers have worked hard to recreate the book experience on-line with very limited success. I would argue that this innovation is the reverse - making an on-line experience into a book, which is why it works.

Second, the Japanese are not fighting the new tools but finding ways to use them effectively. Cell phones can be disruptive in schools and there are definitely places they don't belong. On the other hand the blanket prohibitions that many schools have in place show that they haven't been provided with products like this that take advantage of the new technology for learning.

Products like Amazon's Kindle and Sony's eReader are interesting and may be better platforms for delivering educational content but they cost almost as much as a laptop. On the other hand, most kids have access to a cell phone today at no cost to the schools at all.

Does exposure to classics matter? Of course it does. The quality of what you read helps your higher order thinking by exposing you to new ideas and concepts. But why can't a classic can't come out on a cell phone first? Dickens serialized most of his work in magazines, the broadband distribution network of his day.

It would be interesting to see an ed-tech company partner with a publisher to reach out to students here in the US with something similar.

What do Web 2.0 and Social Networking mean for Education Publishing? On February 7th I was on a panel at the Association of American Publishers (AAP) in Sacramento that tackled this question.

Ann Flynn Director of Education Technology at National School Boards Association (NSBA) reviewed the excellent study they released last fall that explored how these tools are being used in schools.

Sheryl Abshire CTO from Calcasieu Parish School System in Lake Charles, Louisiana talked about they are handling the very real complications that come with introducing these disruptive technologies into schools and classrooms.

My talk focused on why these tools are so wildly popular. If Web 2.0 tools are solutions - what problem are they solving?

In a nutshell - we have moved from a world of information scarcity to a world of information overload. People are adopting these tools because they help them focus their scarce attention on things that are relevant to them, and they know they are relevant because they have been vetted by their collaborative network of peers.

Regular readers will recognize many of the themes from the Information Overload series I did last fall.

For those who are interested here are my slides AAP Lee Wilson-1.ppt (3.8 meg file - lots o' graphics). [Update - Link Fixed]

Related blog posts:

Information Overload
Web 2.0 Education Marketing
Textbooks vs. Education Technology - Clashing Paradigms

Ed Note: Do videogames embody the best in cognitive theory? In Part 2 of his series on educational video games guest blogger NT Etuk explores the work of James Paul Gee. Part 1 is here

By NT Etuk - CEO Tabula Digita

Why do videogames work? Why are gamers so willing to learn in these environments but so unwilling to learn in school?

Fortunately, some of the answers lie in the research of an extremely well regarded literacy professor. Dr. James Paul Gee is the Mary Lou Fulton Presidential Professor of Literacy Studies at Arizona State, and the author of the book "What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy. Second Edition”

Dr. Gee as an educator was curious about why videogames were able to do so much that our education system was having trouble doing – continuously engaging students, making students feel safe failing (not silly), unafraid to ask questions, and providing contextual learning that makes the learning relevant to the learner.
So he set out to answer these questions. His book is an excellent read and I encourage everyone to read it, but for the sake of brevity, I will pull out a core part of his findings.

Dr. Gee found that commercial videogames are built on a set of design principles, and that these principles translate into some of the more fundamental learning principles that cognitive theory has validated.

Among them are:

1. Active, Critical Learning Principle – [In a videogame] all aspects of the learning environment are set up to encourage active and critical, not passive, learning.

2. “Psychosocial Moratorium” Principle – [In a videogame] learners can take risks in a space where real world consequences (i.e. grades, risk of looking silly) are lowered.

3. Achievement Principle – [In a videogame] there are intrinsic rewards from the beginning, customized to each learner’s level, effort, and growing mastery and signaling the learner’s ongoing achievements.

4. Practice Principle – [In a videogame] - learners get lots and lots of practice in a context where practice is not boring (i.e. in a virtual world that is compelling to learners on their own terms and where the learners experience ongoing success). They spend lots of time on task.
5. Multimodal Principle – [In a videogame] - meaning and knowledge are built up through various modalities (images, texts, symbols, interactions, abstract design, sound, etc.), not just words.

These are principles built into all good videogames. I have listed 5, but there are 36 that Dr. Gee documents.

As you read through them, hopefully it becomes clear how videogame systems can actually translate into tremendously powerful and flexible learning systems. Tabula Digita [link] and other companies pioneering this arena embrace these principles and look to embed as many of these principles as possible in the design of our games.

The good thing is that school systems are beginning to realize the inherent power of simulations. I can only speak from our company’s experiences, but Tabula Digita games and simulations have been accepted in some of the largest and sometimes most conservative school districts in the country, including Plano ISD, Orange County - Florida, New York City Public Schools, Forsyth County, and Chicago Public Schools among others.

Educational gaming methodologies and pedagogical approaches have been accepted as superior by some of the most rigorous judges out there. Orange County educators published a list of 54 intervention products that they recommend their teachers use. Tabula Digita simulations received the highest Rubric score of ‘A’ and the highest educator recommendation rating of 4 stars. Only 4 other products were rated so highly. Two were non-computer based.

And students are singing the praises of educational games and simulations, with approximately 88% of the students who have used our software recommending it to other students and over 90% saying they wished more simulations were in their classrooms.

There is a paradigm shift that is occurring in education and it’s being forced by our industry’s ultimate customer – the student. Today’s child demands immersion. They demand experience. They demand engagement. And their expectations of how they receive, interpret, and absorb information are growing more sophisticated every day. As educators, if our methods don’t adapt to their needs, we run the risk of irrelevance. And if we’re irrelevant then we run the risk that we can’t talk to them. And if that happens, then how will they ever hear what we have to say …. ?

About Tabula Digita:
Tabula Digita is the award winning publisher of the DimensionM series of educational videogame titles. DimensionM titles encompass action and non-action titles and allow students to play other students within classrooms, across schools, and across the country, all while learning and increasing achievement.

Related Blog Posts

Link to Part 1 in this series.

Slaying Myths About Video Games In Schools

Virtual Worlds for Education - 1987 Redux?
Games for Education- Essential Resource Links

Continue reading "Video Games Embody the Best in Cognitive Theory - Part 2" »

A retired construction worker has solved the mystery of how Stonehenge could have been constructed using wood, sand, and gravity as his only tools.

I'm a nerd for this kind of stuff - I think this is so cool. One man, an obscure passion for moving heavy things, and an age old riddle is solved.

If you ever need a great example of lifelong learning at work share this.

Thanks to my friend Hugh Lewis for passing this along.