Ali Carr-Chellman

Engaging the Disengaged Learner

Ted talk
Energize Conference - Day 1 - Keynote

"Bring back the boys - gaming to re-engage disengaged learners" (book)

US stats

75-80% of all ADHD medications are give to US boys.  Are we medicating them because they are boys?

4 X as likely to be diagnosed with ADHD if you are a boy.

3 X as likely to be suspended, expelled, in special education if you are a boy.

For every 100 women who earn a bachelor's degree, only 73 men earn one.  Women outnumber men obtaining master's degrees by more than 30%.

Why?

Zero tolerance policies (if you play guns, you will stay in at lunch).  Too many things that engage our boy learners, are outlawed in school.

Compressed curriculum (3 R's alone)

Cultural differences (Schools not current enough.  'Millennials' are their own culture with their own needs.  They are disengaged for 6 hours at school and head home for education to begin).

What can we do?

BringBackBoys

Fluidity, Improvisation - key aspects to learning that engages our disengaged learners.

Raising Cain

Gaming

• Minecraft (education option).
• OTS (off the shelf gaming).  What can you learn from games that already exist for public consumption?
• Failing at a game is a way for millennials to now explore failure in a way that other peers that do not game, do not experience.  Therefore they explore the emotions for failure as well as problem-solving and perseverance skills.  Communication and people skills (eg, teamwork) is incorporated also.
• Don't use educational simulation games.  Disengaged learners like the gory stuff!

Key points

• Forces a culture shift.   Respect and trust from adults.
• Design based thinking.

Examples:

One Stone

Circle School

CLC (Centre Learning Community)

"An educational system isn't worth a great detail if it teaches young people how to make a living but doesn't team them how to make a life."

Reflection

• Gaming isn't something that I want to focus on in my Year 2 room at this stage.  We are not equipped with devices that will run Minecraft efficiently either.  However the ideas of boys being treated differently throughout the system is pertinent to my work in a boy heavy classroom.  Key points to take away when designing my play programme:
  - less rules on the play (freedom within a framework)
  - the 3 R's alone is not enough to engage our boys meaningfully.  Context needed.
  - these children are millenials and need engaging for this culture.  What is this culture?

Action

Louie working on measuring through the Roomble Froomble potion making guise.

Coby writing down his potion because of this context also.