Comments on: What Does the Decline of the Instruction Manual Signify? http://www.explainist.com/2009/08/27/what-does-the-decline-of-the-instruction-manual-mean/ A celebration of explanation Sun, 18 Jul 2010 03:08:39 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Derek http://www.explainist.com/2009/08/27/what-does-the-decline-of-the-instruction-manual-mean/comment-page-1/#comment-4440 Derek Sun, 30 Aug 2009 14:23:40 +0000 http://www.explainist.com/?p=148#comment-4440 I've noticed the same thing with video games. When I was a kid, you had to read the instruction manual in order to know how to play. Now with many games, you just start playing and the game teaches you how to play, whether that's in a tutorial mode or as part of the normal game play (e.g. Super Mario Galaxy on the Wii). As James Paul Gee points out in his book "What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy," the game that teaches players how to play can be a useful model for thinking about teaching K-12 or college students. These games often teach you what you need to know when you need to know it. This scaffolded approach to teaching is generally very effective. Marc Prensky writes about "digital natives" and "digital immigrants." Students these days tend to be digital natives, given how they've grown up with technology. Many teachers tend to be digital immigrants, coming to technology after having learned without it. All that to say, as a college teacher, it's useful for me to remember that my students may be expecting learning experiences more like Super Mario Galaxy and less like an instruction book. I’ve noticed the same thing with video games. When I was a kid, you had to read the instruction manual in order to know how to play. Now with many games, you just start playing and the game teaches you how to play, whether that’s in a tutorial mode or as part of the normal game play (e.g. Super Mario Galaxy on the Wii).

As James Paul Gee points out in his book “What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy,” the game that teaches players how to play can be a useful model for thinking about teaching K-12 or college students. These games often teach you what you need to know when you need to know it. This scaffolded approach to teaching is generally very effective.

Marc Prensky writes about “digital natives” and “digital immigrants.” Students these days tend to be digital natives, given how they’ve grown up with technology. Many teachers tend to be digital immigrants, coming to technology after having learned without it.

All that to say, as a college teacher, it’s useful for me to remember that my students may be expecting learning experiences more like Super Mario Galaxy and less like an instruction book.

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