Immersive Education Summit 2010: Post-Event Impressions

I just returned from the 2010 Immersive Education Summit that took place at Boston College.  I made the following presentation at the event:

Video Games & Education: Building A Sustainable Innovation Ecosystem

It was a very unconventional presentation to an audience that is looking at immersive learning in a fundamentally different way.  While I enjoyed meeting the organizers and am very supportive of what they are trying to do, the problem is based on the following elements:

1. They are working with purely open-source technology that will be free to K-12 educators, and there is far more potential from the current and future slate of game-based learning products if we could just align incentives appropriately in the K-12 system.
2. Virtual worlds, while immersive, do not contain the definted "objectives" that are typical of online games and massively multiplayer online games.  STudents can have the freedom they deserve but also be better "controlled" if the learning product is more indicative of a game.
3. The problem with immersive education is the same problem that all game-based learning products currently face:  a severe lack of financial, government and people support.  The system is failing this very talented and passionate community.

It was painful and heartwrenching to speak with a couple of K-12 educators who are not failing the students, but rather the system failing them.  For example, I spoke to a very, very passionate educator who oversees a small elementary school in Colorado.  Her school is 70% Latino, and 47% of her students are on the Free Lunch Program.  And would you believe that due to the ridiculous policies of her state, that she does NOT qualify for Title I funds!  It blows my mind.  And I'm sure there are thousands of stories just like hers around the United States.

I saw a glimpse at the future, and it didn't come from the United States.  What if I told you that world's leading K-12 education system, Finland, is NOT resting on its laurels.  They shared a prototype of a new school, a "Future School of Finland," which again convinced me how far behind we risk falling if we don't find ways to break up the bureaucracy and implement immediate solutions to what ails our country.

Don't you think that THIS is the type of learning environment best suited for our children? Wouldn't this be an intrinsically motivating environment that would allow our kids to be better prepared for a digitally-driven work environment? Wouldn't this environment nurture the creativity and excellence that every human being posseses, but is beat out of them after completing their educational career?

One gentleman from Australia claimed that the type of products I highlighted were not examples of disruptive innovation.  The fact that he made that comment to me indicates that they are.  The problem with the current generation of game-based learning products is that they are not being deployed disruptively.  In my remarks, where I source a number of very talented thought leaders, such as Michael Porter and the Innosight Institute, I try and show a path to successfully implementing game-based learning.

It requires multiple revenue streams, and it requires courage:  the courage to not go at the establishment head-on.  In my opening remarks, I told a story.  Do lifeguards immediately jump in and save the drowning victim?  Hell no!  That's the LAST thing they are trained to do, because they risk drowning right with the victim.  We cannot immediately jump in and save the education system.  We must try other things first.  And rather than expecting the system to change from within, the government should be creating the conditions for creating an innovation ecosystem and use collaboration to reinvent education in America.

I'm in the middle of reading Seth Godin's latest masterpiece, Linchpin. I found these interviews he gave in March to be quite applicable to education as well.

"The tragedy is that society (your school, your boss, your government, your family) keeps drumming the genius part out. The problem is that our culture has engaged in a Faustian bargain, in which we trade our genius and artistry for apparent stability."
— Seth Godin (Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?)

Our system is broken.  We must take a good look at our current situation and realize that we did not get there overnight.  It will take decades to systemically change the education system.  We need thought leaders from outside the system to show the educators the way, to work with them, learn from them and we need to look at how countries like South Korea, finland and Singapore are making huge strides in this area.  We need teachers unions to focus on interests, not positions, so that true "win-win" solutions can be forged.  

We have to recapture our innovative spirit and the dynamism the made America the place that everyone once wanted to visit and eventually live. 

We can do this, but we need the right plan.  We need the right conditions, and we need everyone to get on the same page.  And we need to do this NOW.  We cannot afford to continue to haggle and delay.  Who's with me?

Comments

[CewDeattInsen]

My friend emailed me about this, thanks great, I didnt even thought that it could be like written here ... I am serfing from my mobile phone, may be u ll make mobile version of your site ? Good post ...

[Al Meyers]

Thank you for your comment, and I'm glad that you found the post of interest. Perhaps I'll be able to cost-effectively add a mobile version of the site in the future, since I'm quite aware that many people share your interest in being able to access content on any device, especially mobile. Again, thank you.

Al