The Future of Education in the Dominican Republic
December 18, 2010
The Future of Education – The Volatile Nature of Change and the Growing Impact of Technologies
Moving into the 21st Century it will be important for countries to prepare for a more flexible work place and economy. No longer will individuals retain the same job for their whole careers, but in society 3.0, as “knowmads,” will work for different bosses, changing jobs on a regular basis (Moravec, 2010). In an increasingly complex and volatile market place, children must be educated for an innovation, rather than an industrial, society. Learning is becoming ever more often invisible and personalized while modern media increasingly plays a greater role in extending the reach of the ivory tower (Katz, 2008; Cobo, 2010). Through the growth of OER and by freeing up data, information will reach a greater segment of the population (Downes, 2007; Berners-Lee, 2009; Rosling, 2007). With the ability to access information anywhere in the world, the politics of knowledge are changing. Previously unheard or marginalized voices can create a space for themselves in the largely accessible and deregulated worldwide web. Through the mobile phone individuals living in the poorest countries are now able to communicate with loved ones, rapidly find help when needed, and even have access to financial services (Donner, 2008; Sunkel & Trucco, 2010). The growing use of mobile phones is a clear example of leapfrogging by some third world countries (Moravec, 2009; INDOTEL, 2010). Within just a few decades, mobile phone subscriptions extended from 12.4 million in 1990 to 4.6 billion by 2009, the Internet has reached most places in the world, and “research firm Gartner, Inc., predicts that there will be 2 billion computers in use worldwide by the year 2014” (Katz, 2008; Heeks, 2008; ITU, 2010). Facebook, a social network site which launched only in 2004, already has an estimated value of over 30 billion dollars (Hardy, 2010). All of these changes and the increasing flattening of the world lead one to ponder what the future holds (Sachs, 2005; Friedman, 2007). The future is difficult to predict, and few people a hundred years ago envisioned a world similar to the one in which we live today.
As the world flattens, more individuals obtain the capacity to generate media and reach a wide audience. Marc Prensky (2009) recently argued that Youtube and other online media have increasingly replaced printed media as a mainstream form of communication (Prensky, 2010) Through Youtube and other media uploaders, individuals can publish their homemade or low budget TV series, recorded family events, remixed videos, personal news accounts, or even transform education through initiatives such as Khan’s Academy (http://www.khanacademy.org/). Salman Khan teaches anyone interested in learning about a wide variety of subjects through his NGO, Khan’s Academy using ten minute video clips. Ten minutes, Khan believes, is the ideal length of a lesson because of students’ short attention span (PBS, 2010) . Other OER initiatives such as MIT’s OpenCourseWare video allow a person to take a class by a world renowned scientist free of charge online (Abelson, 2008). The OpenCourseWare consortium (http://www.ocwconsortium.org/) and the Connexions consortium (http://cnxconsortium.org/) are spreading educational material across the world, promoting lifelong learning, supplementing traditional classroom lectures and discussions, increasing the availability of study materials for students, and in the future might possibly provide a free accredited education (http://www.uopeople.org/). Programs such as Nixty (http://nixty.com/) and OpenStudy (http://openstudy.com/) are trying to bridge the gap between having access to OER and quality information but lacking a learning structure, a curriculum and a certificate. Currently, the University of the People, a free online institute, is attempting to obtain accreditation. Also, the Technological Institute of Monterrey recently began offering free course to a limited number of students.
In the near future, perhaps through an algorithm tailored to the students learning style or through crowdsourcing, a “glocal” free online accredited university will develop where a large number of students will be able to obtain a quality education independent of their economic means. Having both the tool and the demand, it is only a matter of time before this happens, particularly in developing countries. The increasing rate of technological improvement allows for previously weaker economies to gain ground on G-8 states, and transform the relationship between the center and the periphery. Harkins (2010) argued that without modifications to the educational system of the United States, the US may increasingly revert towards becoming a developing country (Harkins, 2010). And this may well be the case, but as important to this recent change is the question, what is development? When have countries stop transforming and changing? Which country today could be argued to be truly developed? Should developing countries follow shadows of countries that have not yet developed, or should their chart their own water, leapfrogging into an unknown future. This paper looks at ways in which the Dominican Republic could move beyond a traditional development agenda by reforming their education system through the increased use of ICT, augmented reality, OER, and educational games (Faber, 2002; Benkler, 2008). If the trends of the Moore’s Law are to continue, the world may eventually reach a technological singularity where change will be a daily occurrence (Kurzweil, 2005; Schaller, 1997). The Dominican Republic and other countries need to enact the best policies to meet this challenge. These are the exciting times in which we are living!
Video games are one of the recent changes that have rapidly expanded and taken the world by storm. According to Prensky (2009), young people today have spent twice as much time playing video games than they have reading books. They have spent even more time watching television, which together with video games have allowed individuals to visualize and learn about every area of the globe. Instead of being captivated by novelty in school, children increasingly “power down” during their school hours (Prensky, 2009). A small industry dominated by a monochromatic game in 1975, Pong, and the video game system (VGS) Atari allowed popularization of the playful interaction between men and an electronic program of limited astuteness but lightning fast reflexes. Today, VGSs are in their seventh generation. According to Tom Chatfield (2010), the video game industry has expanded at a very rapid rate, from 10 billion in 1990, to 20 billion in 2000, and 50 billion in 2010 , surpassing the net worth of the music industry (Chatfield, 2010). The video game industry is expanding and is expected to continue expanding. While a recent PEW (2008) survey showed that 97% of teenagers play video games, a large percentage of people at every age level are playing video games, including 60% of individuals between the ages of 50 and 64 (Lenhart, Jones, & Macgill, 2008). The average video game player is 35 years old and has been playing for more than 10 years. Women represent 40% of gamers and almost all children do not remember a world without games (ESA, 2008 ). To them, video games are a place where they are truly engaged, where they can be part of a colorful, interactive, rapidly changing and exciting environment. People are increasingly spending greater amounts of their free time playing games and over 10,000 hours playing video games throughout their youth (McGonigal, 2010; Prensky, 2007).
Whatever their intellectual contribution, or lack of, games are a major component of modern day life. Not understanding games may make an instructor ineffective or distant to students. To harness the influence of games for the benefit of society, serious games have been developed in health, defense, religion, education, among other sectors (www.seriousgames.org). The term serious games was defined by Michael Zyda, author of Serious Games (1970), as “Serious game: a mental contest, played with a computer in accordance with specific rules, that uses entertainment to further government or corporate training, education, health, public policy, and strategic communication objectives.” (Zyda, 2005)
Within education, MIT’s The Education Arcade (www.educationarcade.org) and Games for Change (www.gamesforchange.org) (G4C) are two well known initiatives that are focus on developing, increasing access, and popularity of video game learning. However, despite the best intentions, serious games developed with an education purpose in mind have yet to evolve into a mainstream application and their quality is generally inferior to that of traditional games. Even so, many of them are increasingly engaging students. In this essay I evaluate a series of educational games, evaluating all of the games included in the G4C poverty games category. I will analyze these games based on the understanding of successful games from my personal experience as well as Tom Kelley’s 2007 archetypes developed in his book, The Ten Faces of Innovation.
Education and Games – Endless Possibilities for Growth and Research
“The possibilities for using a game like Civilization as a springboard into studying history are endless, but so far, there are less than three magazine or journal articles published on the topic and no one has done empirically-grounded research in the successes and challenges of using such a game to support learning (See Berson, 1996; Hope, 1996; Lee, 1994; Prensky, 2001; Teague & Teague, 1995) (Squire, 2002)”
The term educational games can be seen as an oxymoron (Kolson, 1996). While games can be informational and useful, labeling them as educational could reduce their appeal. Yet, as games continue to expand, this underperforming genre may transform in the context of the new challenge, the new frontier for education. The ability to replicate virtual products allows a game to potentially reach every child with a computer or a cell phone, thus increasing the impact an individual can have in education, particularly in places that are experiencing a brain drain and limited human capital. Through video games and other modern technologies individuals that have migrated from their home countries, can send back not only cash remittances, but “knowledge remittances” through videos they record and upload on YouTube, software they develop, or information they type on a forum or anywhere in the World Wide Web. OER and educational video game development is also a way in which people from anywhere in the United States or another developed country can enhance the education of another person anywhere across the world, a way in which to transfer knowledge without borders. Yet, despite the promise of educational video games or the regular use of video games for education, Squire (2002) contends that neither video games advocates or opponents have scientifically demonstrated to a large extent the detriments or benefits of video games (Squire, 2002). Greater research is needed, and as more information is recorded and replayed, perhaps educators will work collectively on open education software projects to find a way to better tell the same old stories.
Taking aside educational games, many of which are included in the aforementioned websites, some highly popular traditional games have been used for education. Games such as Civilizations, SimCity, SimEarth, Colonization, Age of Empires, Microsoft Flight Simulator, Rome Total War and World of Warcraft have been studied for their educational potential and contribution (Kolson, 1996; Lobo, 2004; Pirius & Creel, 2010; Gee, 2003). Many of these, and other, games were developed to model a simplified version of reality while holding certain variables constant. Yet, because of their structure, it has been difficult for teachers to integrate video games into the classroom, and they are currently relegated primarily to a child’s “invisible learning.” More should be done to encourage the use of games in education, yet opponents to video game learning have other reasons to fear their increasing use, many of which are not unfounded.
Unfortunately, for some individuals, the urge to play video games can be difficult to control. Video game playing can be addictive and is an increasingly recognized medical condition (APA, 2007). Yet how many gamers use games in an unhealthy manner is highly debated. Trying to better understand the nature of Gamer, Yeh (2006) developed 10 categories and aggregated them into three groups: achievement, social, and immersion. His study found that playing games for achievements such as gaining power, competing with others, and optimizing character performance were most common with male players, while women tended to emphasize socializing and building relationships. Immersion was divided into discovery, role playing, customization, and escapism. After coding and quantitatively analyzing 3,000 surveys, and analyzing for problematic usage of online games, escapism and hours played were there the best predictors (Yee, 2006). A recent an Iowa State University study showed that 8.5% of youth gamers between 8 and 18 were considered addicted to video games (Gentile, 2009). Video games allow individuals to live in an environment where anything is possible. These are places where a person can look a different way, be of a different gender, have special powers, solve world-saving mysteries, or control the planet with God-like powers. Working primarily under a for-profit model, most games are also designed to develop a brand, to retain players, create a following, and make a profit, inadvertently, developing an addiction for some users, as with other forms of entertainment. While this is only the minority of video game player, it is a factor that needs to be taken into consideration. Not only for parents and teachers to be observant of unwarranted behavior, but to learn what elements of games and which games are primarily linked to players’ addictions.
Games can reach students in ways that few other stimuli can replicate. Merrilea Mayo (2007) argued that video games massive reach, use of effective learning paradigms (experiential, inquiry based, goal setting, cooperation, continuous feedback, tailored instruction, cognitive modeling), enhanced brain chemistry, time spent on task, and the well documented outcome data, were ideal for engaging math and science students (Mayo, 2007). Not only are games increasingly “gamifying” education, but they can also influence others sectors of society, such as the workplace (Corcoran, 2010). Tom Chatfield (2010), in a very engaging TED talk, explained seven different ways in which games engage the brain and how this could be adapted for business, education, and government (Chatfield, 2010). He summarizes the impacts of games into: experience bars to measure progress, including both long term and short term aims within games, rewarding participants for their efforts, having rapid, frequent and clear feedback, including an element of uncertainty, providing windows of enhanced attention where a person can feel special, and developing an environment where individuals can interact with other people.
As education and other sectors of society increasingly become gamified, more detailed analyses of how different games could be utilized should be developed. The introduction of basic programming through programs such as Scratch (which uses actions blocks rather than code to program) to students is also very important (Corcoran, 2010). Games have a large number of genres and some genres may be more effectively used for educational games, yet all being capable of captivating a particular audience, it would be beneficial if a number of games in different genres were developed for different subjects to explain the same or similar concepts or topics. By doing so students would be able to learn from the game that best fits their ability. Mark Wolf (2001) categorized games according to interactivity with the player rather based on iconography, as normally used to categorize films. Some education games he mentions include basic math games; typing games; number games; spelling games and word games. (Wolf, 2000)
