Supreme Court Justice Blasts No Child Left Behind On GMA
Sandra Day O'Connor Touts iCivic Video Games
As A NEW Way To Learn How Our Government Works
Good Morning America Video Below
As A NEW Way To Learn How Our Government Works
Good Morning America Video Below
By C.J. Westerberg
An unlikely dynamic duo: retired Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and video game learning. Yes, video games. (I tried two and got hooked on the second one immediately - more on that later).
Because of O'Connor's sad observation of just how far schools had narrowed the curriculum as an "unintended consequence" of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law, which rewards schools and teachers to overly focus on Math and Reading to the detriment of other subjects like History and Civics, she wanted to do something about it. Her vision became a site called iCivicswhere students can learn how government works through video games, and without the spectacularly boring, dull-as-dirt memorization of some factoids and far-removed charts from textbooks, soon forgotten after the test. (In fact, Day O'Connor points out how many schools have gone so far not to even teach civics anymore, or at least in any meaningful way.)
Check out her three minute video below with Good Morning America's George Stephanopoulos. A few of the "scary" take-aways:
Because of O'Connor's sad observation of just how far schools had narrowed the curriculum as an "unintended consequence" of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law, which rewards schools and teachers to overly focus on Math and Reading to the detriment of other subjects like History and Civics, she wanted to do something about it. Her vision became a site called iCivicswhere students can learn how government works through video games, and without the spectacularly boring, dull-as-dirt memorization of some factoids and far-removed charts from textbooks, soon forgotten after the test. (In fact, Day O'Connor points out how many schools have gone so far not to even teach civics anymore, or at least in any meaningful way.)
Check out her three minute video below with Good Morning America's George Stephanopoulos. A few of the "scary" take-aways:
- Two-thirds of Americans can name the judges on American Idol but less than 1 in 10 Americans can name even ONE Supreme Court justice.
