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Transforming Education: Learning Powered By Serious Games

Formal x Informal Learning Environments – Life-Long x Life-Wide Learning

Via: Interactive Multimedia Technology - National Educational Technology Plan Draft – A Must-Read

Lynn V. Marentette draws our attention to the National Educational Technology Plan (NETP) 2010 released on 3/5/10 in draft format.

A 21st Century Model of Learning Powered by Technology

The NETP presents a model of 21st century learning powered by technology, with goals and recommendations in five areas: learning, assessment, teaching, infrastructure, and productivity. The plan also identifies far-reaching “grand challenge problems” that should be funded and coordinated at a national level.

The model of 21st century learning described in this plan calls for engaging and empowering learning experiences for all learners. It brings state-of-the art technology into learning to enable, motivate, and inspire all students, regardless of background, languages, or disabilities, to achieve. It leverages the power of technology to provide personalized learning instead of a one-size-fits-all curriculum, pace of teaching, and instructional practices.

As per the Executive Summary, Serious Games would be a perfect fit for NETP 2010 value proposition:

“Many students’ lives today are filled with technology that gives them mobile access to information and resources 24/7, enables them to create multimedia content and share it with the world, and allows them to participate in online social networks where people from all over the world share ideas, collaborate, and learn new things. Outside school, students are free to pursue their passions in their own way and at their own pace. The opportunities are limitless, borderless, and instantaneous.”


“The challenge for our education system is to leverage the learning sciences and modern technology to create engaging, relevant, and personalized learning experiences for all learners that mirror students’ daily lives and the reality of their futures.

In contrast to traditional classroom instruction, this requires that we put students at the center and empower them to take control of their own learning by providing flexibility on several dimensions. A core set of standards-based concepts and competencies should form the basis of what all students should learn, but beyond that students and educators should have options for engaging in learning: large groups, small groups, and work tailored to individual goals, needs, interests, and prior experience of each learner. By supporting student learning in areas that are of real concern or particular interest to them, personalized learning adds to its relevance, inspiring higher levels of motivation and achievement.”

In addition, technology provides access to more learning resources than are available in classrooms and connections to a wider set of “educators,” including teachers, parents, experts, and mentors outside the classroom. On-demand learning is now within reach, supporting learning that is life-long and life-wide (Bransford et al., 2006).

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