Place-based Learning

Place-Based Learning

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1Wednesday, March 6, 13

Sometimes being in a certain place at a certain time can provide a HUGE opportunity to learn. I didn’t learn nearly as much about state politics in 4th grade Civics class as I did the past two months.

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engage.wisc.edu

• Ed Tech, C&I, Learning Sciences

• sociocultural

• embodied/experiential

• playful

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ARIS (arisgames.org)2Wednesday, March 6, 13

My education and background steer me towards a hands-on, collaborative philosophy of learning, and I see computers as a great means to that end. My job (as I see it) is to push for the creation of environments and activities tht motivate effective learning — where “learning” includes and encompasses teaching and research.

pedagogy andragogy

IT user

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In these three scales, I’m pretty far on the right side

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Or rather, at the bottom. I feel it’s our duty as educators and technologists to respond to needs that originate from the bottom up, rather than design and parse out content, tools, etc. from the top-down.

the true centre of correlation of the school subjectsis not science, nor literature, nor history, nor geography,

but the child's own social activities.

“My Pedagogic Creed” by John Dewey. School Journal vol. 54 (January 1897), pp. 77-80.


Because we’ve known what motivates people for a long time. But we haven’t been able to do it. When the end of child labor laws landed hundreds of previously-working kids in classrooms with one teacher, the management model was a reasonable coping method. And “school isn’t supposed to be play. It’s supposed to be hard.” (We learn the most by playing, and sometimes play very hard!)


Remember this guy? He had something to say about computers as revolutionary learning tools.


That was Seymour Papert. In the 1980s, he said that computers could revolutionize learning, but not until every learner had one. One computer per classroom was like having one pencil per classroom. How useful would a single pencil, shared among 30 kids be? Would they each learn to use is as naturally as we now do?— how many of you have your own computer?— more than one?— one in your pocket or purse? (If so, please turn off the ringer)


You’re not alone. As our “dumb” phones’ service contracts expire, we replace them with computers that, incidentally, make phone calls. I don't need to tell you that smartphones are amazing. In fact, the "phone" part of them is increasingly less important — how many have smartphones?— does anyone spend more time on it “phoning” than “non-phoning” (texting, Facebook, Twitter, MP3s, web, etc.)?


I use mine to chart my sleep at night. Then at 2:10am, when my dog needs to go out, I (of course) check Facebook and email while I wait for him to come back in. I can share on Facebook, so all my friends can understand why I’m tired and grumpy (yeah, I know, and I never do. But I *could*!)


These are fiercely-personal, incredibly-intimate, always-with-us, hyper-connected, devices. They solve our bar arguments about the dog's name in 'Old Yeller' — we used to spend months on these arguments, now someone pulls out their “phone” and ruins it. Luckily there are plenty of things to argue about.


All of these arguments and conversations happen with others, of course. They’re not designed by a pedagogue for "anytime anyplace" learning. They emerge situationally in the "here and now".

A good learning environment is in many ways the opposite of this Time cover. It’s dirty and there are things — real things— to mess with, and real problems to solve, and real people — people that you care for, if even for a moment — to interact with.

"One sees the environment not just with the eyes,

but with the eyes in the head on the shoulders of a body

that gets about" (Gibson 1979: 222)

Place-Based Learning

with^others


SITUATED EMBODIED LEARNING: So it's not about a creating learning activity to fill a GENERIC time and place, but about creating activities for SPECIFIC times and places — or, and this is my angle — creating activities that put them in specific places and situations and environments where they want to engage in learning activities. That's a different angle, I think, than the angle taken by a lot of folks who look at mobile learning. It's very temporal and geographical.

Spike


(Spike) (Yes, in the movie they referred to him as “Ol’ Yeller” but his real name was Spike. The argument would be stupid if it were only “What did they call Ol’ Yeller in that movie Ol’ Yeller?”


Some of you may have been among the 14,000+ who have read this...


My doctoral research focused on these three, working with Kurt Squire and the Games+Learning+Society research group (you may have read Jim Gee’s book on “What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy” — if you haven’t, please do!)

Noah: “If I lived in the Greenbush and could go back in time, I would try protesting to the city one last time. Or maybe I would even do something heroic like running in front of a bulldozer or chaining myself to my house so they couldn’t destroy my home.”


THE GREENBUSH — In 2005 I worked with some sixth-graders who had, the previous year, studied a neighborhood in Madison, WI that had undergone "urban renewal" in the 1960s — the heart of it was bull-dozed.

They interviewed old residents, became friends with them, and a few of them created "The Greenbush Game" in which you play a young Jewish resident in 1959 who runs around the neighborhood doing errands.

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The neighborhood is gone, but sidewalks remain where streets used to be. So you run errands, and as you walk, the game beeps and you see houses and storefronts on screen, and have conversations with virtual people, and hopefully get them to sign a petition to stop the plan for urban renewal (It’s in Madison, Wisconsin — there must be a protest).

The strength of the activity is not in seeing grainy lo-res pictures on a sun-glared screen, or in having virtual conversations, it’s in actively participating in a story, thereby making that anonymous space a personal place connecting other’s experiences to your own experience (this one!). It's about looking up from the image of a garden in front of a house, and seeing that there's a parking lot there now. What was lost? Was it worth it? Why or why not?

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SavingLake Wingra

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GAMES TO TEACH. For four years after that, I was part of a grant that looked at place-based games for middle school kids. We focused on Science, Scientific Thinking, Civic engagement, reading, and persuasion. "Saving Lake Wingra" was a 10-day curriculum centered on a 2-hour place-based experience on an urban lake, where kids in teams of three (environmental historian, landscape architect, and watershed ecologist) are tasked to study the lake and make a recommendation for its future.

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Wingra Water Trail Features

private wells have lowered the water table aroundlake Wingra by as much as 6 meters. More than30 springs once surrounded the lake, but only eightremain. Uphill from this location is a collection ofeffigy mounds.

The Levee is the result of a failed developmentscheme. Prior to European settlement, Lake Wingragradually drained through Gardner Marsh.Subsequent dredging in the early 1900s by the

Lake Forest Land Company isolated the marshfrom the rest of the lake. Now, turtles nest alongthe shore, and redwing blackbirds are abundant.

Wingra Creek Dam & Portage lie along WingraDrive. Wingra Creek is a drainage ditch running toLake Monona, with flow controlled by the WingraDam. During periods of high water, Lake Mononaand Lake Wingra share the same elevation and the spillway is submerged. See the Yahara HeadwatersTrail marker for information on paddling through the Yahara chain of lakes.

Wingra Park was once the site of the KnickerbockerIce Company (see 1904 map). The park now offersa convenient boat landing, along with a concessionstand and restrooms. Exterior lights on the Wingraboathouse have shields to reduce nighttime glare andlight pollution.

The storm sewer outfall drains acres of uplanddevelopment, bringing sediment and nutrients intothe lake. Observe the delta that is forming at theoutfall. The Lake Wingra watershed community is involved in numerous stormwater management initiatives.

Ho-Nee-Um Pond was dredged from a marshy areaalong Monroe Street in 1940. The pond is fed by springssupplied by an upland groundwater recharge zone. Insummer, carbonates precipitate from this groundwatercreating a milky color in the water. The east end ofthe pond is filling in with sediment from the stormsewer. Look closely and you may see snapping turtles,tiger muskies, wild turkeys, nesting geese and migratingwarblers.

The Wingra Marsh Slough was a pre-settlementmarsh once extending westward across the NakomaGolf Course. Subsequent draining, channeling ofstormwater run-off, and pumping of groundwater forirrigating the golf course have dramatically changedthe character of the marsh. Recently, Sandhill craneshave been nesting in this area.

Big Spring (natural area, no landing allowed) was asource of spring water for the Ho-Chunk, but the flowof the spring is now greatly reduced. Municipal and

otor boat traffic is restricted on Lake Wingra,so enjoy a quiet, wake-free paddling experience.If you’ve never paddled by moonlight, Lake Wingrais the perfect place for a nighttime excursion.Please do not leave your boat at any naturalareas or otherwise disturb plants or wildlife.

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The Mills Lot Landing across from Wingra Driveand just upstream from the bridge is a primitive landingthat provides access to the Gardner Marsh overlook(across from the parking lot). The UW-Arboretumprovides many additional educational resourcesabout Lake Wingra and the surrounding natural areas.

Gardner Marsh (natural area -- no canoeing) ishome to nesting waterfowl and other birds. The areawas once a continuous marsh, but dredging in theearly 1900s caused the open water seen today.

Lake Wingra Facts

Invasive & Exotic Species

• Area: 1.37 Km2 (339 acres) • Watershed 14 Km2 (3,460 acres)• Max Depth 6.7m (22 feet)• Mean Depth 2.7m (8.9 feet)• Max summer temp 26.5˚ C (80˚ F)• pH 7.0 - 9.4• Phosphorus .033 ppm• Chloride 75-100 ppm

• Purple Loosestrife• Eurasian Milfoil• Reed Canary Grass• Zebra Mussel

• Common Carp• Tiger Muskie• Watercress

(Zebra mussels are already found in nearby lakes.Will they be invading Lake Wingra soon?)

Base map courtesyof the University ofWisconsin–MadisonArboretum

Graphics design/production by Brooke Wentland, UW-Extension EnvironmentalResources Center. Photos by Jeffrey Strobel and Brooke Wentland.

• Different NPCs will talk to you, depending on what role you are playing. Pass the PDA to the appropriate player.

• Try to figure out their points of view, the agenda that they're pushing, and why.

• Look for evidence (that they give, and in your own observations) to support or refute their claims.

• Use that evidence later (in a few days) when you make your own claims.

• They all have opinions (some more than one), and will try to persuade you.

Pete JuliaLatayaMontgomery19Wednesday, March 6, 13

As they move through the area, players meet up with all sorts of virtual stake-holders — a jogger, a condo developer, picnickers, an anthropologist, people fishing, people removing invasive species, a surly old man on a "pleasure drive" — each with their own opinion and each making a case for their agenda for the lake. The kids observe, take notes, and go back to their classroom and research based on that very experiential, situated experience.

The Mystery Trip


MYSTERY TRIP. Additionally, for the past 17 years I've helped run a deep woods camp in Maine. For my dissertation, in 2006 I had a group 11-13 year-old campers write a loose narrative to structure a 4-day trip in the woods and mountains surrounding the camp. For the next 3 years campers “played” that narrative for that trip.

Trip Goals1. Fill four day trip

(Tue 9am - Fri 2pm)

2. Camp at different site each night

3. Explore as much land/diversity as practical

4. Low impact / Stay out of heart of Wildlands (wildlife only)

5. Be Safe

6. Have Funlake

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Basically, it goes like this: campers canoe across the lake, start hiking up a mountain, and as soon as they're far enough out of sight of camp that they can't really know better, the "communicator" that I gave them starts buzzing...

Photo by 2008 Mystery Trip Group

You left camp about an hour ago. The hike is going well. You feel a buzzing in your backpack. You take out your Communicator, and read a message from the Assistant Director...

After you left, camp was overrun by men in green.

We tried to fend them off.

There were five of them on Noah at one time, and Addie took out eight or so, but the sheer numbers overcame us.

It’s John. His face is scratched and bloody, battered and bruised.

I’m not sure why they attacked. Head up Great Pond Mountain. I’ll try to communicate with you there. Stay out of sight, and off the open faces — and don’t take the main trails; I think they’re monitoring them.

Go! and be careful!

It’s John. His face is scratched and bloody, battered and bruised.

They’re setting up some kind of base station here. There’s all sorts of radio gear.

If you can get to one of the nearby peaks, you might be able to intercept a transmission with your Communicator.

John Martin, looking really really tired.


and I tell them how camp's been invaded, and I escaped after a struggle, and I'm not sure what's happening, and they should consider staying off the main trails because the invaders are coming after them too!

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1. Camp is under attack!

2. Stay off trails!

3. What we know...

4. Camp here.Enemy is transmitting. Capture signal.

5. Signal garbled. Must triangulate.

6. Camp here. Get signal.

7. Get signal.

8. Will decode.

9. Camp here.Decoded!

10.Avoid snipers! (s)

11.Get stashed canoes. Head to middle of lake.

12.Transmit anti-signal.

13.Mission accomplished!

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And what is a simple 13-page story turns into an epic adventure because they’re given 16-square miles of unstructured space to “fill-in-the-blanks”


JB15: You think that you don't want to go on the trails because the other camp would be there waiting for you...

narrative motivated bushwhacking


So for 4 days they do essentially the same hike that we've sent boys out on since 1921 — but now they're invested in a story!

And because they're playing this "behind enemy lines" type role, they don't just follow the trail mindlessly talking about girls and baseball until they come to a junction.


greater understanding of place

JB16: I learned that trees aren't actually that spread out; they're a lot closer together [logged and replanted years ago]; and there are a lot more animals out and stuff. We saw a porcupine climbing a tree on GPM.


But instead every step becomes a decision between thorns (raspberries!) or hornets or swamps or cliffs or mosquitoes or sun or shade or vistas (lookouts!) or cover or anice place to stop and have their PB&J lunch.

And they pull the map out, and learn to use a compass and landmarks, and debate about directions, and help each other over logs, and do all the things that we dream of teaching them!


ZM4: There was some hard bushwhacking, which I thought was kind of fun actually [because of] the fact that you're the first person who's ever traveled along these paths. And jumping from rock to rock at times ... I'm like "Whoa! Don't fall down that" Of course Jake was really tired and was following me, and I didn't want him to fall in it.

greater understanding of self


Not because WE are teaching them, but because we put them in a story that motivates them to venture off the beaten path, take smart risks, and work together.


AW13: On a regular trip you just want to get to the next campsite, but on this you have to get to this mountain to stop the radio signals then you have to go to this one and that one. ... so you could finish the game and see what happens next.

unfolding narrative intensified experience


And eventually they finish the story, save camp, and are welcomed as heroes!

Map of Area

Event

Guiding Problem

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Event Event Event

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Make Your Own!


STRUCTURED DISCUSSION: In the program, I threatened that this would be a structured discussion, so I’m about to discuss the latest mobile learning project I’m involved in, ARIS. And while I talk about ARIS, you think of a place-based story. Use this template as a starting point. Here are a few ideas....

State Street Design


Map out cool places along a street

surveillance


Be subversive. My colleague, Jim Mathews’, high school students figured out how to get across their HS grounds without triggering any surveillance cameras.


Map out local graffiti

parking32Wednesday, March 6, 13

Direct people to the best free parking spaces (except your secret spot)


Find cheap food


or places to do forbidden things


Document how a neighborhood is changing


Make a mobile suggestion box to report problems and ideas, and email Facilities & Planning and building manager with the specific location of the problem (burned out lights, icy sidewalks, vandalism, etc.)

Ok. Keep thinking while I talk about the cool project I’m involved in now...

• Open Source

• Server-based

• iOS (via App Store)

• Narrative-centered

• Create, pickup, drop items

• Uses A/V capabilities

• GPS + QR Codes

• Add modules - e.g., bird call, field guide, Bike Box

arisgames.org

Go there now!


ARIS: David Gagnon is a whiz kid programmer and colleague, who, in 2008, saw the work we were doing for place-based games using the MIT Outdoor Augmented Reality platform (now called MITAR), and he made an iPhone app as a class project. I jumped on the team and we’ve been developing it since.


It is open source and free. It is robust, solid, and has a pretty slick drag-and-drop editor (seen in this slide).We would love to grow the community of users and developers, so please join us in developing on it!And if you know a smart Android developer, we'd love to see it ported.

Henry Mall

History


The example from the previous screen is a recent example of a project to highlight the range of amazing science done at UW-Madison over the years...

Strange force field of some

kindwhy am I here?

and half invisible?

knockout mice developed here. And escaped!! Collect

them all!

preventing SCID (boy in bubble

diesae)

squeak!

squeak!

but how do we catch the

poop?!

hid answer in the bushes.

show ya later

I’m a feces bucket!

Ate something wrong. Gotta

poop.

I’m a magical time

talisman!

Got varmit

problems?

squeak!

There are mice all over my cenotaph!


To tie it all together, we wrote a highly fictionalized “get the ghost from the past back home” story that highlights a lot of the fun and quirky bits. Here’s an overview of some of the “events” and characters involved.

ROBOTS!


Another example of a game that simply gets people to move through an environment is “Robots!”


There are no big learning goals in this “getting warmer; getting colder” game to find these road-striping robot stickers in Madison streets. It just gets players to be more aware their environment. (UPDATE: I saw one in Chicago too! They’re part of an art project called “Stickman” and they’re in cities all over the world!!! Google it!)

Dow Day!


Our most developed experience is “Dow Day” — based on riots that occured in 1967, when students at UW-Madison who were protesting the Vietnam war found out that Dow Chemical, makers of napalm, were recruiting on campus.


The player takes on the role of a student newspaper reporter whose job is to cover the riots.


He gets the assignment from his editor,


Interviews different folks (legislator, recruiter, protesters, police, etc.) to get their perspectives,


Moves through the actual place that the riots took place in,


And compare now to images and media from the actual event.


It’s a powerful portal to a place


where, 40-some years ago, protesters were beaten and arrested.

Mentira


MENTIRA. At the University of New Mexicon in Albequerque, Julie Sykes and Chris Holden created a hybrid approach (virtual and real) for teaching Spanish, through a Situated Soap Opera that brings the students into local communities to learn the language.


an amazing story unfolds!


There’s a group of developers in Spain doing some cool stuff around a huge complex. It’s called Birdmovil, and they’ve got film clips from activities in tha past ...


as well as contemporary photographs. It looks like a cool place, though I haven’t been there yet.

Middleton History


Jim Mathews created a Fictionalized Historical Inquiry for the town in which he teaches high school.



It includes shady characters who share secret maps and portals to past,


And a clock tower — er, portal— from 1856, with a secret code


that when entered into ARIS...


sends you back in time,


where things are the same, but also a bit different...



And you need to make your way through the new environment with what you have.





Have 10 Cents?and

Answer = Yes

Don’t have 10 Cents?or

Answer = No


in order to figure out what to do next.


And the paper helps you figure our the rest of the game, (right)?

So that’s the gamey/toury side of ARIS. There’s another side as well.

WeBIRD (Field Tool)


We’re also working on specialized Data Collection tools, based on ARIS, such as WeBIRD, which records birdsongs, analyzes the spectrogram (Mark Berres’ algorithm), identifies birds, gives you more info on the birds, and documents your sighting of the bird on Cornell’s National eBird database.

We can do this for invasive species as well, with a module developed for plant identification.

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Oh, and it all exports to Google Maps and Earth, so you can have a bunch of students do their own thing, and come back to the classroom and see and discuss the collective results.

Cravens


If you don’t have iPhones or iPads with 3G, you can create iPod Touch experiences anywhere with wifi covereage. The mapping feature helps create what I call “Inside-Out” place-based activities. Simply scan a code associated with an object (in this example, a doll from Cameroon), and get transported (to Cameroon) via Google Earth or Google Maps. With Google Maps, you can do more research later, and share what you’ve done with the rest of class.

glsconference.org

ARIS Mobile Game Jam APRIL 18-20, 2011

(Open to anyone, anywhere! Email for info!)

engage.wisc.edu

Place-Based [email protected]


So if I got my timing close, we should have a lot of time left to bring this all back to you! What have you got for me? We’re looking for ideas, fresh perspectives, challenges, and those “have you ever thought of?...” questions and comments.

Check us out at arisgames.orgGet our free ARIS app from the iTunes App Store!Email me at [email protected]

Thanks!!

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