wraggster
March 24th, 2011, 23:09
http://www.blogcdn.com/www.joystiq.com/media/2011/03/kinect324.jpg (http://www.joystiq.com/2011/03/24/kinect-used-to-teach-english-in-south-african-primary-school/)Microsoft is giving primary school kids in South Africa a chance at a real hands-off education. Classrooms at Lakeside Park Primary, in the Vryheid, KwaZulu-Natal district (yes, it's a Natal project (http://joystiq.com/tag/project-natal)) are being equipped with Kinect (http://joystiq.com/tag/kinect) cameras and Xbox 360s as part of a Microsoft initiative, in order to encourage English use in the classroom.
"Shy learners, who take months to speak up in class in their mother tongue – let alone in English, were already shouting out to classmates to 'jump' and 'duck' with no inhibition," Lakeside Park Primary Deputy Principal Karen Kirsten explained. According to XboxGaming (http://www.xboxgaming.co.za/news/microsoft-trial-kinect-learning-in-south-african-classrooms/), the Kinect and its English-language games are used to reduce the affective filter (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affective_filter) involved in learning and speaking English, so it can be better used as the teaching language in the classroom.
As a bonus, it teaches valuable mime skills.
http://www.joystiq.com/2011/03/24/kinect-used-to-teach-in-south-african-primary-school/
"Shy learners, who take months to speak up in class in their mother tongue – let alone in English, were already shouting out to classmates to 'jump' and 'duck' with no inhibition," Lakeside Park Primary Deputy Principal Karen Kirsten explained. According to XboxGaming (http://www.xboxgaming.co.za/news/microsoft-trial-kinect-learning-in-south-african-classrooms/), the Kinect and its English-language games are used to reduce the affective filter (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affective_filter) involved in learning and speaking English, so it can be better used as the teaching language in the classroom.
As a bonus, it teaches valuable mime skills.
http://www.joystiq.com/2011/03/24/kinect-used-to-teach-in-south-african-primary-school/