Concept Three

Changing our group topic in week five to Gaming in Learning encouraged me to further research other avenues of gaming that can be incorporated into the curriculum. As we have already discussed and researched our students are digital natives and use technologies on a daily basis. As my experience has been based on Commercial off the shelf games I wanted to research a game that had been written and developed with the classroom in mind. Through research I found an online game called Lure of the Labyrinth.

Lure of the Labyrinth provides students with a variety of ways to be creative, ethical, confident and enterprising as outlined in the Draft Shape of the Australian Technologies Curriculum (2012), whilst incorporating core curriculum learning. The game is based on Mathematics and English.  Ethical behaviour can be taught in conjunction with the game as there is a function where students can communicate. This is another essential component of student learning to assist with life and career skills (Partnership For 21st Century Skills, 2011).

When I began researching Lure of the Labyrinth I involved my children to see what their approach to the game was and what aspects of learning could be developed. One of the first games they worked in was based on times tables. I have struggled for years trying to engage them in a variety of ways to learn timetables. When this aspect of the game surfaced the interaction I witnessed was unbelievable, they were able to approach the game with no fear, applied their prior knowledge and did not complain they were doing times tables. They were the ones that made the connection, yelling out; “this is just like doing timetables.” Working collaboratively they solved mathematical problems and read the story in the form of a comic. Using this technological tool in a collaborative environment that incorporates Mathematics and English was a rewarding and fun experience with my own children. This form of educational gaming has hooked me in wanting to incorporate gaming into my teaching.

Gaming provides a different and varied approach to learning in the classroom. Garrick & Keogh (2010) promote the need for teachers to create a supportive classroom, recognise difference and cater for all students. Many middle years’ students disengage in learning and school (Garrick & Keogh, 2010). Therefore incorporating a variety of teaching methods including gaming will gain interest of students and result in engagement and students wanting to learn.

Link for LA1 video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwe-AwGlMDk&feature=youtube_gdata&noredirect=1

References

Garrick, B. & Keogh, J. (2010). Differentiated learners. In Pendergast, D., & Bahr, N. (Eds.), Teaching Middle Years: Rethinking curriculum, pedagogy and assessment (2nd ed.). (pp. 68-85). Crows Nest, NSW: Allen & Unwin.

Partnership For 21st Century Skills. (2011). Framework for 21st Century. Retrieved from Learninghttp://www.p21.org/overview/skills-framework

Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority. (2012). Draft Shape of the Australian Curriculum: Technologies. Retrieved from http://www.acara.edu.au/verve/_resources/Draft_Shape_of_the_Australian_Curriculum_Technologies_paper_-_March_2012.pdf

Concept Two

As a parent and digital immigrant I did not fully understanding how and to the extent games such as Wii, XBox and World War Craft can be used as a learning tool in the classroom, I was a little skeptical.  Klopfer, Osterweil and Salen (2009) discuss that many people are skeptical in using gaming in learning, creating many questions about using gaming as a learning tool. In week one I discussed the interaction my boys have with games and how animated they become. As they play games such as Halo, use many applications on their iPad, but not the “educational” games I have installed, I thought I would be hard pressed to engage them in “educational” games, even though it sounded fantastic. My thoughts were if my children interact with gaming in this way, then won’t most students in classrooms be the same?

The Games in Learning project (2012) categorise games into three areas for learning in the classroom. These are Commercial off the shelf, Learning-Orientated games and Teacher or student produced games/learning objectives. As my experience with gaming has been more of the shelf shoot them up style, presentations in our workshops on gaming opened my eyes to the content games can encompass and how students can be taught with these technologies.

One example that was given was using Xbox Kinect where students are active and play the games through gesture based interaction (Microsoft, 2012). Using this pedagogical tool and   technology the teacher can teach many core subjects and cater for a variety of learning styles (Microsoft, 2012). Further research lead me to a site that has a list of Kinect classroom activities with a title and description of how the game can be incorporated into the curriculum. For example, using the Kinects game Scoring darts to practice addition, subtraction and multiplication, this is taught by students working in pairs to play a Darts game. While they play the game, students observe the scores being tallied and displayed and try to figure out how the score is being calculated. What combination or sequence of addition, subtraction, and multiplication is the game using to arrive at the score? The teacher can then assess student’s skills by providing darts-based scoring scenarios and having students determine the final score using the combination of addition, multiplication, and subtraction they discovered (Microsoft, 2012).

Using gaming in this fashion promotes communication, collaboration, critical thinking and problem-solving skills. The Framework for 21st Century Learning (2011) describe these skills as being essential for students to succeed in today’s fast pace world. As our world is changing so are our children, therefore by incorporating gaming into the curriculum students are going to be engaged and want to learn.  

References

Klopfer, E.,  Osterweil, S. & Salen, K. (2009). Moving learning games forward: Obstacles opportunities and openness. The Education Arcade. Retrieved from http://education.mit.edu/papers/MovingLearningGamesForward_EdArcade.pdf

Microsoft. (2012). Learning Through Motion: Increasing Student Engagement and Achievement with Immersive Technology. Center for Digital Education. Retrieved from http://www.microsoft.com/education/en-us/products/Pages/kinect.aspx

Microsoft. (2012). Microsoft in Education: Products. Retrieved from http://www.microsoft.com/education/en-us/products/Pages/kinect.aspx#3

Partnership For 21st Century Skills. (2011). Framework for 21st Century. Retrieved from Learninghttp://www.p21.org/overview/skills-framework

Prensky, M. (2001). Digital Natives Digital Immigrants. Retrieved from http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/prensky%20-%20digital%20natives,%20digital%20immigrants%20-%20part1.pdf

The State of Queensland. (2012). The Games in Learning Project. Retrieved from http://www.learningplace.com.au/deliver/content.asp?pid=33918

Concept One

The world of iPad is just amazing. Through presentations I have learnt of and discovered sites such as the Victorian Government iPads for Learning. This site is a fantastic resource that explains how iPads work on a 1:1 basis, classroom ideas, educational Apps and many other features.

I thought I had pretty good knowledge of how iPads could be used educationally. Well I was pleasantly surprised when I observed a year five class during one of my practicum lead in days. The school has implemented a 1:1 iPad Program for year five through to twelve. The class was doing Naplan revision, when the class had put in their answers to the questions the teacher received immediate feedback and was able to discuss as a group the answers that students were struggling with. The teacher was able to display on the Interactive whiteboard from the iPad areas to discuss.

Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework was evident in this teaching context as the Technology is the iPad, Pedagogy was instructional and the Content was English. In this instance you could definitely see how the teacher had knowledge for technology integration to support teaching (Ferdig, 2009). What stood out for me apart from the ease of feedback was that all students were engaged in Naplan revision. Normally students would be restless and complaining about further revision.

Through discussions with the supervising teacher I understood the extent to which students actually use them in class. It has only been through the workshops at University and discussions with this teacher that I realise the range that iPads can be used. iPads are  tools with many applications for the classroom for all types of teaching styles and learning styles. There are a variety of applications available for teachers to teach the content needed. When students were introduced to the iPads at school the teacher would put a “work flow” on the IWB for students to navigate themselves to the applications they needed to complete work. This is a knowledge and skill, combined with the curriculum, which will assist students to be successful learners.  

The additional benefits to using an iPad as a mobile 1:1 learning tool is that  as explained in workshops and by the teacher is that when a student is off sick they can still have access to their work. The teacher explained that he takes a screen shot of what they are working on and emails it to the student. As long as the student has access to a Wi-Fi network they are still able to keep up with what is going on in the classroom.

Throughout the workshops we have heard over and over again about the need for students to learn necessary skills to succeed and develop 21^st century skills. Prensky (2001) suggest the children of today have been surrounded by these technologies for the entirety of their lives making them Digital natives, by incorporating a mobile device such as an iPad is an ideal way to develop life and career skills, ensure student engagement as well as students learning Core subjects.

References

Ferdig, R. E. (2009). Handbook of research on effective electronic gaming in education. Hershey, PA : Information Science Reference.

Prensky, M. (2001). Digital Natives Digital Immigrants. Retrieved from http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/prensky%20-%20digital%20natives,%20digital%20immigrants%20-%20part1.pdf