OK. So maybe you've never linked those two. But perhaps it's time we all did. In their ground-breaking book, Changing the Game, former Associate Director of the MIT Comparative Media Studies Program, David Edery and co-author Ethan Mollick make some compelling cases for games as a powerful tool for learning.
As a mom of 6, I have spent many hours both teaching and playing with my children (aged 22,17,16,15,14,10) and I have also taught in the traditional classroom environment. It has been confirmed in these situations, over and over again, that the information and learning that is acquired through play is more easily retained and more readily drawn out after the fact. I won't bore you with a detailed treatise on why a well-designed game promotes learning more readily, more thoroughly and more accessibly than a traditional classroom lesson. It suffices to say that motivation, reward, repetition and participation are crucial ingredients.
So, if games are one of the best ways to learn, why are there not more games that teach us the important things in life? Well... the good news is there is a growing movement of game developers and funders out there who are designing and building games that do just that. Witness Games4Change and the now running Games For Change Summit. Some of our best and brightest are creating fun, challenging games that teach us about poverty, world peace, world hunger, human rights, global conflict and many other social issues.
So then... check 'em out. You may just be surprised what you'll learn!
This made me inordinately happy. Funny thing is that it wouldn't have except for all the research the more2girls magazine team did last month for our child slavery edition. Many of us are so completely unaware that much of our sugar, coffee and cocoa is still purchased at a high cost: the continued use of child labourers and slaves.
This cocoa is being sold at Clarke's (2235 Sheppard Avenue East, Toronto, ON):
and this assortment is available (remarkably!) at my local Shoppers Drug Mart at the corner of Huntingwood Avenue & Warden Avenue, Scarborough, ON:
Make wise choices.
How will you celebrate ? If you’re not sure what you can do to get in the spirit, try one of these suggestions offered by Canadian Earth Hour Team.
1. Attend local Earth Hour events or organize one. Add your event or get details on events near you at EarthHourCanada.org.
2. Go outside and look at the stars.
3. Find a great viewing spot to see your town or city go dark at 8:30 p.m.
4. Take pictures and post them to the Earth Hour Facebook page.
5. Go for a lantern walk through a park.
6. Patronize local restaurants and businesses taking part in Earth Hour.
7. Gather your family or friends for a candlelit dinner.
8. Meet your neighbours at a street or block party.
9. Have an acoustic music jam.
10. Talk to your children about how much electricity your family uses. Brainstorm ways to reduce it.
11. Tell ghost stories.
12. Listen to the birds, bats or other wildlife.
13. Play flashlight tag.
14. Turn your thermostat down by 1˚C and leave it there.
15. Play Pictionary with glow-in-the-dark markers.
16. Change all your light bulbs to energy-efficient ones.
17. Have a night game of shinny with a glow-in-the-dark puck or ball (wear reflective vests).
18. Take a walk in the moonlight.
19. Have a candlelit bath.
20. Put a glow stick on your dog’s collar or leash and go for a walk.
21. Toast marshmallows over a tea light candle.
22. Get out your Ouija board.
23. Have a wine- or scotch-tasting in the dark.
24. Get out the sleeping bags and camp out… on the living room floor.
25. Make a list of ways you could reduce your energy consumption every hour of every day.
Source: wwf.ca/earthhour
As we've been putting together content for more2girls magazine, it has become clear that one of the areas of activism that we want to spend time addressing is our role as stewards of this planet we call home. How does that tie into philanthropy, you might ask?
Here are my thoughts:
The environmental and consumer decisions we make each day impact our global environment and global economy. They trigger reactive responses. These responses include the clearing of old growth forests, the use of child labour, and war, among others. Environmental issues are intricately interwoven with all the other issues, be they social or economical. The interconnectedness of our human experience with all life on this planet demands a conscious, engaged, informed approach to living life day-to-day as stewards of our planet. We can no longer afford the "disconnect" between the object we purchase in our hand and the "where and why" it comes from. We must become informed voters before casting our consumer dollars.
For example, one the big factors contributing to the use of non-renewable resources + child slavery is the high consumer demand for impossibly low-cost goods. Yes, the economy is bad and we all want to save a buck, but when we're standing in the queue at the retailers with something in our hand that seems too cheap to be true, we need to start asking ourselves "where did this come from?" and "why is it so cheap?". The answers may cost you a little time and effort and they may cause you to effect change in your buying habits, but that's a pretty painless step towards the making of a better world.
Courtesy: NASA / Goddard Space Flight Center
I am the somewhat zany mom of six really wonderful young people.
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