Reflections on learning in a post-analog world…

  • Welcome...

    Learning on Mars is about supporting real learning; looking at how people learn; balancing digital and tactile learning experiences; examining the role of games and stories; while keeping grounded in research and reality.

  • Learn

    How do we learn? What draws us into learning? What about attention and memory? How do we support self-guided learning? How do we use technology to its full potential; how does ineffective use trip us up?

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  • Play...

    What are the potential roles of Games and Stories in effective learning? When and how do they work well? How do elements like 'wonder' and 'incompleteness' invite learning? How can interactivity be used in learning? How do we weigh games versus gamification?

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  • Plan...

    Lots of research; lots of analysis; lots of ideas....

    At some point you have to do something with it all. So it's good to have a place to think about Design, Tools, and Metrics.

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  • Create...

    There are ideas and theories, but nothing beats some real applications. Over time this section will contain examples of Learning on Mars in action. And because work always involves false starts and restarts, this is also a place to house a Field Guide - documenting the development of principles and approaches.

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Where we are; where we're headed...

This site started as a space to compile and consider research the effective use of technology in learning, and to look at relative benefits of digital and tactile (analog) approaches for different areas of learning. In the months ahead, the plan is to add real world examples of putting that research into practical action.

What Is...

Learning on Mars is a site dedicated to exploring the dynamics of effective learning in a world where the tactile and the digital increasingly intersect.  A world that ideally look less like "The Matrix" and a little bit more like Jules Verne and Beatrix Potter with iPads.

 The evolution of Learning on Mars is a very long story, and a growing one; eventually it will fill this website.  But for the moment this might help a bit...

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Under Construction...

Put on your hardhat and mind the scaffolding... This site is in live-build, and is likely to continue in that mode for quite awhile. Just like learning, it’s a work in progress.

Make yourself at home, wander around, make suggestions, even pull out a hammer and join in, if you’re so inclined.

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Why Learning?

Henri Poincarré once described scientific research:

"Science is built with facts in the same way that a house is built from stones: but an accumulation of facts is no more science than a heap of stones is a house."

The same analogy suits learning. It’s not enough to have knowledge (although knowledge is a critical building block); what matters is what we do with it once we have it.