Saturday, July 30, 2011

unblock me



Just discovered a new puzzle game: Unblock Me. Combining elements of the Rubik's cube, the 15-game, and puzzles, Unblock Me requires deft spatial awareness, keen executive function, or just plain luck. The goal? Shift a bunch of blocks around so that the target (red) block can escape from the box. Seems like an easy premise but the difficulty level ramps up quickly! Even the game's creator has tagged the game: "Unblock is a puzzle game that makes you think."

I'm playing this game and thinking about my current read, Daniel Pink's Drive. Pink writes about motivation and the human need for mastery, autonomy, and purpose. No rewards await my completion of the puzzle, yet I tackle each level with interest and desire for success. For those levels I finish by simply stumbling upon the solution, I go back and attempt to find the solution, challenging myself to use as few moves as possible.

Who defines mastery here? And what defines mastery? In this case, it's up to me to decide, but far from the picture are the tangible rewards that we offer to students in the classroom each day. Candy, stars, grades all confound the learning process and inhibit the ultimate goal that we, as educators, should have: a love of learning for its own sake. So how do we reintroduce that in the classroom? As someone who works with middle and high school aged students, how do I undo the years of extrinsically motivated education that my students have received?

In terms of this game and my own teaching, what a cool way to engage my students in spatial reasoning and planning. Definitely on the list of games to play this year!