Kids in the US who have been gamers their whole lives seem to have adapted psychologically better to the pandemic to being forced to do at-home learning, and not be able to go out to playgrounds, and their sports as usual. They adapted better because they have all of these rich online communities and ways to stay connected.
In yesterday's post, I began to unpack the connections between gaming and learning. Today, I reflected further, as I observed a class of students, engaged in a challenge to design the strongest, yet least costly arch bridge, using a computer program.
It was interesting to note how, some students tinkered independently, while others worked parallel to one another, only at times, engaging for progress updates. The teacher noted how differently each class seems to work - some, in strict singular competition and others, together, as a class, so no one receives a lower score.
Some kids were "playing the game" based on rules set forth by the adult, in the institution.
And others, not all noticeable, were playing a game they themselves had created, separate from that which any adult was even remotely aware. In essence, they were learning despite the rules. And they were doing so, with a sense of autonomy and self-confidence.
This reminded me of a scene from 2016, commonly referred to as "the bottle flipping era". It was something that took middle schools everywhere, by storm. It also may have been a sign...of things to come.
One pair of students that captured my attention was different. They collaborated. Competed. Engaged in friendly banter. By the end, they proudly showed how, together, they'd designed a bridge that met the expectations, that was also broken (according to the game), and yet, achieved the objective.
They'd designed the strongest, least costly bridge. And they did so, working completely around the expectations.
Observing this clever and playful workaround brought me back to the emergency closure during the pandemic. I'd remembered it as a time when I know adolescents everywhere were engaging in what McGonigal stated above.
Living in a world and speaking in a langue familiar to one another (and less so, to the adults around them), they were thriving. I'd started to anticipate in the time before March 2020.
And at the start of this new school year, we're now seeing it in school. The question is, will be meet them there and with inquiry? Or will we try to coax or even push them back into conventional thinking, the kind that often happens...at school?
What are the associated risks involved in either option? And what are the rewards?
Are we preparing kids for school, and for what's next at school?
Or, are we preparing them for something different, something more?
In my professional as practice, what I’ve discovered is that people who spend a lot of time playing games are actually very effective at anticipating second, third, fourth order consequences of future events.
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