Yes, I'm not quite sure yet what to think of the moocy business either. The idea is good though, I find. As for games in education or gamification of educational content, it is a great help for autistic learners, yes. The rules and constraints within the bubble are reliable and predictable and the excitement level is guaranteed. Knowledge transfer happens in a state of flow and everyone is happy in the end. Or so. I didn't follow up on Chris' Aemoebe(?) game project based on crowd funding. - I would want the real kids to be given all the resources and support they need to be able to produce their own games.
2012/11/15 archytas <[email protected]>: > We seem to be stuck in the ideological mud, including such stuff as > education being any use to people who can't do it and allowing > qualifications to focus power - an old Guild trick. The huge costs of > 'expertise' focused in individuals rather than in an equal access > system in which it is embodied is the same as unionised power. We now > have computer buildings situated next to federal finance buildings in > order to get information nano-seconds quicker so traders can front-run > (illegal) on the inequity of information. There are such games > Allan. When people play them in lab conditions knowing they are > scrutinised they make the social, cooperative choices - fix a game > where they think they aren't being scrutinised and they cheat. > > On 15 Nov, 04:51, Allan H <[email protected]> wrote: >> The business model is going to need be one for the betterment of society >> rather than just for the desires of self and wealth. It is okay to have >> wealth when it is used to improve and provide for people , yet you can not >> gain wealth at the expense of other especially the poor. >> >> Maybe a game can be devised that teaches social awareness rather than self. >> Allan >> >> Matrix ** th3 beginning light >> On Nov 14, 2012 5:40 PM, "archytas" <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> > Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC). I promoted the idea that most of >> > what is done in classrooms after 13 should be replaced by online >> > programmes in a project in the 1980s. The technology lagged the idea >> > then - and the idea wasn't much more than that of students reading-up >> > before lectures and doing hard problem solving in tutorials. We were >> > developing interactive role-play videos at the time. It was very >> > expensive and the technology not up to speed. A CD burner cost around >> > $30K in today's money. >> >> > In fact, mainstream university education outside science went >> > backwards to more and more formal teaching and death by Powerpoint - >> > it was what lecturers were trained to do. The MOOC model is now >> > getting stronger and Bill Gates is investing through bis trust. >> >> > One project I'd love to have a go at is to produce video games that >> > teach basics from cell biology to business. Cell biology lends itself >> > to science fiction. Whilst cells are tiny the scale of what goes on >> > in them and their structures are 'Star Wars'. One could devise a game >> > based in virus attack and the 'arms wars' of co-evolution. My >> > business game would probably be based on Al Capone. You can write the >> > things in hypertext with lots of links to knowledge. >> > The games could probably be written to allow simulated research too - >> > we have virtual reality labs to teach engineering. >> >> > We could probably write community project simulations too - about, >> > say, setting up community-based food supply and property building. >> >> > The fundamental idea in this is the embodiment of expert knowledge - >> > much as we have embodied man artisanal skills in machines. >> >> > The models of education we do have rely on academic forms of learning >> > only few are much good at. In higher education e have seen the >> > expansion of this to a massive debt cost. This from Zerohedge >> > somewhere: >> > Career Education, when it reported its quarterly financial results, >> > shed more light on an industry that had ruthlessly taken advantage of >> > quirks in the American way of funding higher education, and that, even >> > more insidiously, had preyed on gullible prospective students who were >> > desperately trying to better their lives. Then it handed the tab to >> > the taxpayer who couldn’t say no. A perfect scam. And it contributed >> > to a ruinous mountain of student loans [ Next: Bankruptcy for a whole >> > Generation]. >> >> > In the halcyon days of 2010, Career Education had $2.09 billion in >> > annual revenues. Then a free-fall. By September 30, quarterly revenues >> > hit $333 million. Enrollment was down 23%, in the health education >> > category 41%. An additional 900 people will be laid off, on top of the >> > previously announced 1,300. The company will “gradually” close 23 of >> > its 90 campuses. Red ink is gushing, with no end in sight. The stock >> > has plunged from $70 in June 2004 to today’s 52-week intraday low of >> > $2.60. >> >> > Career Education is in good company. The largest player in the >> > industry, University of Phoenix, which is owned by Apollo Group, is >> > also getting hammered by scandals and declining revenues. Enrolment >> > has plummeted from over 400,000 students to 328,000. To halt the >> > bleeding, it shuttered 115 locations in 30 states. >> >> > Corinthian Colleges got hit as well. One of its specialties was the >> > Ability-to-Benefit program, under which students without high school >> > diploma or GED had been receiving student loans and grants to attend >> > classes though they had virtually no chance of graduating. As of July >> > 1, 2012, the government shut off the spigot. >> >> > Now scrambling to get back on that gravy train, the school is offering >> > free GED preparation programs to high-school dropouts, expecting for >> > “some portion of successful GED completers to enroll” in its >> > institutions. And it’s trying hard to sign up new students to pocket >> > their financial aid: marketing and admission expenses were about 25% >> > of revenues.... “Our mission is to change students’ lives,” the press >> > release said. >> >> > Corinthian Colleges is selling some campuses and shuttering others, >> > particularly in California where the crackdown has become more >> > aggressive. For a reason: the out-of-money state is trying to reign in >> > the cost of its Cal Grants, a financial aid system that ballooned from >> > $915 million to $1.6 billion in eight years. >> >> > These schools are facing tighter regulations all around. On the >> > federal level, the Department of Education, for instance, banned >> > incentives paid to admissions reps or recruiters for the number of >> > students they hoodwinked into enrolling. Pressures are rising to get >> > these schools to prioritize student graduation and job placement, >> > rather than just grabbing financial-aid money. But, as the financial >> > results demonstrate, that push blew up their entire business model. >> >> > In its dazzling manner, the for-profit post-secondary education boom >> > left behind a long trail of wrecked dreams, unfinished or worthless >> > degrees, wasted time, and a huge pile of student loans resting on the >> > shoulders of people who were unable to find jobs in the fields they’d >> > studied and who are now unable to pay back these loans. In the >> > process, these outfits sucked up taxpayer-funded state and federal >> > financial aid of all types and made early investors and executives >> > rich. At their peaks, the stocks were picked up by mutual funds and >> > were thus sneakily stuffed into well-diversified portfolios and >> > 401k’s, as recommended by all of Wall Street. Because somebody has got >> > to buy this stuff on the way down. >> >> > The situation in the UK - where HE is technically public sector, is >> > little different. I have moved out of undergraduate education to >> > assessing work-based schemes. This is dreadful - but at least my pay >> > doesn't rely on putting young people into £40K of debt. There are >> > young people all over the world in this condition - notably the 'Ant >> > People' of China - even their expanding economy doesn't provide decent >> > jobs for graduates. >> >> > My own suspicion is education is not a good thing. I'm an >> > educationalist so this doesn't make much sense. They key problem is >> > trying to exploit it through already failing bubsiness models (I'll >> > leave the typo as it sounds right) - and what scares me is that we are >> > hoping for salvation through them. >> >> > -- > > -- > > > --
