I find this pretty interesting and think it could be applied to not just the class they are talking about here, but to many more. Make education fun and you won't have to force kids to do it. Not only that, they will learn from each other. Make it a game and they will share secrets (i.e. - math formula's, history answers, etc).
Computer science teachers at West Nottinghamshire College were struggling to get their teenage students into literacy and numeracy classes.
So they took apart Atari's popular computer game Neverwinter Nights and rebuilt it with educational challenges the player must meet to progress.
Success rates in key skills at the Mansfield college has trebled to 94%.
Yeah, those numbers sound great, but how did they do it?
"We ripped the game apart and rebuilt it to deliver educational content," he added.
Players are invited to pick a character and go on a quest in which they have to make decisions about what to take and how to progress using mathematics and their literacy skills.
Mr Oldman explained: "For example, before they set off in their galleon they have to fill it with the things they are going to need. This requires them to work out the area of the ship and how much they can manage to bring.
"Some students managed it, others sank on the way and never progressed to the next level.
"They would come knocking on the staff room door and wouldn't let us go until we had taught them how to calculate area."
By getting kids interested. Novel idea there.
Now listen, I don't mean to get off on a rant here (I love stealing Mr. Miller's bit), but damn me if this isn't possible. Would it require our (US) school system to be overhauled? Of course. Is that a good thing? Oh yes. It needs to be ripped apart, just like NWN was. Take it down to the ground and start with one big idea. School needs to be fun. Then, the next idea? It needs to be educational. The third idea? It needs to be equally available for all kids at all ages (i.e. - from grade school through college). If you really want to change our society, fix it as it were, think about the kids. No, no just from the angle of won't someone think about the kids, but also from the angle of, won't someone thing about the US as a whole. We all know what happens to kids that don't get educated. Percentages say they'll be a drag on society in way or another. They'll end on welfare, on drugs, on the street or in jail. None of those are great options and all of them cost us and ignore them.
Want to make it better? Do this. Fucking start caring. That's the one rule. Whatever your reason is, whether it be I don't to pay for people in their later years when they are stuck in welfare or the jail system or be it because you genuinely care about people or because you want our society to flourish, show it by fixing how are kids are raised.
Want to be a parent? You have to take parenting classes. Yeah yeah, government getting involved in such issues has always been a no no, but damn if that's been working. So throw that government doesn't get involved idea out the window. The government needs to watch out for it's people. That includes educating them at all stages.
On to schools. What's wrong with the American school system? What's not wrong. Teachers are underpaid, underfunded and uncared for. Children are forced into environments that bore them silly and supposed to learn there. Their lunches consist of whatever schlock the lowest bidder can provide. And no school has enough funding. Oh, and if you live in the inner city? Your child gets half the funding to go to school. That's a literal statement. Half. That doesn't bother people? Really? Oh,and the curriculum? It's a joke. The history class is full of half truths and out right lies, the social studies the same. The English class doesn't allow kids to read classics because they have been banned and music and art classes? They've been removed in lots of places do to a lack of funding. It's outrageous.
Then take that fixed schooling system and carry it on to Colleges. Want to go to College? Great. Done. That's it, plain and simple. The government wants people to go to college. Why? They are better workers, they fit into society better and they will be less of a drag on society. I can't say I agree with all of those reasons, but from a purely practical standpoint, it's fucking insane to deny people the right to be educated. At any age.
So yeah, Neverwinter Nights type education mentioned above can help a lot, but how is it going to help if kids don't have computers to run NWN on? How is it going to help if they don't have books? Reasonable class sizes? Teachers that want to be there are paid well because of the job they are doing for society overall. It can't.
What Would Matt Do: Damn, I didn't think I was going there with it when I started. But damn if it isn't all true.