Making Playful Learning Visible

Fiona Bailey and Julian Sefton-Green wanted to find out how they could take advantage of technology to help "make playful learning visible." They ended up researching "the use of video mobile phones as tools with which to engage groups of parents in documenting, sharing and reflecting upon aspects of their children’s learning outside of formal education settings." Such a simple premise, using a relatively ubiquitous technology to capture, document and discuss actual moments of children engaged in play-directed learning. It sensitizes parents to what is often, as the name of the project implies, invisible to them, and helps us all have a better understanding of the phenomenon of self-motivated learning (a phenomenon which our educational systems all too often ignore).

Skip down to the section describing example learning 'moments' with reflections. See for example: "Ben makes lines out of things – anything and everything...a line of toast crusts on the breakfast table, sent with no commentary or explanation. Laurie had noticed her son doing this on a number of occasions, but had not really thought too much about it until embarking on the project. Through documenting her son’s play, she began to notice a pattern - lines of toys, lines of dinosaurs – and now toast!"

This is life-changing stuff for parents, and for those of us who believe in the innate value of play.