Games+Learning+Society 10 Conference

The Power of Context over Content
Todd Wakeman, AJ Webster

The demands of the 21st Century require a different approach from traditional education.  In the current paradigm, content is king.  Educators and parents are often concerned with coverage of specific topics and attempt to measure the understanding of algorithms and the recall of facts. Rather than force-feeding everyone the same content, we should be creating contexts in which students have opportunities to think, practice skills, take risks, and explore. This workshop which will be a combination of presentation, play and discussion, will target how and why we need to shift our focus from delivering content to creating contexts.  We will offer practical advice on implementing this approach in the face of standards-driven school culture.