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from the boys-have-a-Wheatley,-girls-have-a-Cortana dept.
Submitted via IRC for AndyTheAbsurd
Using VR, students can learn about the cells in the human body while “travelling” into the bloodstream, or “explore” the degree of plastic pollution in the oceans. They can also conduct complicated experiments using expensive lab-equipment and dangerous chemicals, just by putting on a pair of VR-goggles that immediately offers very realistic and lively experiences.
[...] But the rapid growth of VR-technology in teaching is a new and relatively un-tested field, and at the University of Copenhagen Associate Professor in Psychology Guido Makransky investigates how, why, and in what settings VR-learning provides an advantage over traditional methods and media, so society´s investments in VR-technology can be used in the most beneficial way.
[...] In a study with 66 7th and 8th -grade students (half boys, half girls) at a Danish science talent school, Makransky and colleagues found that the girls learned most in the VR-simulations, when the VR-teacher there was a young, female researcher named Marie, whereas the boys learned more, while being instructed by a flying robot in the form of a drone.
Not mentioned in the article: What other "teacher" figures were tested. Did they try male teachers? Anthropomorphic rabbits? Disembodied voices?
A Gender Matching Effect in Learning with Pedagogical Agents in an Immersive Virtual Reality Science Simulation DOI: 10.1111/jcal.12335
Source: https://news.ku.dk/all_news/2019/virtual-reality-research/
(Score: 4, Touché) by theluggage on Friday January 11 2019, @12:25PM (6 children)
The fire extinguisher in that picture would distract some of them: they're teenage kids living in a society where their gonads develop nearly a decade before they're allowed to use them, and they're expected to sit and concentrate for 8 hours a day when nature would have them out in the fresh air fighting and wanking. We used to keep them subdued by thrashing them into submission - and while its a good thing that's no longer acceptable we haven't come up with an alternative solution to the underlying problem.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by The Mighty Buzzard on Friday January 11 2019, @01:13PM (5 children)
We also used to allow them recess, sports, and a tolerance for boys-will-be-boys fighting in that the punishment was licks, detention, or at worst a couple days off school. Taking away nearly all avenues for physical activity and behaving like a male during the school day has done extreme harm to a couple generations of men now.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Friday January 11 2019, @08:11PM (4 children)
Ah yes, Buzzard years from the days of old. Back, when there was lead in gasoline.
Mostly, because lead exposure retards brain development and therefore, more people agreed with him.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 12 2019, @12:07AM (3 children)
No, he's right.
When I was a kid my mother became obsessed with my ADHD and always made sure to get me as much "special help" as possible and made sure everyone involved knew that I was a very special boy.
I had to be extremely careful because any sort of violence, verbal altercations, hyperactivity, etc would push me further and further into the system. Believe me it gets ugly deep in the system. Drug cocktails that would impress Tommy Chong, "Time out" rooms that resemble solitary. The few teen girls that were there all had stories about 'fooling around with' (getting molested by) various grown male authority figures. You'd think these kids would end up in insane asylums, group homes, prison, disability, etc. But no most of them went on to go to college and become productive or even successful members of society.
You don't hear about this because all the teachers and counselors never see what happens when people get away from them so they probably have no idea how awful they are. The former students bury this shit in their past because it's so bizarre.
Now days you don't need idiot parents. A little bad luck and a single fight can mean charges and an IEP. If you live in a district with a special education system like this. You are basically fucked.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Saturday January 12 2019, @04:21AM (2 children)
You'd be amazed how much morning exercise can help with even a pretty harsh case of ADHD. Less than an hour of physical activity in the morning has completely replaced all meds and their wonderful, exciting side effects for me. And it's actually a bit more effective than they were.
No placebo going on here, by the way. I found out by accident. I started going to the gym last year and thought to myself "Self, it's probably a bad idea to take Adderall right before heavy exercise," so I started taking it after I got back. Only a lot of the time I'd completely forget to take them because of the change in routine and then evaluate if I was having a day that warranted taking one much later than I should be. After a few months of doing that, it became apparent that if I didn't skip going to the gym, I could skip the pills with none of the symptoms that had me willing to take them in the first place.
Your mileage may vary of course but it's worth talking to your physician about.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 13 2019, @06:18PM (1 child)
ADHD is probably over-diagnosed in the USA. It's actually normal for kids to lose focus after 30-45 minutes of receiving "teaching" (or even many/most adults - we just get better at hiding it?) especially in topics they have no interest in and don't seem relevant to their life.
And the solution/workaround has been known for a long time:
https://newrepublic.com/article/82329/education-reform-finland-us [newrepublic.com]
https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2014/06/how-finland-keeps-kids-focused/373544/ [theatlantic.com]
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Monday January 14 2019, @01:26AM
I lose focus after 30-45 seconds to people droning on about something. It's just too slow. I can read so much faster than they talk, so they're doing nothing but wasting my time.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.