Portal is Free

[Dastardly]

Saying Portal has educational value in a science class is like saying The Patriot (Mel Gibson movie, American Revolution) has educational value in a history class. Yes, it presents some accurate information and establishes a context through narrative. Yes, if you really try, you can "learn" something from it...

Actually, in High School, we watched The Patriot in history class. Yes, it's not historically accurate, but it got kids interested and that's the most important thing. We also watched Glory and Troy despite how horribly inaccurate they were because, like I said, kids are far more interested when there's a movie involved, especially a violent one. Now if only could have been in the class that showed Alexander, I still haven't seen that...

Get excited in history class isn't the same as getting excited about learning history. That's the crucial difference people aren't seeing here. If I give a kid a candy bar for getting math problems right, that might make him more excited about being in math class... but it's no guarantee he's getting excited about math. Just candy.

Learning can't just be a "possible side effect" of the education process.

 

[jamesbrown]

I guess a little of both. Another teacher I know from a nearby district suggested that if Valve really wanted to push this for education they could release a version specifically FOR education without the plot and occasional blood splatters (blood being the biggest hindrance for administrators; we have to keep things 'school appropriate'). Don't get me wrong, I'm all for games as educational tools but it's just VERY difficult to get administrators to go along with it.

okay so here is how you could use this as an educational tool

for:

Physics
programming
computer skills
psycology <-- Seriously if you teach nearly anything to do with this you could make it work
Human studies
Narrative class
(maybe others)

Skills learned:

Promblem sloving
Timing
Hand-eye coordination
utilizing of tools
(also maybe others)

Simply assign it for homework, and have a paper or worksheet on it.

If you're in high school then you shouldn't worry about "questionable" things, but Elementary and Middle school would be difficult, If I figure out how to do it for Elementary school or Middle school I will post it in a reply

 

[chaosyoshimage]

Saying Portal has educational value in a science class is like saying The Patriot (Mel Gibson movie, American Revolution) has educational value in a history class. Yes, it presents some accurate information and establishes a context through narrative. Yes, if you really try, you can "learn" something from it...

Actually, in High School, we watched The Patriot in history class. Yes, it's not historically accurate, but it got kids interested and that's the most important thing. We also watched Glory and Troy despite how horribly inaccurate they were because, like I said, kids are far more interested when there's a movie involved, especially a violent one. Now if only could have been in the class that showed Alexander, I still haven't seen that...

Get excited in history class isn't the same as getting excited about learning history. That's the crucial difference people aren't seeing here. If I give a kid a candy bar for getting math problems right, that might make him more excited about being in math class... but it's no guarantee he's getting excited about math. Just candy.

Learning can't just be a "possible side effect" of the education process.

Yeah, but people did get excited about learning history. It was like, the expanded universe to the movies or something, lol. I'm not trying to make an argument, just pointing out how it kind of worked for kids at my school.

 

[jamesbrown]

Get excited in history class isn't the same as getting excited about learning history. That's the crucial difference people aren't seeing here. If I give a kid a candy bar for getting math problems right, that might make him more excited about being in math class... but it's no guarantee he's getting excited about math. Just candy.

Learning can't just be a "possible side effect" of the education process.

Why not, education should be wholistic, not memorization. School has become where kids sit at a desk and fill out paper work so that when the next test comes along they instantly forget it after that; why not give them a reason to be interseted and remember that; seriously education is about experiences, any and all experiences welcome; even writing and reading is an expericence, but not the only educational experience.

 

[esperandote]

It says 19.99 for me. Even then i tried to create an account and it says "theres has been an error try again later". Screw it.

 

[brainslurper]

"GUYS!!! Guess what I just did! I release Portal for free AGAIN!!! You know what I didn't do? RELEASED EPISODE 3 HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA HAHA HAHAH AHAH"-Gabe Newell

 

[EternalFacepalm]

I guess a little of both. Another teacher I know from a nearby district suggested that if Valve really wanted to push this for education they could release a version specifically FOR education without the plot and occasional blood splatters (blood being the biggest hindrance for administrators; we have to keep things 'school appropriate'). Don't get me wrong, I'm all for games as educational tools but it's just VERY difficult to get administrators to go along with it.

I'd say they shouldn't remove the plot. Games are great for learning, but they should be doing it slightly subtly: the game's plot can be encouraging to kids, to keep them playing while they're learning. I mean, just because it's educational doesn't mean it can't be fun, right?

OT: I've already recommended this to several friends.
They're all getting Portal 2 now.