To move GBL we must critque GBL

Thanks to Tony Forster for this paper. The big point for me is the one about being interdisciplinary. Games, like stories are not confined to just one “class”. I was talking this morning with a EDIT prof and saying that Digital Storytelling is taking off pretty good at the university, and hopefully some of the non traditional storytelling courses will pick it up. He asked which and I told him that Math would be one of the great ones. Giving me a puzzled look, I told him that there are so many interesting stories about how and why different math concepts came about (eg A Brilliant Mind) that students could try to explore and truly understand. But the problem is that because of standardized tests in Grade 12, this is likely not going to happen in Alberta. Teachers will say that they have enough to cover as it is, and will look at this creative endeavour as an “extra” – though I remember my Math 30 teacher giving an assignment that had us make a poster about some manner of applied math – I did mine on the Stealth Fighter and Angles of Refraction. So there is hope out there, but without a bigger inter-d approach to school, we won’t get anywhere because people like to feel safe inside their silos.