What I Learned from Oregon Trail
March 8th, 2007 by DC
As a relative rookie to the e-Learning scene (about a year and a half professionally with a small amount of research done in college), and trying to write my first post on the subject, I was struggling for a topic. Maybe this is a sign that I should keep this blog about Flash and leave it at that. Pushing forward, I thought back to my first experiences with e-Learning… Math Blasters back in 4th grade… sitting infront of a tiny 8 color computer screen, trying to click (blast) the correct number to simple math equations. It was always a treat to get to use the computer lab.
A more prominent memory of e-Learning has to be the ever popular Oregon Trail. While the game was fun, I question its actual effectiveness as a learning tool. Here is what I learned from Oregon Trail.
- Buffalo are fun to shoot , and in the true spirit of the American West, they are even more fun to shoot in excess. “You have shot 3,000 pounds of Buffalo meat. You can carry 150 pounds.”
- Dysentery is deadly. I never learned what this was from playing (it happens to be diarrhea) but just knew that poor little Jimmy often died of it.
- If you’re traveling to Oregon, be a doctor or a lawyer because you’ll be rich! Did anyone ever pick the farmer or school teacher? (It should be noted that being a doctor did not help with poor Jimmy’s dysentery)
- Never ford a river. Lets just face it… fording a river is a bad idea!
So did I learn anything useful from Oregon Trail? Perhaps the most important thing I learned was everything leading up to the actual game. The teachers didn’t use Oregon Trail as a learning tool in its self, but as a motivation tool for other learning! We were eager to complete our work and do well on tests if the reward meant extra time to play Oregon Trail. Grades were obviously important to students, but I feel they can be a negative reinforcer because students are all too often punished for having bad grades, and not rewarded enough for getting good grades. Using a computer game as a reward was a positive reinforcer to learn the objectives of the day.
Hi DC!
What a great first elearning post. I’m too old to have used Oregan Trail in school but I’ve heard much about it. I know what you mean about grades though. I now have 3 kids in school and their grades don’t mean diddly to me. Actually, I’m discovering that the grades are telling me more about how crappy the teachers are than how my kids are doing. I’m very involved with my kids so I have a pretty good idea where their strengths and weaknesses are.
The great teachers do too, but the bad ones are clueless and could care less.
One thing I’m learning from more experienced parents is that the new secret weapon of getting into great colleges is being home-schooled. Sorry to rant in your comments.
Welcome to the elearning blogosphere.
Cheers!
Thanks Brent! I’ll try to keep the posts coming.
I don’t entirely think grades are bad, but they certainly have their problems. Another big issue with grades (and perhaps worthy of an entire post) is inconsistency among teachers. Some teachers feel that C should be an average grade, and if everyone is getting A’s, then everyone *should* be getting a C. This inconstency leads to big problems when trying to use one’s GPA to get into college or other grade dependent activities.
As for the homeschooling, I personally had never heard if it helps or hinders getting into college. I know Saint Johns took standardized tests like the ACT seriously, as well as GPA.
Thanks for the comment, Brent, and feel free to rant anytime :)