Comments for some things right

Comment on Beyond E-waste: A Manifesto For Reprogrammability by David Bley (@davbbley)

David Bley (@davbbley) — Sat, 08 Dec 2012 16:39:54 +0000

I was fortunate as a kid, in that, when something had reached the end of its lifetime, products were simple enough that they could be repurposed as the IP was open for those with eyes to see. If there was a vacuum tube, I had a databook to see what the basing (pinout) was. I learned much from figuring out how an existing device worked and seeing if I could change it to do something else. Would that we could do that with all the little black boxes on PCB’s now. Many of them are manufactured by one company and private labeled by another with the software or pinout not available. Wish I could get in and modify source code to see what I could make it do.

Many of our devices don’t actually break or wear out. They just become obsolete as we purchase new technology.

Comment on Notes to New Tinkerer by Tinkering School | PlayfulLeeds

Tinkering School | PlayfulLeeds — Fri, 06 Jul 2012 13:38:25 +0000

[...] love the learning philosphy of Tinkering School too – open-ended, self-directed, engagement-based. That’s kind of how we like to do [...]

Comment on About by Gabriela

Gabriela — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 23:01:55 +0000

I am absolutely mermerized by the work you guys do at Tinkering. I am in tears of laughter and joy after watching that roller coaster video built by 7 years old! Makes me feel hopefull seeing people doing great things for education and giving knowledge! I live in Venezuela and we so need to know that great things are happening every where! well done!!!!!

Comment on The Gamification of Everything Might be a Bad Thing by Sharing Sunday #2 « Free Your Parenting

Sharing Sunday #2 « Free Your Parenting — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 09:00:54 +0000

[...] but not least, the inspiring educator, Gever Tulley talks in detail about how The Gamification of Everything Might be a Bad Thing about the use of rewards in education. (OK, this one was 19 June, not 19 July, but I thought it [...]

Comment on Pages by Julie Samrick

Julie Samrick — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 21:11:20 +0000

I enjoyed listening to your interview today on Dr. Laura. I was her Friday interview 2 weeks ago- we discussed my new website kidfocused.com. I would LOVE for you to do a featured post about “50 Dangerous Things” for the site. You’d be great!

Julie

Comment on The Gamification of Everything Might be a Bad Thing by John Conti

John Conti — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 17:53:51 +0000

All important points. For me, the distillation of all this is:

Adult Encouragement => Children feel loved
Children allowed to fail and then learn => Children feel confident
Children earn points for actions => Children learn how to be a player, in a system, a cog…

Lots to ponder.

Thank you!
John

Comment on The Gamification of Everything Might be a Bad Thing by Leigh

Leigh — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 11:34:53 +0000

Seems to me the friction between the skid and the ground was what prevented the land sail vessel from moving. Did anyone try limitted the surface area contacting the ground and perhaps using a low friction surface cover? Nice grassy field instead of bare dirt and gravel couldn’t hurt, either. Just a thought, but it might be worth revisting. Keep up the good work!

Comment on The Gamification of Everything Might be a Bad Thing by Tim Gill

Tim Gill — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 07:56:21 +0000

Agree. Say no to star charts! My friend the UK child psychologist and writer Jennie Lindon has written about where you end up when children are told “If I’m good, they will give me stickers.”

Comment on The Gamification of Everything Might be a Bad Thing by Daniel Bigler

Daniel Bigler — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 15:07:51 +0000

Such a great point to make, Gever. And if one were to look at it in context, this trend toward the simplification of rewards, wrapped up and rejuvenated in the post-Web 2.0 term of “gamification,” has really been around for decades. Really, how are the points given out in an iPhone app that fundamentally different from the gold star stickers stuck on some chart hanging clumsily on the refrigerator door?

It is nice to see that there are game experiences out there, though, that do seem to *Get it* – and, at least thus far, have managed to sidestep simplistic points-based reward systems in favor of more complex and playful game design. Compare Gowalla’s design (which emphasizes curating a digital “passport” or story of your life and travels, and discovering and exploring new places and cities) with Foursquare’s design (a points-based system nominally about retaining “mayorship” of the places you frequent) and I think you get a very good contrast of two wildly alternate takes on “gamification.”

Comment on The Gamification of Everything Might be a Bad Thing by Kevin Makice

Kevin Makice — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 03:29:50 +0000

I’m sure the popular notion of gamification is the gold-star interpretation, but games don’t have to point-based. I think the bigger benefit to games in many contexts, like education or business, is the shift from linear to-do lists into holistic/systemic thinking about things encountered. One of the strongest elements of gaming is the narrative that give the mechanics life. I love the notion of businesses having DMs, not PMs.