I've written before about text based adventure games (see for example Fun On Friday #89: A maze of twisty games all alike) but thanks to a Tweet from Digital Katie, I've just discovered the Text Adventures website where you can "Create, play and share text adventure games".
It's brilliant. You can play online or download a Windows application and play offline. If you create your own game, you can make it public and let anyone play it or keep it unlisted and just share it with people you choose.
There is also an Education page with suggestions, examples and help for teachers who want to use Interactive Fiction with students.
I'll try to have a go at creating a game soon and share it here. Have you already created a game or have you tried this sort of thing with a class?
Showing posts with label Games Based Learning. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Games Based Learning. Show all posts
Friday, September 21, 2012
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
A Box Full Of Learning
A box full of learning... and a box full of fun!
It is not hard to see the box pictured here as a a box of fun.. but a box of learning? Yet, that's what it is. It is a box with a Playstation, EyePet mames, cameras and controllers - everything you need to have fun with virtual pets. It arrived in my office a few weeks ago - brought by courier from the Consolarium. I got it, so I could explore with one of my students the contribution Games Based Learning could make to
social/health and wellbeing education: both from the looking after
the health and wellbeing of the EyePets; and from the collaboration,
group work and other game associated activities that would take place with the pupils.
I first heard about Game Based Learning from Derek Robertson. At the time, he was the external examiner for our Educational Computing course and he asked me if we were doing anything with computing games. We did have an hypermedia development module where people would often develop simple games as part of the coursework and we talked about the creative writing possibilities of pupil created adventure games but it was clear Derek was meaning something more.
When he talked about Game Based Learning, he meant games consoles and commercial, off the shelf games. He talked enthusiastically about what he was doing with Playstations back in Dundee. (Actually, I realise the word "enthusiastically" is somewhat redundant when talking about Derek. I have rarely had a conversation with him where he has not been enthusiastic, passionate even, about whatever we were talking about.)
It was not long after this that he set up the Consolarium with Education Scotland (or whatever it was called then!) to promote Games Based Learning. And promote it he did! Although many people greeted the idea of games consoles in schools with scepticism and suspicion (see for example Pupils 'made more violent by computer games', where it seems to me the main complaint is about poor parental supervision rather than games per se) Derek kept plugging away: speaking at the Scottish Learning Festival, setting up competitions and demonstrations, presenting at conferences, and (importantly) doing the research to show not just the potential but the value of Games Based Learning.
I think that, largely down to the work of Derek and the team at the Consolarium, Scottish education is at the forefront of developments in Game Based Learning not just in the UK but internationally. I was pleased to see, therefore, that this work was being recognised when Derek was nominated for an award from Naace in the Naace ICT Impact Awards 2012: Adviser or Consultant or Support Service category. Here is a video with some of the evidence that supported the nomination:
I was even more pleased when on award night, Derek was announced as the winner in that category.
Of course, the irony is, that even as Derek wins this award, either through economic necessity, or educational short-sightedness (or possibly both) the seconded teachers that worked with him are back in school and the Consolarium as a physical space is gone. What is left is a loan service, the service I used to borrow the EyePets kit. (I'll try to write more about what was done with this kit soon but in the meantime, you can read what others did on the Consolarium wiki.) Don't get me wrong, the loan service is great but what we had in the Consolarium was so much better; its closure is a great loss to Scottish education.
Anyway, congratulations again to Derek. And if you are a Scottish teacher, check out the loan service and have a go yourself. Seeing is believing.
 |
| Box Full Of Learning, a photo by DavidDMuir on Flickr. |
I first heard about Game Based Learning from Derek Robertson. At the time, he was the external examiner for our Educational Computing course and he asked me if we were doing anything with computing games. We did have an hypermedia development module where people would often develop simple games as part of the coursework and we talked about the creative writing possibilities of pupil created adventure games but it was clear Derek was meaning something more.
When he talked about Game Based Learning, he meant games consoles and commercial, off the shelf games. He talked enthusiastically about what he was doing with Playstations back in Dundee. (Actually, I realise the word "enthusiastically" is somewhat redundant when talking about Derek. I have rarely had a conversation with him where he has not been enthusiastic, passionate even, about whatever we were talking about.)
It was not long after this that he set up the Consolarium with Education Scotland (or whatever it was called then!) to promote Games Based Learning. And promote it he did! Although many people greeted the idea of games consoles in schools with scepticism and suspicion (see for example Pupils 'made more violent by computer games', where it seems to me the main complaint is about poor parental supervision rather than games per se) Derek kept plugging away: speaking at the Scottish Learning Festival, setting up competitions and demonstrations, presenting at conferences, and (importantly) doing the research to show not just the potential but the value of Games Based Learning.
I think that, largely down to the work of Derek and the team at the Consolarium, Scottish education is at the forefront of developments in Game Based Learning not just in the UK but internationally. I was pleased to see, therefore, that this work was being recognised when Derek was nominated for an award from Naace in the Naace ICT Impact Awards 2012: Adviser or Consultant or Support Service category. Here is a video with some of the evidence that supported the nomination:
I was even more pleased when on award night, Derek was announced as the winner in that category.
Of course, the irony is, that even as Derek wins this award, either through economic necessity, or educational short-sightedness (or possibly both) the seconded teachers that worked with him are back in school and the Consolarium as a physical space is gone. What is left is a loan service, the service I used to borrow the EyePets kit. (I'll try to write more about what was done with this kit soon but in the meantime, you can read what others did on the Consolarium wiki.) Don't get me wrong, the loan service is great but what we had in the Consolarium was so much better; its closure is a great loss to Scottish education.
Anyway, congratulations again to Derek. And if you are a Scottish teacher, check out the loan service and have a go yourself. Seeing is believing.
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
SLF 2011 - Enhancing Game Design With Blogs
Brian Clark - PT Computing, Portabello High School
{Live capture of session}
Brian was seconded to Consolarium and involved in a games project with a primary school. He found that teachers felt they lacked the confidence to meet the game design requirements 2-09a outcomes. {See the Technologies document for more detail - DM}. First thing he did was to direct them to the Consolarium area on Glow where there are a series of tutorials and videos. {Note: to see most of the Consolarium links here you need a Glow Login. - DM}
Decided that Scratch was best tool for the children in their primary school. once this was decided they started to build up the capacity in the teachers, to get them up to speed in building games.
What is the game design process?
First stage is character design. When you designing a game, the characters are important - not just the game play. Also, opportunities to extend beyond the game into literacy, creativity, model making, marketing. (Think of the spin offs from established games, for example, comics, movies, novels, ...) Truely Interdisciplinary work, for example, see for example:
Model building and creating assets, see for example TCH 2-14a. Create music and audio effect his other outcomes e.g. EXA 3-17a, 2-18a.
Building the game. This hits Maths outcomes, e.g MNU 2-04a and scaling. At a fairly late stage, we start coding.
Games design therefore brings in a whole load of inter disciplinary tools. Many activities have to take place before you get to the game creation. Real games companies use blogs to communicate internally and as publicity. So, this project got the pupils to use Glow Blogs to log progress (The Room 11 Games Blog - Glow login required) and communicate between teams. (Again, inter-disciplinary, e.g. LIT 2-20a and 2-23a as well as TCH 2-08a) The children used the blogs very effectively to give and act on feedback. Children in the project school choose to write about their work and comment on other people's work. The pupils we getting about 6.5 comments per post! Very impressive level of engagement and useful feedback helped them improve their games.
{Live capture of session}
 |
| Brian Clark Enhancing Game Design With Blogs |
Decided that Scratch was best tool for the children in their primary school. once this was decided they started to build up the capacity in the teachers, to get them up to speed in building games.
What is the game design process?
First stage is character design. When you designing a game, the characters are important - not just the game play. Also, opportunities to extend beyond the game into literacy, creativity, model making, marketing. (Think of the spin offs from established games, for example, comics, movies, novels, ...) Truely Interdisciplinary work, for example, see for example:
"By considering the type of text I am creating, I can select ideas and relevant information, organise these in an appropriate way for my purpose and use suitable vocabulary for my audience.
LIT 2-26a" (From the Literacy document.)
Model building and creating assets, see for example TCH 2-14a. Create music and audio effect his other outcomes e.g. EXA 3-17a, 2-18a.
Building the game. This hits Maths outcomes, e.g MNU 2-04a and scaling. At a fairly late stage, we start coding.
Games design therefore brings in a whole load of inter disciplinary tools. Many activities have to take place before you get to the game creation. Real games companies use blogs to communicate internally and as publicity. So, this project got the pupils to use Glow Blogs to log progress (The Room 11 Games Blog - Glow login required) and communicate between teams. (Again, inter-disciplinary, e.g. LIT 2-20a and 2-23a as well as TCH 2-08a) The children used the blogs very effectively to give and act on feedback. Children in the project school choose to write about their work and comment on other people's work. The pupils we getting about 6.5 comments per post! Very impressive level of engagement and useful feedback helped them improve their games.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
LWF11 - David Braben, Founder, Frontier Developments
Games and Learning
{The speaker developed Elite! I loved Elite! I spent hours playing Elite. - Sorry, completely distracted by a trip down memotry lane. - DM}
What motivates children? Does X-Factor/Lottery age foster a desire for instant reward? Do they shun things (such as learning) that require effort and hard work?
Games motivate children. They give a feeling of progress, they don't criticise failure but reward success and have small, easy steps. Children are willing to put in hours of "slog" to suceed in games. Gave example of a very successful game - Roller Coaster Tycoon - a very creative game where the only real reward is the opportunity to share their creations online. Even criticised games such as Halo show evidence of self-directed learning.
It is possible to program games and various tools exist but there is a learning gap that needs a teacher to help children bridge the gap. It does take a fair degree of effort to move from game playing to game development. Savid talked about his early experiences on home micros as a teenager - the computer came with a programming manual and programming them was (relatively) easy. How do we help the current generation of gamers get into programming?
Daviod has come up with a small, cheap machine, the Raspberry Pi, to provide an open source way in for pupils to get into programming. Because it is cheap and robust, it is easy to give one to every pupil. The speaker says every child he talks to says the ICT curriculum is dull. Graph from CHPC Response to Digital Britain shows that the number of ICT Professionals have continued to rise but the number applying for Computing at university has fallen. We need to find innovative way to engage children with Computing.The speaker does not want ICT to be a core subject but wants Computing to be in schools as an alternative.
{The speaker developed Elite! I loved Elite! I spent hours playing Elite. - Sorry, completely distracted by a trip down memotry lane. - DM}
What motivates children? Does X-Factor/Lottery age foster a desire for instant reward? Do they shun things (such as learning) that require effort and hard work?Games motivate children. They give a feeling of progress, they don't criticise failure but reward success and have small, easy steps. Children are willing to put in hours of "slog" to suceed in games. Gave example of a very successful game - Roller Coaster Tycoon - a very creative game where the only real reward is the opportunity to share their creations online. Even criticised games such as Halo show evidence of self-directed learning.
It is possible to program games and various tools exist but there is a learning gap that needs a teacher to help children bridge the gap. It does take a fair degree of effort to move from game playing to game development. Savid talked about his early experiences on home micros as a teenager - the computer came with a programming manual and programming them was (relatively) easy. How do we help the current generation of gamers get into programming?
Daviod has come up with a small, cheap machine, the Raspberry Pi, to provide an open source way in for pupils to get into programming. Because it is cheap and robust, it is easy to give one to every pupil. The speaker says every child he talks to says the ICT curriculum is dull. Graph from CHPC Response to Digital Britain shows that the number of ICT Professionals have continued to rise but the number applying for Computing at university has fallen. We need to find innovative way to engage children with Computing.The speaker does not want ICT to be a core subject but wants Computing to be in schools as an alternative.
LWF11 - Ray Maguire, MD, Sony Computer Entertainment UK
Games Industry
Emphasised that the games industry are in the business of entertainment. But teachers can take the products of the entertainment industry and use them to support effective learning.
Teenagers use technology to organise their social world - facebook to plan, text to arrange, YouTube to record, and ... Yet almost without exception, they are prevented from using any of this technology in schools.
How can the ICT curriculum support the creative industry and break away from office/applications focus. {A button pushing curriculum. - DM} This sounds depressing but it depends who is looking at the problem and what is being done about it. The speaker thinks that there is a move from "Should we?" to "How do we?" but thinks that evolution is more likely than revolution.
Equipment etc. is costly and in the current economic climate this seems unlikely but why not use the equipment that is already out there?
A National Digital Curriculum - is this an aspiration or are the components already there?
Emphasised that the games industry are in the business of entertainment. But teachers can take the products of the entertainment industry and use them to support effective learning.
Teenagers use technology to organise their social world - facebook to plan, text to arrange, YouTube to record, and ... Yet almost without exception, they are prevented from using any of this technology in schools.How can the ICT curriculum support the creative industry and break away from office/applications focus. {A button pushing curriculum. - DM} This sounds depressing but it depends who is looking at the problem and what is being done about it. The speaker thinks that there is a move from "Should we?" to "How do we?" but thinks that evolution is more likely than revolution.
Equipment etc. is costly and in the current economic climate this seems unlikely but why not use the equipment that is already out there?
A National Digital Curriculum - is this an aspiration or are the components already there?
LWF11 - David Yarnton, General Manager, Nintendo UK
Why shouldn't learning be fun?
Speaker talked about how he was a athletics coach - specifically throwing activities such as javelin, shot put etc. Sometimes he would get children to throw wet sponges and have water fights to practice their throwing skills.
Long history of computer games - first patent filed in 1940's based on radar displays. Speaker suggested that the iPhone was originally conceived as a games machine. Went on to talk about using different machines for different purposes - no one machine can do everything.
Games are good for us: socially, culturally and economically. Image of gamer as socially isolated, spotty-faced, teenage boys is outdated (if it ever had any truth). Statistic - 60% of Wii users are female. Target audience for Wii was aged 6-60 but know there are people much older and younger using games machines.
Fun centres in children's hospitals with video games. They found that children talked to each other more because of the games area and that they recovered faster. Similarly, they found hospitals for service personnel - service people completing on Wii Fit recovered faster than others using state of the art fitness equipment.
Games are a great way to develop pupils because they don't realise they are learning. One pupils said, "The learning is in my hands."
Games in learning are often complimentary rather than a replacement for other activities.
Good cartoon to finish with that took six panels to describe an accident caused while a child's grandfather was playing computer game that resulted in the house being burnt down. Great detail was given of sequence of events that led to the disaster. Punchline in final frame was comment from the child who had been listening: "Amazing! Someone over sixty playing a video game? Alert the media!" ... Well it amused me!
Speaker talked about how he was a athletics coach - specifically throwing activities such as javelin, shot put etc. Sometimes he would get children to throw wet sponges and have water fights to practice their throwing skills.Long history of computer games - first patent filed in 1940's based on radar displays. Speaker suggested that the iPhone was originally conceived as a games machine. Went on to talk about using different machines for different purposes - no one machine can do everything.
Games are good for us: socially, culturally and economically. Image of gamer as socially isolated, spotty-faced, teenage boys is outdated (if it ever had any truth). Statistic - 60% of Wii users are female. Target audience for Wii was aged 6-60 but know there are people much older and younger using games machines.
Fun centres in children's hospitals with video games. They found that children talked to each other more because of the games area and that they recovered faster. Similarly, they found hospitals for service personnel - service people completing on Wii Fit recovered faster than others using state of the art fitness equipment.Games are a great way to develop pupils because they don't realise they are learning. One pupils said, "The learning is in my hands."
Games in learning are often complimentary rather than a replacement for other activities.
Good cartoon to finish with that took six panels to describe an accident caused while a child's grandfather was playing computer game that resulted in the house being burnt down. Great detail was given of sequence of events that led to the disaster. Punchline in final frame was comment from the child who had been listening: "Amazing! Someone over sixty playing a video game? Alert the media!" ... Well it amused me!
LWF11 - Derek Robertson
Games Based Learning
What can we learn from games? Games profiles - assessment for learning in action!
Do we always have to intervene? Can we leave children to get on with it? Is peer assessment a more natural way to go with games based learning?
Promoting learner engagement:
What can we learn from games? Games profiles - assessment for learning in action!
Do we always have to intervene? Can we leave children to get on with it? Is peer assessment a more natural way to go with games based learning?Promoting learner engagement:
- Involvement in reflection, setting goals;
- personal learning planning;
- ongoing active engagement;
- assessment is embedded in the game;
- nurtures confidence;
- encourages mastery learning;
- automatic and dynamic profiling;
- celebrating success
Monday, January 10, 2011
Handheld Learning Research strand
{Unfortunately, the seminar got off to a difficult start because two of the speakers pulled out at very short notice.}
Nick Hughes (Nightingale Primary School) - Redbridge Games Network
Games: "Probably the most powerful learning tool ever invented" - Lord Putnam
Games are a contextual hub for learning - it can be no different from using a book as the context for learning. A range of learning activities developed using the game (or the book) as a base to work from. Games are something the pupils used to and can be exciting and immersive.
The network formed around people who were interested in using games in this way. It was partly funded by the council but they also charged people to join and the funds were used to buy equipment that is loaned out to the members.
One of the first things they did was have a Wii development day where they played games, collected their ideas and then took them back to school. Some of the activities generated from this day were tried out in the class. In general, the game playing does not take up a significant portion of the day - perhaps five or ten minutes to set the context and generate interest. The focus is on literacy, numeracy, etc. rather than the game per se.
Pupils described what they liked about using games and why they liked it. One child said he liked it "...because you can do stuff - not just watch". They liked that it was interactive.
One of the things the network is looking at is: do games keep you active? They are looking at the Wii and Kinect, with games such as "Just Dance". They do find it an effective way to get children physically active.
Another area they are investigating is how children can become games creators using 2Do It Yourself, Scratch and Kodu. They found it empowered the learners. Year four children wanted to learn how to use action script in 2DIY (previously introduced to year 6 classes as it was considered advanced work), a child used Scratch at home and came back to teach the teacher how to do scrolling background games.
Just starting to experiment with Flips Books on the DS. {Derek Robertson is doing stuff in Scotland with Flips Books too. - DM} There are top books in this series, for example Artemis Fowl, and they are currently only £4.99 in Toys R Us!
Quotes from children: "It's not about the game." and "It's secret learning." The games help develop learners who are excited, interested and engaged. Ofsted have recognised the value of games, so schools need not be frightened about using them in class.
{Note to self: Two or three times, Nick used Wordle clouds to summarise data collected from free response questions. Worked well - visual impact plus key issues/words clearly indicated.}
Some of the discussion was how you use immersive games where you need more than ten minutes to get into them. It was acknowledged it can be difficult but perhaps it could be set up and running in the background when pupils come in from break.
Also asked why the research community has not fully engaged (with a few exceptions) games based learning. Is it still seen as fun and therefore not appropriate for education or for academic study? Lots of questions to be investigated, for example, can we show that games are at least as good or more effective than "traditional" tools.
We need the research to show to parents, directors of education and the press (and...) that games in schools are not a waste of time and money. In some ways, edutainment is seen as more acceptable but possibly {probably? - DM} less useful. Worth noting as well that games (not computer games) have been used in schools for ages.
Do games need to be tweaked to make them more "educational"? The Network was very clear that they did not want this. They see the teacher as being key - the teacher chooses the commercial off the shelf game and chooses how to use it to promote learning. They do not rely on the game creator to do the teaching.
Is there a "grammar of gaming" that can be adopted to help learning? {Does that extend to the language of games, e.g. cheat sheets instead of revision sheets? - DM}
Chocolate broccoli! Can you make a game that is entertaining and is good for you? Should you try? Extrinsic motivation has diminishing returns - do we really want to adopt game systems to reward children for brushing their teeth longer?
Nick Hughes (Nightingale Primary School) - Redbridge Games Network
Games: "Probably the most powerful learning tool ever invented" - Lord Putnam
Games are a contextual hub for learning - it can be no different from using a book as the context for learning. A range of learning activities developed using the game (or the book) as a base to work from. Games are something the pupils used to and can be exciting and immersive.The network formed around people who were interested in using games in this way. It was partly funded by the council but they also charged people to join and the funds were used to buy equipment that is loaned out to the members.
One of the first things they did was have a Wii development day where they played games, collected their ideas and then took them back to school. Some of the activities generated from this day were tried out in the class. In general, the game playing does not take up a significant portion of the day - perhaps five or ten minutes to set the context and generate interest. The focus is on literacy, numeracy, etc. rather than the game per se.
Pupils described what they liked about using games and why they liked it. One child said he liked it "...because you can do stuff - not just watch". They liked that it was interactive.
One of the things the network is looking at is: do games keep you active? They are looking at the Wii and Kinect, with games such as "Just Dance". They do find it an effective way to get children physically active.
Another area they are investigating is how children can become games creators using 2Do It Yourself, Scratch and Kodu. They found it empowered the learners. Year four children wanted to learn how to use action script in 2DIY (previously introduced to year 6 classes as it was considered advanced work), a child used Scratch at home and came back to teach the teacher how to do scrolling background games.
Just starting to experiment with Flips Books on the DS. {Derek Robertson is doing stuff in Scotland with Flips Books too. - DM} There are top books in this series, for example Artemis Fowl, and they are currently only £4.99 in Toys R Us!
Quotes from children: "It's not about the game." and "It's secret learning." The games help develop learners who are excited, interested and engaged. Ofsted have recognised the value of games, so schools need not be frightened about using them in class.
{Note to self: Two or three times, Nick used Wordle clouds to summarise data collected from free response questions. Worked well - visual impact plus key issues/words clearly indicated.}
Some of the discussion was how you use immersive games where you need more than ten minutes to get into them. It was acknowledged it can be difficult but perhaps it could be set up and running in the background when pupils come in from break.
Also asked why the research community has not fully engaged (with a few exceptions) games based learning. Is it still seen as fun and therefore not appropriate for education or for academic study? Lots of questions to be investigated, for example, can we show that games are at least as good or more effective than "traditional" tools.
We need the research to show to parents, directors of education and the press (and...) that games in schools are not a waste of time and money. In some ways, edutainment is seen as more acceptable but possibly {probably? - DM} less useful. Worth noting as well that games (not computer games) have been used in schools for ages.
Do games need to be tweaked to make them more "educational"? The Network was very clear that they did not want this. They see the teacher as being key - the teacher chooses the commercial off the shelf game and chooses how to use it to promote learning. They do not rely on the game creator to do the teaching.
Is there a "grammar of gaming" that can be adopted to help learning? {Does that extend to the language of games, e.g. cheat sheets instead of revision sheets? - DM}
Chocolate broccoli! Can you make a game that is entertaining and is good for you? Should you try? Extrinsic motivation has diminishing returns - do we really want to adopt game systems to reward children for brushing their teeth longer?
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Fun on Friday #83: Dance off
A report, or rather a video, from the Scottish Learning Festival seems appropriate.
From left to right we have Ollie Bray, a small child, Moby from Brain Pop and Derek Robertson (who once again demonstrates how he has the best job in the world!).
I believe Ollie cam last and that the small child beat Moby. However, I suspect that Derek's competitive spirit means that he will have given no quarter to the child; who looks to be a tenth of his age and his height. Can anyone confirm that Derek was willing to destroy all who stood in his way regardless of their age?
From left to right we have Ollie Bray, a small child, Moby from Brain Pop and Derek Robertson (who once again demonstrates how he has the best job in the world!).
I believe Ollie cam last and that the small child beat Moby. However, I suspect that Derek's competitive spirit means that he will have given no quarter to the child; who looks to be a tenth of his age and his height. Can anyone confirm that Derek was willing to destroy all who stood in his way regardless of their age?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
Visitors
