Meta Learning

Since our children first started batting at the computer keyboard they have been learning how it works. They have learned a whole pile of things about driving a computer. It was amazing watching as my boys each hit the age of about 2 years and learned how to use a mouse - things like pushing forward makes the cursor go up the screen rather than lifting it up(!), how to click, right click, drag-and-drop, double click, and triple click.

Now that they know what they are doing with the navigation they are learning more and more about how the applications actually work. You don't click in certain places on YouTube because they are "ads" and they take you to boring places or ask you for money. You click on the "x" to close things. Some of their first basic literacy experiences were recognising common prompts in menus - yes, no, ok, quit, exit, back...

Today my eldest was playing Lego Starwars. He's only 5½ but he's pretty good considering he can barely hold a pen. Today his little brother was getting frustrated (because at age 3 it's still a bit beyond him) and he handed me the game pad. I instinctively hit a shoulder button to try and change the camera angle (too many years playing Nintendo) and the character changed.My eldest was astounded at this revelation. "Oh! Is that what it means by Freeplay?", I said. (I haven't actually played the game longer than 10 minutes myself - call it competition for a scarce resource). My son's passion for the game is suddenly enhanced as he has some cool ideas for how to access certain areas using certain characters.

Half an hour later I hear a frustrated "MUM! I CAN'T get it to CHANGE!" It's at this point that I realise how much gaming knowledge I have and take for granted. He is only just experiencing these sorts of features for the first time.

"Are you in Freeplay Mode?"
"Uhm... I don't know."
"I don't think you are.... have you finished that level in Story Mode?"
"No...?"
"Well I don't think you get access to Freeplay Mode until you have finished Story Mode for that level... you have to unlock it."
"Oh... no I haven't finished this level yet.. I just wanted to try and get across with..."
"But you can't use the other characters until you have passed the level with the right characters..."
"Oh... okay."

He's got his head around unlockable content. That's a part of gaming that he's very familiar with.
He loves story and occasionally asks "why is the [bad guy] doing that?"... after a while he began to understand that it's just a plot device. The bad guy does something bad so you have something to work against. I'm sure that understanding that was recently reinforced by watching the movie Wreck-It Ralph. Fun film by the way.