On Thursday, December 11, 2003, at 12:03 PM, Arthur <ajsiegel@optonline.net> wrote:
One thing I got from a quick look at the presentation was quite positive. Clearly distinguishing between entertainment and educational software. Probably the biggest reason I react negatively to the general subject of software for kids is that there seems to be a reluctance to make clear distinctions here. Particularly in the case of non-commercial software. Somehow if its directed at kids, and comes out of the opensource community, its educational - in some overly vague way. Obviously there is nothing wrong with opensource efforts to entertain kids. But there seems to be a habit of misclassification, or certainly vagueness, here.
The following came from NewsScan Daily, 11 December 2003. (I happened to read it immediately after reading Arthur's message above.) Instead of thinking of this as an unfortunate blurring of boundaries, these researchers appear to be identifying this as a means of engaging students' attention. (If you can't beat 'em, join 'em!) Perhaps we can think of it as simply a new or different genre. I think the real value of this sort of effort (below) lies in the direction of *students* developing such software for their peers (perhaps their younger peers). Hence the value of PyGame; hence the value of Soya 3D (and others like it): --------------------- EDUCATION ARCADE SEEKS TO MERGE LEARNING, GAMING The Massachusetts Institute of Technology has launched the Education Arcade initiative, aimed at exploiting the educational benefits of videogames. The project plans to harness the talents of scholars, international game designers, publishers, educators and policy makers to develop videogames that would be fully incorporated into existing curricula. "We want to lead the change in the way the world learns through computer and video games," says MIT professor Henry Jenkins. "Our mission is to demonstrate the social, cultural and educational potential of games by initiating game development projects. We will also be informing public conversations about the broader and sometimes unexpected uses of this emerging art form in education." (Herald Sun 10 Dec 2003) http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/ 0,5478,8101066%255E11869,00.html ---------------------- John Miller