Modelling and reality. Picture from www.pixabay.com CC0
Writers and teachers have at least one thing in common: the injunction to show rather than tell. In my experience of teaching, nowhere is this advice more appropriate than in relating to information sources. Kids tend to think that if a computer says it, it must be true, ditto if it appears in a textbook. In the December 2015 edition of my newsletter, Digital Educaiton, I cited an Ofcom report which stated that:
Compared to 2014, there have been increases in the numbers of 8-11s and 12-15s who visit news websites or apps and who answer that all the information on these sites is true.
Before becoming an ICT and Computing teacher, I taught Economics. As part of the course I used a computer simulation called Running the British Economy, which I sort of changed to Ruining the British Economy. The aim of the simulation, as envisaged by its creators, was to create a situation in which the economy was running really well. Based on the Treasury economic model, it was ideal for showing in real time the effects of pursuing various macroeconomic policies.
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cross-posted at www.ictineducation.org
Terry Freedman is an independent educational ICT consultant with over 35 years of experience in education. He publishes the ICT in Education website and the newsletter “Digital Education."
