Learning the Basics from my kids

As I sat around the past week or so and watched my kids surf the net, IM friends, play endless songs on Guitar Hero, and even play the occasional game of ping pong, it's always nice to get the reminder of what works and why, in the field of ed technology. The games and tools that inspire and capture the imagination and interest of our children all have at their core something that is motivational. In many cases, intrinsically motivational. I'm reminded of my graduate school days at Syracuse University, learning about the design of instruction, and the concepts related to good design. One of the often overlooked areas of design and one of the more basic models is that of John Keller, and his ARCS Model. It's the simplicity and logic behind the model that make it hard to argue with and incredibly valuable.

Keller believed that good instruction should be motivational, and that the key concepts for his motivational theory involved gaining attention, making the learning relevant, building confidence in the learner/user, and finally, the satisfaction or reward the learner gets from the experience. Think about any of the tools that our children use, such as IM, or Guitar Hero, and you'll find all of the ARCS elements neatly folded into the applications. We don't have to make learning or the design of learning more difficult, we need to make it more relevant, practical, useful, and satisfying. Then, we're on the right track.