Evolution does not have a place for insertions of “found” DNA for the adaptation of species. Evolution is a completely, totally random process. The selection of DNA that is “found” in order to elicit a particular trait smacks of creative design.

“I do think there’s an opportunity here for a great discussion about the kinds of choices that the creatures make during the game, and how this affects the planet they live in and the kind of life they have” – living organisms DO NOT make choices!

Either they’re successful or they’re not. And any teacher who believes that his or her students will learn about evolution by playing spore will not be successful.

What has been most important is that I have spent numerous hours sitting with him, asking questions, and giving input. My son is eager to tell me about the latest updates and quests, and is just as eager to respond to my questions meant to engage critical thinking about the game and how it might apply to a situation in real life.

You point out a problem with simulations and computer games as “learning tools.”

History and even physics are routinely manipulated to make gameplay better. If your army has nuclear weapons, then my slingshots will be a drag. Not only is time “tweaked” but laws of motion and historical accuracy are often sacrificed in order to make the game more fun.

Due to a prioritization on the fun of the game, the overall accuracy and scale is sometimes lost to the users. Both spore and civilization may leave users with a poor concept for the passage of time- but they may not have had one anyway.

So in trying to use similar technologies to teach – are we ok distorting things, or leaving parts out to make it more fun?

Anyway, about Spore. I’m very impressed with how much is conveyed, though subtly, about our societal norms (ie, you can succeed in life by either compromising, dominating, or converting). Now, those are lessons that might be lost on the random teenage kid playing the game; but, they are values that can easily be pulled to the front by any parent who is more aware of videogames’ potential to be a tool, not a barbiturate.

Sometimes it’s with technology, sometimes it’s not. Instead of trying to say, “Hmmm, everyone else is using GoogleEarth, so I should, too,” you need to say, “Hmmm, they’re not understanding the relation between the UK and the colonies during the Revolution. I wonder if there exist markers in GoogleEarth that will better help them master that standard.”

It’s nice to see I’m not the only teacher who doesn’t try to cram every new Web 2.0 resource they see at a conference into the classroom. Some of them have their merits (in fact, most do), but those merits aren’t — and shouldn’t be — known until you ask the most important question: “How can I close the achievement gap?”

There are lots of decisions regarding tribal and global interactions, for example. As a social studies curriculum guy, my mind went to the indicators and benchmarks and began to think of ways to use the tool. I appreciate Ryan’s comments about not trying to “fit” cool tools into the classroom. But I believe that by using epistemic games like Spore, simulating real life decisions in ways that engage kids, can be a great teaching strategy.

For instance, Will decided to be a herbivore, which means it’s easier for him to find sustenance (he doesn’t have to kill any creatures to eat, there is an abundant source of food all over the planet). If you decide to be a carnivore, then you can’t make friends with everyone you meet unless you want to starve. So, I think carnivores in Spore generally end up having fewer friends and being more aggressive(I know because I have tried being both). You can also try being an omnivore, but this will be at the cost of DNA.

Playing the creature phase (there are six phases of the game)of Spore as an omnivore, you find it’s easy to make friends with other creatures (that’s the way it should be – you are not a threat to them, right?) but you will reach the point when you find certain species who are naturally aggressive (usually carnivores) and who will refuse all your efforts to impress them (which you do by dancing, singing, showing off or using your natural charm – probably the most fun part of the game). That’s when you’ll find yourself going back to the Creature Creator and looking at the parts that give you the ability to bite, charge, spit, etc.

Conversely, playing as an aggressive carnivore, you’ll have fun at first wiping out different species (you literally make them extinct from your planet) that you meet, but life is very lonely without friends, and it becomes hard (if not impossible) to progress in the game if you don’t try to make allies. When you do try, if you have so far adopted an aggressive nature, then you will find it very difficult to persuade other species that your intentions are honorable.

I have also noticed that your choices through the game determine the kinds of parts you find (which determine your abilities to sing, bite, dance, charge, etc). At the end of the Creature phase, you have one final chance to fix the way your creature looks (changing the parts, etc) before you move onto the tribal phase.

So, I do think there’s an opportunity here for a great discussion about the kinds of choices that the creatures make during the game, and how this affects the planet they live in and the kind of life they have (is the planet harmonious, where you have lots of friendly neighbours singing and dancing all the time? Or is it a dangerous place, where you have to be always on the lookout where you walk in case you are attacked?

I think ideally, you could only have this discussion after the kids had played the game 5-10 hours or so and were able to have tried different strategies – if your pupils do have access to the game, tell them to experiment with trying to be either totally aggressive or to play the game without killing a creature and see what they say. I’m sure the resulting discussion would be highly educational.

DRM IS only bad for the legit consumer, but if people didn’t steal, we would not have the DRM.

When we complain about DRM we should also complain about the multitudes of pirate thieves in the world. We have DRM BECAUSE of them.

So many posts about, “trying to figure out how to get twitter into the classroom.”

Don’t try to cram every cool new technology into the classroom … it’s bad for our cause!