The Fun of Teaching and Learning

With a little help from friends and bloggers, I'll be launching a new series of programs about the Fun of Teaching and Learning. The programs will include presentations and workshops that focus on the psychology, sociology, and dynamics of fun in learning and teaching.

As advertised, they will be about the fun of teaching as much as the fun of learning, and I hope to offer them at every level of education.

Some of the concepts and experiences I'll be including in the program:

• Muska Mosston's Slanted Rope theory
• Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's theory of Flow
• My theory of Coliberation
• Ralph Koster's Theory of Fun for Game Design:
• Gary Schwarts' Group Games Model of Learning.
• My collection of Pointless Games.
• My Junkyard Golf game/event.

For me, being in a position to make education more fun has been a lifelong goal. I figure that's a far more sustainable goal. I'll be offering the program for modest, negotiable fees, wherever I can.

I could most definitely use your assistance in word-spreadage.


from Bernie DeKoven, funsmith

Hopscotch 2.0

I found this hopscotch court outside my very own house. It was drawn by 9-year-old girl named Erica, our neighbors' kids' cousin (artist's name and relationship included to establish proper "provenance").

According to my unfounded deductions, it began life as what one might consider to be a regulation hopscotch court. For some reason, Erica decided not to stop when she reached 10. So she continued. By the time she reached 12, she decided that the next square should not be a number, but rather an L, as in "Left foot."

She goes on, the next square being also an L (requiring a hop), the next an R, then another L, then two more hopworthy Rs, followed by two Ls, an R, and then a "clap" square. (A clap square! O, the intimations of hopscotchly variations yet unexplored!) Followed by more Rs and Ls, and so on, into illegibility.

My point: Contrary to popular opinion, kids are not only still playing games like hopscotch, they are still inventing it.

For more detailed hopscotch contemplation study, view the image in its full, hi-res glories.



from Bernie DeKoven, funsmith

Johnson & Cluff Kids Playing

For many of us, the best thing about watching the clip of Johnson & Cluff Kids Playing is knowing that we are nowhere near the mayhem. The next best thing is trying to figure out what exactly they are playing. And shortly thereafter, the realization that these kids aren't hurting each other.

Despite the differences in ages and bodies and understandings of the game, these kids are in fact playing very well together, brilliantly, one might say, especially if one turns down the sound. In further fact they are playing together. Not only together, one might note, but intimately together.

Which, for some of us, is a very useful reminder, once again, that kids, given the chance, can and often will play together, safely, creatively, lovingly.

And at the same time, a kind of commentary about how adults, given similar opportunities, don't.


from Bernie DeKoven, funsmith

Grand Theft Childhood: Who's Stealing What from Whom?

In the first chapter of Grand Theft Childhood, authors Dr. Lawrence Kutner and Dr. Cheryl Olson make the remarkably common-sense observation that:

"...the 'big fears' bandied about in the press -- that violent video games make children significantly more violent in the real world; that children will engage in the illegal, immoral, sexist and violent acts they see in some of these games -- are not supported by the current research, at least in such a simplistic form. That should make sense to anyone who thinks about it. After all, millions of children and adults play these games, yet the world has not been reduced to chaos and anarchy."

Tom Hanson, in his excellent Open Education blog, has been following issues surrounding "Shoot 'em Up Video Games" for a while. In his most recent post, he interviews Dr. Kutner about some of the public reactions Grand Theft Childhood has generated. I was particularly struck by Dr. Kutner's response to Susan Estrich's review of the most recent release of Grand Theft Auto IV:

She also engages in hyperbole in her attacks, stating that kids 'spend more time with [video games] than with real life.' Think about that for a second. It’s a dramatic statement, but is it true? Our study found that only 13 percent of boys and 2 percent of girls spent 15 or more hours per week playing video games. Assuming 8 hours/night for sleep, a child would have to spend more than 56 hours per week playing video games to meet her criterion. We’ve only seen that among an extremely small group of gamers not in our study whose serious emotional problems were manifest in other ways—it’s certainly not the norm!"

Such careful research and open minds marks them as true Defenders of the Playful. We are fortunate in having people like Drs. Olsen, Kutner, and Hanson to help us gain a mature perspective over mature games, and regain our trust in play, and in our kids.


from Bernie DeKoven, funsmith

Children Will Play

Frances Henson VanLandinham's Children Will Play: Games and Toys from Simpler Times is a collection of "childhood memories," gathered from family, friends and neighbors, most of whom grew up during the depression, when times where perhaps simpler, but definitely far more difficult than most of us currently enjoy. Hence this lovingly illustrated collection describes handmade toys and homemade games - folk games and toys that are truly inspirational accounts of play and love, creativity and spontaneity, of imagination and free-range joy.

I quote from the introduction: "Children will play under almost any circumstances. I've observed children at play while cold and hungry. Even while living in an abusive environment, children play. Children don't have the verbal skills to communicate their pain and suffering, so they express pain as well as joy through play. Children play through times of social upheaval. During wars and natural disasters, children play."

The book describes how to play Appalachian jump rope, how to make corncob darts, milk can trains, bark sleds, plantain dolls, stick cows, hollyhock dolls, handkerchief dolls. It is full of stories of almost heroic celebrations of Christmas, when there was barely enough money for food.

It is a history of the human spirit. Something to treasure. Something from which to draw inspiration and hope. And it could very well open new pathways to fun, for all of us.

It can only be ordered ($12 plus $2.00 US shipping) from the author. Send your check or money order to Frances Henson ValLandingham, 812 Poga Road, Butler, TN 37640. Call 423-768-2261 for more information. Email FrancyMay34@aol.com



from Bernie DeKoven, funsmith

Games of Make Believe

A recent broadcast of the Leonard Lopate Show had, as its topic:

"Please Explain: Games of Make Believe: We look into how children play games of make believe, and whether kids’ imaginations have changed along with trends in technology and education. Dr. Susan Linn is Associate Director of the Media Center of the Judge Baker Children's Center, Instructor in Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, and the author of most recently Dr. Elizabeth Goodenough teaches at the University of Michigan Residence College and is the author of most recently Under Fire: Childhood in the Shadow of War."

Here's a quote from their discussion: "Nurturing creative play has become counter-cultural, because it's not lucrative. Children who play creatively don't need any of the things...that dominate the toy market."

I liked that counter-cultural label. I liked the explanation for it. But, despite the erudition of the authors and the clarity of their insights (play is important. kids need more of it.), I find myself only partially nodding in agreement (go ahead, try nodding partially. it's kind of fun.).

I think people who are so clearly alarmed by the way kids are playing now, with the impact of mass media and stuff, need to turn those alarms off for a while, and listen more carefully to the way kids are playing, right now, in the middle of all that technology and commercial pressure. It's hard to listen carefully enough. To look deeply enough. But kids are playing brilliantly with all the stuff they have to play with. Brilliantly.

Maybe they're not playing the way we'd like to see them play, maybe there are other things they could be playing, but until we are ready to acknowledge and support the new forms of play that our kids have created, until we are ready to play with them, the best we can do, I think, is stay out of the way.





from Bernie DeKoven, funsmith

More kids/games/violence research

I received the following email from Tom Hanson, editor of OpenEducation.net

I see where you recently discussed kids and video games on your site (see: Are Video Games Ever Good for Kids?). At OpenEducation.net we did an in depth review of the topic of violent video games that included an interview with one of the authors of the book. We broke the topic out into three posts:

Shoot-em Up Video Games - The Cause of Greater Anti-social Behaviors in Teens?

Author Reveals "The Surprising Truth About Violent Video Games"

Experts State: Do Not Banish - Instead, Manage Violent Video Game Play

The research of Kutner and Olson has caused one critic of such games, this writer, to rethink his thoughts on the topic. If you think the posts would be of interest to your readers I would be grateful if you would share them.

Grateful? No, no, I'm the one who's grateful for this great resource. Someone's been doing a lot of clear thinking, in the name of education and play - the series, and in fact the blog itself, is a gift to all of us: designers, players, families and especially kids.




from Bernie DeKoven, funsmith

Are video games ever good for kids?

Someone sent me this question: Are video games ever good for kids?

I guess it came at a good time, because I actually enjoyed writing my answer:

Are video games ever good for kids? Of course they are. They can be good for adults, and even seniors, too.

Can they be bad? Of course they can. It depends on the games and on the people who are playing them.

Actually, the same can be said for any kind of game. Can chess be bad? It can be, if it becomes an obsession, if the chess players pursue chess to the exclusion of everything else social, physical, and intellectual.

In fact, the category "video games" is itself misleading. The term comes from the arcade game era, and was used primarily to describe games like Pong and Breakout and PacMan. And these games suffered from the same misconception that led to us asking the very same question - are they good for kids.

Currently, kids have access to a very wide variety of things you might call video games, and other games that involve computers that you wouldn't think to call video games, but, in fact, have the same characteristics. Texting, for example, via cell phone, chatting and IMing via computer. Not games, actually, but highly interactive platforms for largely intellectual engagement. And then there are mass multiplayer online environments, like Second Life, which no one thinks of as video games, and yet have many of the same attributes.

I myself have designed games of almost every ilk, including computer games. Some were intellectual exercises, some social. Some were for the Children's Television Workshop, others for dedicated videogame companies, others for board and card game publishers. They all have succeeded in engaging children, in challenging them to solve and master some intellectual or social problem. And, as such, have all proven good for them - except for the few kids who took the games too seriously.

Which brings to mind all those concerns about violence in children's games. I personally don't like games that involve people blowing each other up. But I can't tell you that they're bad for kids, because I think most kids are not fooled by the imagery, and focus rather on mastering the intellectual, visual, and physical challenges these games pose. Take, for example, chess. Isn't it all about killing? Killing military figures and religious figures and government figures and destroying their homes?

On the other hand, violent imagery isn't necessary for a good game or a good video game. Take, for example, the many variations of the Sims, or my current conceptual passion - the beautifully cooperative game of Chilone.

But, I can't say violent games are really bad for kids, either. If kids are seeing violence, in their neighborhoods or on TV or in the movies, then it's part of their lives, and it's something they need to play with, to integrate into their world view.

There's a great story from Sara Similansky about pre-school kids who were playing outside, in the school playground, when a car hit a pedestrian. Soon an ambulance came and took the pedestrian to the hospital. It was a potentially traumatic experience for the kids. The next day, they started playing Accident and Ambulence. They continued playing for several days. And then went on to something else.

from Bernie DeKoven, funsmith