Game Based Learning Or, That Really Sucked!

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lvjy6xDrVV1qhbqd9o1_500.jpg

This blog entry is late. I admit it. I messed up. I confused the required team submission on Eyewire with this required blog entry. I assumed that in doing that assignment I had also done this one too. I was thinking along the lines of happily having killed two proverbial birds with one proverbial stone. But, alas, I now realize that I was mistaken. Now, this blog entry is late.

Maybe that is a good thing. Having had a few more days to cool down since suffering through the horribly painful and irritating Eyewire experience, maybe I can be a little more level headed in my expression of my feeling.... Nope! I am still not a happy camper. I still want to vent.

With all due respect, what a waste of time that was! I felt like I had become a modern “Huck Finn” tricked by the “Tom Sawyer” scientists into painting the neurons in the so called “game.”

http://mohumanities.org/images/E-News/April06/SawyerFence.jpg

From the perspective of the scientists and, of course, Tom Sawyer, suckering someone else to do your work is a really good idea. However, from the perspective of this “sucker,” it is anything but a good idea. It was a colossal waste of time. 

Turning to its potential application in the classroom, I have to bite my tongue for fear of saying anything too strongly. What I can say is that to educators the idea that we can use this so called game in our classrooms to help enhance the learning potential of our students is very appealing. After all, those of us who teach from our hearts really want to help our students learn. Just the possibility makes this game interesting and intriguing to us. 

Talk about bait and switch! Eyewire should be both the poster child for it and the first description found on the related Wikipedia page. Think about this! How can forcing my photography students to paint neurons for scientists help them learn photography? I have a very creative mind and yet I cannot even begin to fathom an answer to that question.

Now do not get me wrong. I am not saying that games cannot be incorporated into the classroom to help facilitate learning. Clearly they can. And that is the rub! Why did we (my fellow classmates and I) have to waste an hour of our lives "playing" Eyewire? There are any number of games that possess at least a modicum of pedagogical value. Why did we have to be subjected to Eyewire? 

Reflecting upon my last question and hoping to find a way to end this post on a positive note, I began looking for appropriate quotes. I found the following quote by Lucius Annaeus Seneca. “Difficulties strengthen the mind, as labor does the body.” This quote helped take some of the sting out of this assignment and it put my thoughts into a more positive state of mind. Who in graduate school does not want to strengthen their mind, right?

In this happier state of mind I came across the following quote by William Shakespeare from As You Like It. “Sweet are the uses of adversity which, like the toad, ugly and venomous, wears yet a precious jewel in his head.” Through this  horrible assignment I was able to commiserate with my team mates. We all suffered. Through this suffering we found further commonalities and I believe that our friendships grew stronger. Crying was not an option so we laughed at the absurdity of this assignment. It was good to laugh. Our laughter served as a healing ointment on our minds bruised by the time wasted "playing" Eyewire. 

In conclusion, I really did not appreciate the exposure to Eyewire. However, I really do appreciate the way the adversity and absurdity of this experience helped my team become better friends and helped us forge a stronger learning community.