Books (and videos and lectures) sometimes work anyway, but because the learner's doing the heavy lifting—making connections, posing & answering questions, etc
In apprenticeships and great classrooms, the new theory (constructivism) operates: teachers foster active assimilation.
Conversation
But what's the equivalent of a "book" which was composed using an effective theory of how its reader will learn? We don't know.
It's a rock and a hard place: we know the old theory's wrong; we don't know how to make media which operate under our new theories.
Exciting times.
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Is that a future for AR/VR? Ability to create any environment, interact, start/stop, and use data to gauge learning progress.
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I don’t think the rendering modality is the high order bit. To believe that, I’d need a persuasive theory of why 2D dynamic platforms can‘t produce the media we desire, and I havent heard one.
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I'm not a VR hype fanboi, but I think sticking to 2D really does limit our conception of how learning is a full-time sensor, playful, interactive experience. Agree that "rendering" as such isn't a high order bit; but it's hard to explore new interactive, engaging media in just 2D
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The downside limitations of text and 2d presentation (and information architectures that assume linear flow) vary for different subjects, but almost universally, the inability to "jump" or "zoom" across references in a way that preserves context is very limiting.
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Agree with this. Reality is multi-dimensional and multi-sensory. Closest I’ve seen in video form is a “choose your own adventure.” Get the wrong answer and it explains why. Get the right one and it moves on to the next concept. Hard to do for more complex subjects though.
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I just started my 8 yr old on Warcraft last weekend (mostly b/c I got tired of him droning on about Minecraft). It's been fascinating to see how useful and generalizable some of the concepts from an RPG are to real life: aggro, quantification of skills, productivity, etc.
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The idea of "dinging" levels to unlock new capabilities, of not wasting your time on low-level things, etc... It seems that a sufficiently large & textured Finite Game, despite limitations & clearly gameable mechanics, is a useful bootstrap for teaching Infinite Game concepts.
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A hidden insight for me was the importance of the myth & story to sustain interest and generate *meaning* in the labor of doing quests, killing mobs, grinding levels. Myth - or the potential for stories - is a crucial user interface for creating meaning.
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Yes! Kieran Egan plays out that observation in The Educated Mind—you might enjoy.