A Method to Innovate Education Systems

It's probably no surprise that I am interested in innovating education systems, with the title of my blog, Learning Science Meets Game Design, but what about having a plan to get it to happen? Some people try to get it to happen inside the systems, some outside the systems and both have met up against a stout resistance to innovation and change. I think we've be going about this the wrong way. Why try to tackle something so massive and with so much momentum? We've been told repeatedly that what is needed is "proof", so why don't we give it to them? The answer, I'm guessing, is that we don't know how to give them what they want, but I think there is a way, and that's what the rest of this post will discuss.

As a game designer looking at education, I'm struck by the similarity of this problem to that of starting up a game company or hit series of games. We have a bunch of great ideas, but in the game industry those "great ideas" are considered worth less than a dime a dozen. We try to use those ideas, and they kinda work here or there with the help of designers and developers. Sometimes there is marketing and management with a lack of market research or follow through. Ya, that's about what there is in the game industry, and in education innovation. Maybe some of the lessons from the game industry innovation efforts will help education.

First is differentiate. Yes, we need some reason that our stuff is better, but we also need to know some people want that difference. This is a basic principle of selling anything. If nobody is interested in your cool variation, there will be serious problems in the future.

Second is to start small. Building up to the big, awesome, stupendous projects means you have a solid core and foundation to support that big, awesome, stupendous project. Do at a level that you can make it shine.

Third is to build on your successes, and fourth is to learn from your mistakes. If you do a project, learn from it. Analyze what went well, and what didn't go well. Take that info into consideration when designing, and doing, your next project.

Fifth is to always go for quality over quantity. What ever you do, do it well. Doing it well will bring results. Repeatable results are proof of your ability to deliver those results.

Sixth is to aim for your target demographic. If your target is to help students do better in school, target students. If you want to help the ones who don't do well in school, target them, and work with them.

There are more, but let's take a moment to consider how these first six interact. Starting small, targeting your demographic and aiming for quality over quantity means you are focusing on a manageable number of people, responsibilities and variables. Whatever your results, this will be useful to learn from. While the unique selling points of a project may be set at the start, feedback from actually testing the project will help refine, back-up and verify those points as well as possibly hint towards new points to aim for.

Seventh is to prototype early and often. The above set of interactions shows how the prototyping and testing processes can reveal many useful lessons. Some of those can save a lot of time, money and effort is learned early in the project.

Eighth is to support all people involved. This means students, teachers, policy makers and anybody else interested. Transparency and "customer service" is just a part of the mix. If the project lives or dies based on what people think of it, helping them is related to success.

Ninth is to talk about the project. Share what's going on, good and bad, and most importantly how the project reacts to the events. The growth of the project into something amazing is part of the proof that it works.

Tenth is to always consider emergent behavior possibilities. To do this you have to consider the project, the people involved, the situation and plenty more. However, this is key to really making the project shine and getting the proof needed.

Maybe these aren't written as well as they could be, and there are more lessons to be sure, but these are some we need to consider for proving these projects and ideas are worth implementing. Yet, even that isn't all there is to my "method", as all I've really shared is a list of lessons to help you understand.

The method I see as most effective for actually getting schools to implement great ideas is to do some testing without changing there official schooling. If it works well to help students achieve, then you have grounds to motivate going farther with the ideas, even if it is just the students and their parents. Summer programs, after-school programs, clubs and more could be the vehicle of such attempts. Do the studies, improve the ideas and try again.

Now, there is something we need to leave open to the students, joining. Even if it isn't any more effective, if it gets students to want to join, you have something to study. If students like it, they will talk about it. If you're tracking participation and grades, you might prove something.

Grades are not the only things to record. Get some personality, emotional stability and similar data. Maybe they are working through personal issues rather than improving their grades. Get to know the students and teachers involved, and record what you can about them to find patterns. A better way of teaching may lower grades initially as students change and get used to doing things in new ways.

Culture and views of the projects can make a big difference. What does the group of students think about the project? What do their friends think? What do other teachers and family members think? These are things to consider and shape your communications to help shift.

I'd hoped for a better post, but this is what I have for the moment. I'd love to get some feedback on these thoughts and discuss these and other views. For a look at my own project to innovate education, take a journey over to the Legacy Of Lore project blog.

Have fun, spread the word and tell me what you think,
Igen Oukan
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A Method to Innovate Education Systems

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Sharing the LOL Project

LOL normally means "laugh out loud", but for me it is my Legacy Of Lore project, which I think can help people laugh more, and more heartily, through better learning and problem solving. The first sub-project is a book project that covers my general approach and "framework" for learning and problem solving. I'm putting out the content in a few different ways like blogs posts, an ebook and videos. I'm still working on some of that content as of this posting. There are even magazine articles in the plans, one already drafted and sent to the editor. So, I'm looking for some interested people to take a look and help me share the book project and it's content to help more people.

First, this is an ongoing book project, so the current content is just the start, not the finished, polished version. I want to make that clear for those who might think there is little to the first book version, just because it is short and covers what some of us already know. As a student, I see others who just don't think much about their learning approach. It's not too short; it's a starting point for both the project and the reader. It's not too shallow; it's respectful of the intended audience. Please remember that.

The content consists of twelve points organized two ways. The linear organization, front to back, is for those who are getting to know the approach, while the second, non-linear, organization is for those who are more familiar with the points. That's why at the end I suggest going back and rereading the points in the second order, so the reader can get more out of the same material.

Guidelines:
Dealing with Insanity, Play & Work Mentalities, Moderation

These are basic approach guidelines to give feedback on how we try to tackle anything we do. This kind of feedback empowers us to reflect on our efforts and contemplate the ways we can improvement them.

Skill Sets:
Communication, Contemplation, Creation

These skill sets are a way of thinking about skills to organize one's efforts. It's easier, at least to me, to think of them like this, and find they change the way I think about accomplishing goals. Through the use of skills we also have the opportunity to learn.

Learning Cycles:
Theory & Practice; Motivation, Effort & Goals; Eureka

These learning cycles are a way to look at learning as a whole, without dealing with all the details of specific implementations. By cutting out the details and complications we can give ourselves a starting point for our learning.

Personality Traits:
Selflessness, Work Ethic, Open Mindedness

These personality traits are something to aim for to improve our effectiveness, and ourselves as human beings. In a way these are like a second set of guidelines, but these are as much what you do as how you express yourself through your actions.

Each of those sections has three points in a relative order to match the motto, "Be real, have fun with it and smell the roses." The first makes sure you are honest and in touch with reality. The second deals with how you can get things done in a less stressful way, thus enjoying it more. The third has to do with stepping back and taking a look around rather than continuing with your nose to the grindstone.

Using this set of points I hope to be able to help learners of all ages and walks of life to become better learners and problems solvers. One way is through the educational resource framework I've talked about, which interestingly matches well with this essay by Stephen Downes titled "Models for Sustainable Educational Resources". Another is the creation of small, local groups using the twelve points in learning, but non-class, activities, though possibly school related.

This is related to my repeated applications to The Mind Trust's Educational Entrepreneur Fellowship. Right now I'm waiting for a response to my latest application attempt, which includes the use of the book project discussed above. While I wait, I figure it's a good time to share the content and to get feedback on it.

If you are interested in the book project, there are a couple ways to show your interest. One is telling me in the comments here. Another is going to the Legacy Of Lore blog and using either the comments or contact form there. A third way is to sign up for the book interest e-mail list. For that, check out the little sign up thing below. Just to let you know, it will send you to the book project post on the LOL project blog after signing up.



Have fun, spread the word and tell me what you think,
Igen Oukan
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Sharing the LOL Project

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The Cost of the Freedom to Choose

In game design and education, there are discussions about how much freedom to give the user/player/student. Here's the catch I don't see represented in the discussions, if we don't govern ourselves, others have to for the sake of the group and organization of the whole. The phrase that comes to mind is "With great power comes great responsibility." Freedom is the power to choose and act, and so I think there is a responsibility in making any choice. That's the cost, but there is more to this than just a cost.

Leadership is a direct result of giving away responsibility. The question is, how much responsibility do you retain? Blindly following is taking no responsibility for your actions and choices. If you listen, ask questions, think about what you hear and make a choice, you keep most of the responsibility of the choice. When a group gives a person, or group, authority they are giving responsibility to make choices and take actions. In this way a good leader is a servant to those who have given them responsibility. This is also the value of a follower, especially those who keep reevaluating the worthiness of the leader and continue to follow them.

I know this may seem a little offensive to some, but most people don't want responsibilities while they want freedoms. It doesn't work. It's the same as wanting to eat your cake and still have a whole cake. A people that want freedom to do whatever they want, but don't responsibly use their freedom will over time make a government become overbearing, ineffective and/or crumble. All that comes from the request to be allowed to do whatever they want, because that requires rules be applied to everybody else, but not that person.

I don't mean to be political so much as observant of the interactions of freedoms and governance. I even have some math to back this up. If there is a group of 6 equally effective people, who spend 50% of their effort improving themselves and 50% hindering others, everybody in that group will have 5 people putting 10% into hindering them, countering the 50% they use to better themselves. Now, that is actually not fully accurate, as having 5 people trying to hinder one person, even with equal effort to improve and hinder the one, the one is out numbered and likely out resourced. That's if we try to hinder each other, but if we unintentionally hinder each other it could be more or less hindering, because we aren't paying attention to it. That's not being considerate of others or acting in a responsible way.

That example put the individual into the negative, but what if those same people tried to help instead of hinder each other? That would be acting in a socially responsible manner. My math says that 50% plus at least 50% is over 100%. So, hypothetically, the group of individuals helping each other makes each individual more effective than an individual on their own.

Yes, I know that who thing is oversimplified, but the point still stands. Networking, word of mouth, social media and other ways of a person using their contacts to help others are being recognized as a big deal, and have been for a long time. What one person can't do with all their might can many times be done with the help of one, two or more people helping with part of their strength.

So, when I look at problems of freedom and governance, I now wonder if maybe it's a matter of people shirking responsibilities. Is it because we don't want to be responsible for our emotional and mental state that we look for disorders, diseases and the medications to counter them? Is it because we want to not have to pay attention to our safety that we seek legal protection from our own stupidity?

Have fun, spread the word and tell me what you think,
Igen Oukan
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The Cost of the Freedom to Choose

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