I have just started the games module with my 2nd year educational studies groups. It seems to be going really well, although it is fair to say that some are enjoying it more than others! The first session was spent discussing what games meant to us as adults and how we saw the relevance of games in our lives. Whether we enjoy video games, what attributes good game should have, what sort of games we play, who we like to play games with. The students then created a PowerPoint to depict a moral dilemma, with choices throughout to engage and include the audience. This interactivity was an aspect that the students had identified as an important feature of a game. Last week the students were asked to play and evaluate, a selection of Channel 4 educational games designed for 14-18 year olds. The topics the games covered were varied and, in some cases, according to their evaluations, tenuous. After, what for some became a frustrating, thirty minutes, each students was asked to complete a written evaluation which was added to their groups gaming wiki. Here is the selection of on-line video games that I chose (with the help of my 15 year old son) for exploration.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Friday, January 7, 2011
2011 wow where did the time go?
The new year and well, what's new about it? Once again I'm off to BETT to find out what the world of technology has to offer the education sector. I'm looking forward to the trip as I am taking quite a large group of students this time. I just hope that they get something out of it. I'm so enthusiastic that I worry their expectations will higher than the event can satisfy. I don't know why that should be the case, as I can always find something new and inspiring!
Oh and incidentally, about Christmas, what technology did santa bring you? Well I had an Amazon Kindle! Not that I had asked for one, but by wonderful chance some kind sole (paying attention to my needs) decided that it would be the prefect gift for me. I have to admit that it is something that I have never considered. My students provide me with enough on-line material to read so I had avoided even researching it. What a surprise when I opened it though! For a start it doesn't even look like a screen, which a guess is the main selling point, it looks like one of the sample phones on display in Car Phone Warehouse! It is so simple and effective to use. Downloading books & PDFs couldn't be easier. This week I wrote my notes on games in education ready for my lecture, saved it as a PDF and sent it to my Kindle...and there in seconds it appeared. So along with my favourite authors, I can read my own ramblings freely without carrying heavy books and scraps of paper! Where will it end?
I'm looking forward to this new module on Games in Education. It is a revelation for me as I'm not a gamer, but I have been interested in the impact gaming can have on learning for some time now. You never know I might become a convert!
Oh and incidentally, about Christmas, what technology did santa bring you? Well I had an Amazon Kindle! Not that I had asked for one, but by wonderful chance some kind sole (paying attention to my needs) decided that it would be the prefect gift for me. I have to admit that it is something that I have never considered. My students provide me with enough on-line material to read so I had avoided even researching it. What a surprise when I opened it though! For a start it doesn't even look like a screen, which a guess is the main selling point, it looks like one of the sample phones on display in Car Phone Warehouse! It is so simple and effective to use. Downloading books & PDFs couldn't be easier. This week I wrote my notes on games in education ready for my lecture, saved it as a PDF and sent it to my Kindle...and there in seconds it appeared. So along with my favourite authors, I can read my own ramblings freely without carrying heavy books and scraps of paper! Where will it end?
I'm looking forward to this new module on Games in Education. It is a revelation for me as I'm not a gamer, but I have been interested in the impact gaming can have on learning for some time now. You never know I might become a convert!
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