Can Education Be Fun?

Regarding the departmental review last week that I wrote about, one interesting issue came up for me when one of the faculty we were talking to respond to students with the statement "We are here to educate, not to entertain." Being someone involved in media and education, and looking for new ways in which we can apply interactive media to enlighten people, the statement kind of stood out and stuck with me for a while. Rephrasing, the question then becomes: Can education be entertaining? If so, then how? If not, then why not? Is not the difference between an "entertaining" presentation and an "educational" presentation that one (entertaining) is more engaging? Is it a left-brain right-brain thing? Is it not interesting that emotions and memory are both related to the limbic system of the brain (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limbic_system)? How does this relate to the speaker/media/interactive experience? How does this relate to the “inner-life,” of one’s esteem, one’s relationship with destructive emotions (e.g., fear, hate, anger, etc.)? Does education have to be an unpleasant or even painful experience?

Can we create education experiences that are engaging, inspiring, and “entertaining”?

I remember that throughout my education and well into my professional career there always seemed to be a lot of deadlines and pressures. With curve-based grading, learning became a competition, a “game” and for many that I’ve seen and talked to, the way that they live their lives has become an extension of this game. Looking back on the times that I’ve put myself in a position to be under pressure, it seemed that a lot more effort was spent worrying about the projects than actually working on them. In this context, deadlines are really lessons in staying present. One psyches one’s self up emotionally to build a “charge” and then applies the “charge” in a highly focused and present moment to create. So can we teach people to be present without the emotional trauma and fueling the desires (goal/achievement)? Where do ambition, perseverance, and determination come without goals and achievement?

Conversely, there are many things that I’ve learned and actively continue to learn on my own, without any pressures or deadlines. Even writing this blog is an activity that previously in the context of a class could have been considered a “homework assignment” to be assessed. The Internet today provides access to a wealth of information that facilitates personal research. Even with the Internet, I seem to be buying more books and media these days than before.

One book that I am almost finished reading relates to the topic of this blog entry, A Theory of Fun for Game Design, by Raph Koster (who also has a great website full of articles - http://www.raphkoster.com/gaming/index.shtml). Based upon my understanding of the book, he makes a case that games are ultimately educational. As a codified reality, there is an underlying formal system that players learn about. Because of this (formal system), games will ultimately become boring once players have “Groked” the system. To keep things “fun” involves keeping players in the “flow” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_(psychology)). As one continues to “grok” new systems and experiences, one develops and refines their understanding of the world (I guess this would relate to my understanding of memes (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memes) and “The Borg” from Star Trek) and also looks for new experiences.

By developing and living their beliefs most people tend to make decisions world in a mechanistic manner. The beliefs that one holds have served them well throughout their lives to get them to where they are today (a case can be made that the reason for building beliefs is that once we have something we believe, we don’t have to think about it anymore). Knowing a person’s beliefs thus makes it easier to communicate with them and predict how they will react and respond. Deep emotional attachment to the beliefs can be dangerous http://www.nobeliefs.com/beliefs.htm. Exposure to different perspectives, especially those that contradict existing beliefs, broadens one’s understanding. Is it possible to provide different perspectives that challenge one’s beliefs without creating the emotional damage and scaring that leads to destructive behaviors? Can we live in a way that is always connected, sensitive, and present and use ideas to communicate and build consensus vs. emotionally based beliefs which can be divisive and destructive? How can we create experiences that inspire? As educators, how can we become more inspiring to our students? How would compassion fit into all of this?

Isn’t science and knowledge about being able to inquire into the nature of reality and being able to communicating the experience (in a re-producible manner)?

Phusikoi!!