Learning In Disguise
When I was at school, marginally after the chalk and slate era, I recall the teaching resources were crude in comparison to the technological advances of today. History was entirely text book driven; maths a combination of text and chalk and talk. Geography was perhaps the most dynamic involving 64mm slide films fed through a low powered projector, rubber stereo printed maps and the highlight of the lesson – Banda printed handouts. Using a spirit based fluid to produce the print in a delightful shade of pink, it was the our first introduction to intoxication, and homework handouts eagerly awaited. Commands to stop sniffing the homework were rife from the teachers, hoping the effect from the spirit would evaporate before any damage done.
My education progressed at a pace commensurate with a lack of motivation, and enthusiasm brought about by the dour teaching ancillaries. I’m sticking to this interpretation despite contradictory end of term reports. My reading skills became frozen when I sat next to a girl destined to be a world class speed reader. Sharing text books with her was a blur and I never had the macho strength to acknowledge she was a page ahead as I finished the first sentence of each page. It did develop my story telling ability as I attempted to fill the gaps with my interpretation of many novels and plays. Acceptable in English perhaps, but the lack of facts left great holes in history, and a string of worrying interpretations of what happened in 1066 etc.
Today there is a fantastic array of educational games to stimulate the young mind. Used extensively at school these valuable resources can also be used to practice the lesson content at home. Supporting the conventional one dimensional text and exercise book home work - mainly seen as a chore by all concerned, these modern games can be in DVD., CD ROM, or game board format ,and most importantly, really stimulating and great fun to child and parent who want to support the classroom progress at home.
And do they work? Reminiscent of John Wyndham’s “Middlewitch Cuckoos” featuring a group of telepathic children (read completely after leaving school!) it is truly amazing how children grasp technology. Have you ever wondered who taught them to use a mobile phone? Certainly not on the mainstream curriculum and have you ever see them reading an instruction book? Yet their proficiency is boundless - along with the need to continually upgrade as they run out of features.
Practicing in their own time and pace using the equipment is the key behind their steep learning curve. Children also learn rapidly from other children especially where equipment is involved, and practice feeds learning retention and the rapid growth in skill.
Designed by educationalists through research into the ideal way to encourage learning, these modern educational resources open the door to a far more practical approach to learning retention. Educational games or educational toys induce a fun element where peers parents and relatives can join in. An hour spent with or by a child on a maths games such as MathsMania that is actually teaching maths or English games such Stig of the Dump which gets the player to read, is worth days of pressure to “do your conventional homework”
Alistair Owens
