In this session we carried on looking into ‘M learning’.
We looked at Kodu again as many of us found it difficult to use last week. We
had another go at editing pre-loaded worlds to create games and understood how
it worked a little better than we did last week thankfully!
As we were looking at games-based learning in the
classroom we mainly looked at Dance to advance which is a dance mat game. We
were shown how the game can be made educational by using questions and answers
to inform the player where to place their feet. We were shown an example where
in the middle the player was shown animal noises and the animal names were
listed around the outside, when the animal noise is shown for example ‘quack’
the player has to put their foot on the circle for ‘duck’. Dance to advance
allows you to create your own games (questions and answers) and so it means it
can be used for any topic which makes it cost effective for schools as they can
be used for all subjects. We were given the opportunity to create our own game
and I chose to create one where the player has to correctly identify the flags
of different countries. A picture of a flag is shown in the middle and the
countries are listed around and the player has to place their foot on the
correct country name to match the picture of the flag they are shown. As this
programme allows you to create your own games it means it can be used for
younger or different ability pupils as you can make the level of the questions
easier, it also means it can be used for older pupils by changing the questions.
However, as it was fairly simple to use it means that older pupils can use it
to create their own games and play games made by their peers, by creating the
questions and answers themselves it will also give teachers an opportunity to
assess pupils understanding of the topic. I really enjoyed using Dance to
advance to create games and watching others play it and I would definitely use
this when teaching if the resource is available to me and if not I would make a
suggestion that the school invest in it.
We discussed other uses for technology in classrooms,
for example using sat navs for mapping or orienteering lessons. We discussed
that many games played by children at home have educational links that you
could use in the classroom to engage pupils, such as Nintendogs and cats which
allows children to simulate interacting with ‘pets’ in 3D teaching them how to
care for and look after ‘their pet’. Endless Ocean on Wii can teach children
about aquatic life and simulate interacting with underwater animals. Professor
Layton also on Nintendo 3DS is popular as it is all about puzzles and mental
challenges.
Another game that is being used in primary schools is ‘Myst’. Myst
is being used in schools to inspire creativity in children. It has been used in
literacy and teachers have found that it is helping to raise standards in
writing and motivating children to want to write. Machinarium is another popular
game amongst children that also has an educational benefit as it helps to
develop the player’s problem-solving skills.
Games and simulation software is increasingly being used
in schools as teachers realise the educational benefits and the opportunity to
develop children’s skills in a fun way.
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