The first thing that really caught my attention was the video of his son as he was learning to go down stairs.  Michael had taken video, after video, of this learning process. As the video played in the background he noted that as children we think we should be able to do something so we just keep trying, failing, and trying again until we get it.  We might look to our parents for approval but we’re ok with failing, we just get back up and go at it again, each time learning something new!  It is the intrinsic motivation to be able to do “this thing” that keeps us coming back to it until we can do it and being in the midst of doing it is the best way to learn.  Games offer that same opportunity to learn as we play without fear of failing, to keep trying until we master something, and whether it’s a video game, a board game, or any other kind of game, there’s a natural pull that brings us back until we win, or master whatever it is that keeps drawing us back.  I was introduced to these concepts when I first started really thinking about designing learning, but this semester my eyes have been opened to some really neat things.  It’s interesting that although they were really there all the time, it’s something that’s right in front of your face but until someone points it out, it’s not always easy to see.   This story is all about the unconference I was at yesterday, seeing others react to aesthetic learning, and the tie to games and what a valuable tool they are in creating those aesthetic, memorable, experiential, learning environments. I was introduced to thinQstudio through my Digital Storytelling class, part of the INTE program at the University of Colorado Denver.  The thinQstudio is a group of education innovators who get together to look for, brainstorm, share, and encourage others to pull in new concepts in education to push it to a new level. Yesterday I attended the rethinq101 conference, well not really because it was an ‘unconference’.  A space where attendees were asked to suggest and select topics to think about, discuss and brainstorm pieces of the future of education.   To set the tone and get the rolling we started off with a look at the innovative approach the keynote speaker, Michael Wesch, has adopted for the classes he teaches. The story above, of his reflections on watching his son, sparked a change in his approach to teaching.  If you haven’t heard of Michael you really need to look into some of his projects, I’ve left you a list below.  In fact, what he has to say is so inspiring that at least one of the people I spoke to had heard him speak before and shared that he was the reason they had decided to come. Learning in an immersive environment holds so many keys to motivation and engagement.  Given permission to fail is, I believe, the most fertile learning environment that can be found.  As Michael talked a little about learning a new language I smiled and thought back to when I was twelve, in Norway, and going to school there, immersed in a language and culture I knew nothing about. He suggested that we can agree that immersion is the best way to learn a language, just get in and do it.  Yes, it’s an experience, albeit sometimes challenging, but when we keep at it we come out on the other side and success. And for me the end the struggle was totally worth it and I hardly remember the rough days… wait were there any? So why do we struggle with the concept of immersive/experiential learning in other areas? This was actually something I was asking myself just last week when writing for a class. Now that the world is changing, seemingly at the speed of sound, we need to be creating a passion for learning, setting the stage for the expectation of lifelong learning, and finding ways to foster engagement through tapping into student passion while pulling them into new types of learning environments that stretch them and plant the seeds to encourage them to keep coming back, even after they’ve mastered what they initially set out to do. There are so many tools to do this, however we need to disrupt our ways of thinking and start moving in new directions, then watch as the world changes with us.  I know it can be done, we just need a few brave souls to step out lead the charge.  Are you one of them? The unconference, was really about tapping into the things that attendees wanted to discuss, things that are hot topics in education today, things that are on their minds and prime for use in new an novel ways.  Some examples might include:

• Augmented and Virtual Reality
• The Use of Digital Tools
• Student and Instructor Agency
• Mobile Learning
• Where do we start, how do we do this?
• And more…..

At the end a panel was asked where they thought they’d see education in the future?  Personalized learning, where the students drive what they want to learn and how, was mentioned as well as a scenario where robots teach the subject matter to students so academics could get back to what academia really used to be, study, contemplation, research, etc.  Other topics like a switch to no grades to really open up possibility, and finding ways to restructure so the learning was the focus, thereby eliminating questions like “will this be on the test?” Doing this opens the door to create a quest for discovery and knowledge. If you haven’t been to a thinkQstudio event and you’re in the area, you need to check it out!   As Michael put it, he envies what we have here and wants to know where this group is headed, because he wants to head there to!   If you’re ready to change your “classroom” and give students an experience they will always remember, check out some of his projects below and start brainstorming what you might do differently to tap student’s passions and engage them in aesthetic learning. Link’s to some fo Michael Wesch’s work. Baby George A Vision of Students The Sleeper ANTH101.com To Live In This World Marshmallow Wars Building The Troost Wall