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I don't think the issue is political correctness... I think it is more about creating an inclusive, gender-neutral curriculum that doesn't marginalise girls. I

I don't think the issue is political correctness... I think it is more about creating an inclusive, gender-neutral curriculum that doesn't marginalise girls. I agree that this game looks amazing, but would not be engaging to 100% of students, in the same way that a football game wouldn't be. As for complaints, I think it's important to respect some parents' wishes for their kids not to play games that include killing. Although most parents wouldn't complain.

moonchrome 12y ago
So you're saying it's not about PC and then arguing how it violates political correctness and therefore shouldn't be used ? Something that would get 75% of your students involved sounds like a huge win compared to standard curriculum programs, as soon as a class is required it's going to involve people that have 0 interest in it from start.
- mopedDreams 12y ago
  I didn't say it violates PC, I said it isn't inclusive. And aiming for 75% engagement is an awful teaching strategy. I do however agree that a required class does pose an engagement challenge. Computer Science will be a compulsory subject for UK school kids from September.
patja 12y ago
Spot on. With so many choices out there for ways to introduce coding, I try to pick the ones that can engage everyone. Scratch for example. I teach a lesson on "projectiles" with Scratch where we explore methods of aiming, launching, detecting collisions, scoring, power-ups, shields, etc. The boys all launch right into building SWAT team versus Ninjas shooting games, while the girls build a game about shooting soccer balls at a goal. Same learning happens, but they get to come to it on their own terms rather than a one-size-doesn't-fit-all "plug the orc full of arrows" objective. It is easy to marginalize this as bowing to political correctness. What brings it home for me is the actual classroom experience where you can visibly see a significant portion of the class tune out with the reaction "this is not for me" if you start to focus on shooting, exploding, killing etc. With Scratch I can build lessons around music, art, and storytelling that teach the same programming fundamentals and are much more engaging to the girls who don't play FPS or RPG shoot-em-up games. Those inclined in that direction always find ways to introduce some explosions and blood into their projects, so it is not really at the expense of their experience. I raised these concerns to the CodeCombat team on their forums several months ago when I first looked at their offering. They acknowledged that their platform could be used to design non-violent activities, and maybe they have done so by now. I could see how they could build some resource gathering or other missions that don't require killing.
- sejje 12y ago
  So exactly like "gold rush" then? http://codecombat.com/play/ladder/gold-rush http://codecombat.com/play/ladder/gold-rush

moonchrome 12y ago

So you're saying it's not about PC and then arguing how it violates political correctness and therefore shouldn't be used ? Something that would get 75% of your students involved sounds like a huge win compared to standard curriculum programs, as soon as a class is required it's going to involve people that have 0 interest in it from start.

mopedDreams 12y ago
I didn't say it violates PC, I said it isn't inclusive. And aiming for 75% engagement is an awful teaching strategy. I do however agree that a required class does pose an engagement challenge. Computer Science will be a compulsory subject for UK school kids from September.

patja 12y ago

Spot on. With so many choices out there for ways to introduce coding, I try to pick the ones that can engage everyone. Scratch for example. I teach a lesson on "projectiles" with Scratch where we explore methods of aiming, launching, detecting collisions, scoring, power-ups, shields, etc. The boys all launch right into building SWAT team versus Ninjas shooting games, while the girls build a game about shooting soccer balls at a goal. Same learning happens, but they get to come to it on their own terms rather than a one-size-doesn't-fit-all "plug the orc full of arrows" objective. It is easy to marginalize this as bowing to political correctness. What brings it home for me is the actual classroom experience where you can visibly see a significant portion of the class tune out with the reaction "this is not for me" if you start to focus on shooting, exploding, killing etc. With Scratch I can build lessons around music, art, and storytelling that teach the same programming fundamentals and are much more engaging to the girls who don't play FPS or RPG shoot-em-up games. Those inclined in that direction always find ways to introduce some explosions and blood into their projects, so it is not really at the expense of their experience. I raised these concerns to the CodeCombat team on their forums several months ago when I first looked at their offering. They acknowledged that their platform could be used to design non-violent activities, and maybe they have done so by now. I could see how they could build some resource gathering or other missions that don't require killing.

sejje 12y ago
So exactly like "gold rush" then? http://codecombat.com/play/ladder/gold-rush http://codecombat.com/play/ladder/gold-rush