Week 10: Reflections on MAME

(Whoops! Sorry, meant to post this last week...)

This past Saturday our 638 class helped host the MAME (Michigan Association for Media in Education) conference. The conference had three main presenters, Barry Fishman, Liz Kolb, & Jill & Meggan. While all of the presentations were unique and informative, they all spoke to the idea of using technology to engage students in the learning process.

Professor Fishman presented on his area of research, video games and learning. I've heard a lot of positive comments about his class on the subject, and I was excited for the chance to hear him speak about the topic, albeit in a condensed format. What really struck me was how relevant and well thought-out his presentation was; it seemed clear that there was a lot of solid information for educators. I also appreciated how logical and well-organized Professor Fishman's presentation was--for every recommendation he made, he had some explanation or finding to back it up, especially when he was speaking about "why are games attractive?" His points about motivation were also interesting--if everyone is motivated all the time, how can people be motivated to pursue meaningful work?

Then it was time for Meggan and Jill to present their SCVNGR activity. Overall, I really appreciated the timing and organization of their presentation--after hearing some background on what SCVNGR is, we were able to head to Shapiro to check it out in action. Aside from a few quirky technical glitches (the first iPad doesn't have a camera, so no pictures of the reference desk!), it was fun to complete the individual challenges. I also thought Meggan and Jill did a good job with explaining potential ways of using the application in the classroom.

Finally, Liz Kolb gave a talk (with a lot of interactive activities) on using cell phones for teaching and learning. While I thought her presentation was terrific both in style and content, there was a lot to take in! That said, I think she realizes the information overload, which is why she has more information on all the resources in the slideshow, which can be viewed online at one's convenience. One of the most interesting aspects of using cell phones (as well as other types of technology) in the classroom is the ability to engage students who otherwise might not participate. In this way, I certainly view cell phones as a positive tool for teaching, but I think teachers should be cautious about over-reliance on technology. If it is used as a crutch, then students may miss out on learning actual content for the sake of using fancy new technology. Taken together, the three presentations worked really well as a unit on using technology for its powers of collaboration and creativity in the classroom.