Charged with educating teenagers for the good of the nation, what have the inventive commissioners at Channel 4 come up with?
Twice a year, Channel 4 Education announces the slate of projects it is working on for the next six months. Since it dumped old fashioned term-time TV slots (remember the teacher trundling in that wood-framed TV and clunky VCR?) in 2008, that slate has consisted of imaginative and engaging games and web projects from a young and energetic commissioning team. It also highlights some of the UK's best indie games and creative talent.
So with those ingredients, and the acknowledgement that it can be as innovative as it needs to be to reach a web-savvy audience of 14-19, what kind of social, vocational and emotional issues can Channel 4 tackle?
Read this for context on the changes at Channel 4 and how we're assured the �5m (that's nothing... what does the chief executive get paid?) annual budget for education is ringfenced. Imagine what the department (and some of the UK's most promising startups) could do with the remainder of the �50m that was promised to 4ip; �20m of that was committed to by Channel 4 but at a very generous estimate only �12m had been spent.
Meanwhile, here's the slate:
Don't waste your money on throwaway fashion
Closet Swap encourages teens (who will mostly be girls) to share and 'upcycle' clothes between friends, rather than relying on cheap, semi-disposable fashion that often targets teenagers with limited funds. (Don't mention Primark.) Swap, don't shop. Touches a thread among several of these projects in equipping young people with experiences that make the feel confident enough to defend themselves against the bombardment of advertising and aggressively targeted marketing, particularly towards young people. Website and mobile app produced by games company Inensu (who share offices with the mighty Songkick in east London).
Along the same lines, Sweatshop is a tower defence game that puts the player in the role of a Mauritian clothes manufacturer working on orders for a western fashion chain. They are shown the impact of the pressure on the company an do its teenage workers by the chain, and by the consumers who buy trash fashion. "There will be industrial accidents. There will be blood," said Jo Twist, commissioning editor for Channel 4 Education. Produced by Littleloud.
How to deal with life and death
The End, produced by Preloaded, uses a platform game to get teenagers asking questions about why we are here, how we cope with death and uses a personality quiz to align their beliefs with those of famous philosophers. Not an easy mission, to encourage 'emotional resilience' and life skills among teenagers, but one Channel 4 has charged itself with in this climate of competitiveness and pressure, particularly as teenagers leave education to find work. Produced by Preloaded with Prospect arts and books editor and Fun Inc author Tom Chatfield.
Being a good citizen
There's a theory called 'broken windows', that if someone engages with and cares for their environment it will begin to care for them in return. Walking City is an urban strategy game that encourages players to rebuild their environment, galvanising residents to work together to make their neighbourhood a nicer place to live. Produced by games firm Big Robot.
How to manage your money
Given the financial climate, managing money has been made a priority. Footfall is the first of three games in this area, targeting older teenage girls by inviting them to build and manage a shoe business, and with realistic economic impact from the decisions they make about the firm. Another Preloaded project.
Vinyltopia is a more humourous version of the same thing, centred around running a record shop and intended for boys, again with lessons in cash flow, supply and demand and profit and loss.
International Racing Squirrels does a similar thing again but for younger players of 14-15, asking them to manage feeding, training and racing a team of squirrels. Channel 4's first project produced by Playniac.
Eating more healthily
Players are charged with running a restaurant and will see the effects of serving up healthy or unhealthy food, with the aim of encouraging a better diet. Produced by playerthree.
Understanding attraction
Charlie McDonnell of Charlieissocoolike YouTube fame presents six 10-minute online videos called Science of Attraction, exploring what makes us attractive to others, including dating techniques (Derren Brown is involved...) and why smell is important. Launching in the next few weeks. Produced by Objective Productions.
Don't believe the women's mags
Cover Girl asks girls to take the role of a desk artist on a women's magazine charged with Photoshopping images of celebrities through a browser-based game. A simple device, though can't do much to dent the pervasive manipulation of almost every image around us.
Campaigning for good causes
The second year of Battlefront introduces a fresh team of 12 teenagers using the web, including Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, to campaign for an issue they value. The latest is Ellie Prendergast who talks candidly about her experiences of living with her disabled elder sister Nancy, and how the prejudices and thoughtlessness of strangers affects their lives. Battlefront is also moving to a slot on T4, using celebrities to help each teenager make their campaigns higher profile.
Serving tweens and teens
One result of the Digital Economy Act was that Channel 4 is charged with providing educational content for 10- 14-year-olds too, as they were underserved. The result of that is Cover Girl, as well as Who I Am.
In the latter, users to adopt an avatar to explore their identity - something that helps them interpret a transitional time in their lives between childhood and adolescence, middle school and high school. Produced by Zoe Mode of Brighton.
The project with the working title Truth Specs is a reworked version of Super Me, the life skills game ? again helping children and younger teens with changes in their lives from puberty to parents. Produced by Somethin' Else.
Does any of this work?
As for proof of how effective games are as a learning tool: "Experiential learning, learning through challenges, through trying ? instead of single directional learning ? is incredibly powerful," said Alice Taylor, commissioning editor for Channel 4 Education, who seems astonished that the power of games in learning could even be questioned.
"The metrics we get show that games are sticky, and an attraction magnet for teenagers where it's hard to get noticed on the web. Teens come back saying they enjoyed the games but also that they learnt something."
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/pda/2010/nov/10/channel4-education-games-startups
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