I was looking at a “Top Ten Best of” list today. There are dozens, if not hundreds of these. It’s rarely made clear why or how the people posting these lists are qualified to judge, nor is it usually explained how they came to the conclusions they did, but I’ll leave that for another rant.
Most of the lists I come across are extremely US-centric. Most do not acknowledge the very legitimate concern of many non-American educators about leaving their data in an American cloud, but that’s for another rant too.
Today’s rant is about this:
This came up as one of the top educational apps on the list I was looking at. I’m quite familiar with this app as I examined it quite carefully when I was doing my dissertation (2003-2008).
To be fair, there are some very good things about it:
- It is visually very, very good (but, see my Decorative Media Principle, here, here, and here. I’ve also got a few publications on this notion).
- It is accurate. Can’t fault it there. They did their homework.
- The software works as designed and is robust. Again – kudos!
- They promote humane treatment of animals and this app certainly provides a viable alternative to killing and cutting up real frogs. RL still beats virtual dissection, but I really don’t believe it is necessary for everyone in a class to kill a frog in order for them to get the RL experience.
BUT, and here’s where we part ways…….
IT IS NOT FUN.
When I evaluate educational software and apps, I try and look at it from the kid’s perspective. You know those pins you use to hold your specimen down on the board? First thing I tried was to stab the frog in the chin – I couldn’t. This was not an option. Then I tried pinning it down by the elbows and knees instead of the feet. Again – not allowed. It didn’t even tell me I’d done it wrong – it just didn’t work. Now, I love animals – really I do, but this is a VIRTUAL frog – I CAN’T HURT IT. Why shouldn’t I be able to EXPERIMENT? That’s what scientists do after all, right? You can not tell me that real scientists don’t have some goofy fun with their specimens from time to time?
OK, moving on. I acquiesce, and put the pins exactly where I know they want me to put them (boring…), and move on.
Next: I pick up the scalpel. Guess what? I HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO CUT EXACTLY ALONG THE DOTTED LINES ON THE FROG’S BELLY. This is NOT interactivity – this is me using my mouse (or finger, if you have the mobile app) to advance a linear video. Again, I am given no option but to do it exactly the way they want.
How dare you call yourself “interactive”, when the only thing I get to do is exactly what you tell me to do. How is that better than clicking the button on the slide projector?
Interactivity is about CHOICE. I should get to “be bad” – who am I hurting if I cut off the frog’s leg? Why can’t I play Dr. Frankenstein and switch the heart and brain?
I’ll tell you why: far too many teachers and administrators have bought into the myth that education and fun are at opposite ends of a continuum. Education can’t be fun or it’s not real. Kids having too much fun aren’t learning.
No wonder so many kids STILL hate school.
Virtual Frog Dissection | Educational App – iPad Mac Desktop Whitebroad & Intel AppUp.
