Wordle is a version of the 1970s game Mastermind, too. As 5th graders we played Mastermind every indoor recess we had. We loved "making the code ", choosing 4 pegs out of a stock of 6 colors, having up to 10 tries to deduce the code, and hoping the codemaster would place red and white pegs next to our guess (the green and yellow letters in Wordle). We learned a lot of If-Then reasoning.
We created https://wordler.net which allows teachers to create wordle quizzes for education, with clues and hints. You can also learn languages via a wordle style interface.
This inspires so many questions for me about my own non-math content. Thanks for taking the time to unpack this, Dan.
Your "four questions" method with EdTech jogged a memory of another 4 questions asked of technology, those Eliyahu Goldratt discusses in this lecture "Beyond the Goal". They seem related:
1. What is the power of the technology?
2. What limitation does it diminish?
3. What rules helped us accommodate the limitation?
4. What rules should we use now?
I think Desmos is certainly an example of redefining the rules. Thanks for driving that work forward.
I would love to see the probabilities and statistics behind solutions. How often do people who guess intelligently, and by that I just mean don't use letters/placements that have been ruled out, get it right in 1 guess, 2 guesses, etc. So much math can be done.
This is similar to a pencil-and-paper we played as kids - Jotto. It was a two-person game and after a guess, the other person tells you how many correct letters and how many in the right places, but without identifying them. It made a much better game.
It also had a defensive aspect because after you learn the other person's strategy, you choose a word that makes it harder.
We also played a game that was a precursor to "Mastermind" but instead of four of six colors, you worked with four of ten digits. And since we played on Shabbat, we did it in our heads,
Many/all of those characteristics exist in the programming course from CMU (academy.cs.cum.edu). Well worth studying how it is put together to answer your questions. The CS1 free course uses digital art as a means of teaching Python coding. Giving motivation and easy checking of errors (you're given a target solution output). A gentle introduction that reaches a very broad cross-section of students (I've never had this many students interested and persisting in coding). A model computational thinking course (an identified class in the re-imagine math curriculum conversations).
I've been thinking about this too. I feel like Wordle's closed beginning and ending but open middle is a big part of it. It's basically what Shira and Lisa said. Also, regarding VR in education, I like this quote: "Any useful statement about the future should at first seem ridiculous." - Jim Dator
Wordle is a version of the 1970s game Mastermind, too. As 5th graders we played Mastermind every indoor recess we had. We loved "making the code ", choosing 4 pegs out of a stock of 6 colors, having up to 10 tries to deduce the code, and hoping the codemaster would place red and white pegs next to our guess (the green and yellow letters in Wordle). We learned a lot of If-Then reasoning.
Just love this! My colleague Raj Shah has been doing a lot of deep thinking on these lines, for sure.
Eg https://www.ted.com/talks/raj_shah_using_video_game_principles_to_improve_math_scores and https://grassrootsworkshops.com/workshops/how-to-make-math-more-like-video-games. Excited to see where all this will go in the times to come.
We created https://wordler.net which allows teachers to create wordle quizzes for education, with clues and hints. You can also learn languages via a wordle style interface.
Sample Quiz - https://wordler.net/view/5aa1ALunM9/0
Languages - https://wordler.net/learn
Create Quiz - https://wordler.net/create
And now here it is https://nerdlegame.com/
This inspires so many questions for me about my own non-math content. Thanks for taking the time to unpack this, Dan.
Your "four questions" method with EdTech jogged a memory of another 4 questions asked of technology, those Eliyahu Goldratt discusses in this lecture "Beyond the Goal". They seem related:
1. What is the power of the technology?
2. What limitation does it diminish?
3. What rules helped us accommodate the limitation?
4. What rules should we use now?
I think Desmos is certainly an example of redefining the rules. Thanks for driving that work forward.
I would love to see the probabilities and statistics behind solutions. How often do people who guess intelligently, and by that I just mean don't use letters/placements that have been ruled out, get it right in 1 guess, 2 guesses, etc. So much math can be done.
This is similar to a pencil-and-paper we played as kids - Jotto. It was a two-person game and after a guess, the other person tells you how many correct letters and how many in the right places, but without identifying them. It made a much better game.
It also had a defensive aspect because after you learn the other person's strategy, you choose a word that makes it harder.
We also played a game that was a precursor to "Mastermind" but instead of four of six colors, you worked with four of ten digits. And since we played on Shabbat, we did it in our heads,
Many/all of those characteristics exist in the programming course from CMU (academy.cs.cum.edu). Well worth studying how it is put together to answer your questions. The CS1 free course uses digital art as a means of teaching Python coding. Giving motivation and easy checking of errors (you're given a target solution output). A gentle introduction that reaches a very broad cross-section of students (I've never had this many students interested and persisting in coding). A model computational thinking course (an identified class in the re-imagine math curriculum conversations).
I've been thinking about this too. I feel like Wordle's closed beginning and ending but open middle is a big part of it. It's basically what Shira and Lisa said. Also, regarding VR in education, I like this quote: "Any useful statement about the future should at first seem ridiculous." - Jim Dator