Month: March 2018

Games Based Learning is the key to engaging children in curricular areas varying from mathematics to chosen topics. ‘gaming is hugely popular in the UK with almost 86% of 5-7 years old children and 90% of 8-11 year old children using gaming devices regularly’ Ofcom Report (2011). For games-based learning to become successful it needs to be combined with games and good teaching and learning, for it to be completed at the best standard for the children.

As a learner, I found it difficult at the beginning to understand fully the principle of the game, I then asked questions and this then became more easier to understand. Progressing with the session I then became more confident and a lot more engaged and enthusiastic, but most importantly confident with the resource. After this session, it has encouraged me to download the game and spend more time at home to again grow my confidence so that I am able to portray this to a class.

As an educator, I believe this is a good and reliable resource that can benefits children in the educational sector. As the learning through play has developed from traditional games of hop-scotch, to rubix cubes and now in the 21st century x-boxs and play stations etc. We as influences need to use this technology to our advantage and help children engage in lessons through technology such as Minecraft, Mario Kart etc. Skills that can be developed by playing games can be strategic thinking, planning, communication, application of numbers, negotiating skills, group decision making and data handling skills, this will then benefits the children for the rest of their lives when they are out of a school environment as well as within.

 

Cirriculum for Excellence in Early level states: ‘I explore software and use what I learn to solve problems and present my ideas, thoughts, or information.’ This would be achieved by starting with Mario Kart and progressing through to Minecraft as they get older and more wiser. First level and second level joint states: ‘As I extend and enhance my knowledge of features of various types of software, including those which help find, organise, manage and access information, I can apply what I learn in different situations.’ By today’s session as a learner I believe I have achieved this as well as my peers by helping one another.

Coding

In today’s session, we focussed on coding and, in particular, the program called Scratch Jr on the iPads. I have had some experience of the Scratch program on computers, while at a school for experience. The iPad version was slightly different, and I hadn’t gotten the chance to experiment on my own with it before, so I was excited for this class! Throughout the input, we also looked at why coding is so important in today’s society and why children should learn it, and looked at the links to the Curriculum for Excellence outcomes across all levels.

Firstly, it is important, as a teacher, to fully understand why you are teaching a lesson – if you can’t justify the reason you are teaching something, you shouldn’t be teaching it! You have to pass on the reasons and the context to the children to ensure they are a invested in the learning as they can be. This is why we have looked at the benefits of coding in the classroom. Firstly, it is becoming more and more important to have the ability to code in today’s society, and it can be expected that in years to come, coding will be an even bigger part of our lives; as I have mentioned before, it is important to always keep in mind that we are preparing children for jobs of the future. It can even be said that coding is the ‘new’ literacy! This may seem far-fetched just now, but the coding language is used a lot in day-to-day life, even if we don’t realise it ourselves. Also, the act of learning coding can help people use strategies for solving problems, designing projects and communicating ideas.

Scratch Jr is a programming language designed specifically for young children to allow them to create their own interactive stories and games. The program makes coding into a visual experience, as the child drags and drops ‘blocks’ that tell their character what to do: jump, walk, talk etc. However, children using Scratch Jr not only improve upon their computing skills, they learn to “think creatively, reason systematically, and work collaboratively – essential skills for success and happiness in today’s world.” (The Lead Project, 2014). The Scratch programme is specifically designed to enable children to explore and experiment, with no limits to their imagination. It is for this reason that Scratch is so versatile and can aid teachers in subjects like mathematics, English, music, art, design and information technology. This also links with the Curriculum for Excellence’s Experience and Outcomes: first and second level outcomes such as “I explore ad experiment with the features and functions of computer technology and I can use what I learn to support and enhance my learning in different contexts” (TCH 1-04a/TCH 2-04a) can be achieved by working with programmes such as Scratch.

As part of this class, we were challenged to create our own story using Scratch to illustrate it. We had to at least: change the background; add characters; program the characters to move and add in some speech. It was really interesting to use the programme for ourselves as it helped us to get into the mind of a child and how they might meet obstacles while exploring, and how they may overcome them and use their problem solving skills. It is obvious that children would get a lot of enjoyment out of working with this programme as well as quality learning and problem solving experience.

References:

›The Lead Project (2014) Super Scratch Programming Adventure: Learn to Program by Making Cool Games! No Starch Press.

YouTube Tutorial – Welcome video and short introductory tutorial:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ciWPaEgscr0

 

 

The focus of the learning this week in the Digital Technology tutorial was games-based learning, which is “the integration of gaming into learning experiences to increase engagement and motivation” (Higher Education Academy, 2017).

 

Games based learning is challenging, engaging, creative and fun.  Children engaging with games-based learning are utilising their social skills, developing their communications skills and using their imagination.  All the while it could be suggested that they are not even aware that they are learning… play is a crucial part of cognitive development as children grow. (Higher Education Academy, 2017).

 

Through the course of the Digital Technology Module there have been references to games-based learning and discussion surrounding the use of MineCraft.  In a previous blog I have mentioned that MineCraft could be useful for children with Additional Support Needs (ASN) to engage with learning.  I had also considered the use of Wii Sports as a relevant game which could be used to assist children to engage with a physical lifestyle.  I admit I was a little taken aback when the focus of the lesson was to be around the Super Mario games Series (specifically Super Mario Kart).

 

Tasked with designing a Kart and Character I was a little apprehensive as my drawing skills are not to the fore.  When my design turned out to look like a poorly drawn Mini-Convertible with Pizza’s (badly drawn) for wheels, I have to admit, I did not see where I would go from there and how I would then work with my group and plan an Interdisciplinary Learning Experience (IDL) with this as my inspiration!  I could not have been more wrong, and as the ideas for the IDL came together, we had to stop ourselves from allowing it to get out of control.

 

Using the Pizza wheels as inspiration an IDL was planned.  The Curriculum for Excellence sets out Experiences and Outcomes (E’s & O’s) that should be delivered, and the Mathematic outcome used for our activity was:

Through taking part in practical activities including use of pictorial representations, I can demonstrate my understanding of simple fractions which are equivalent.  MTH 1-07c (Scottish Government, 2008).

Activity for the outcome would be completing words problems that would result in answers in fractions.  For example:  After the race, the wheels were shared out by the team, there were 8 people on the team, how many slices of pizza will each person get?

 

Another activity which would deliver a good variety of E’s & O’s would be to work towards making pizza.  The activity would include researching a recipe for making pizza dough.  Method for making it and method for preparing a pizza.  Discussions around the wording such as Ounces/Grams and Celsius/Fahrenheit.   (As the group discussed this idea we realised that as part of the pizza making we would be using weights and measures and that we may be covering further E’s & O’s).  The activity would also include experimenting with different flavours and toppings and would discuss foods as a national identity.  Once all the information was collated, mobile devices and eBooks would be used to create an instructional ‘How to make Pizza’ eBook.  This would be a multimodal eBook and could then be added to over time with other recipes.  This activity would be split into different lessons and as it was delivered it would meet the following E’s & O’s.

I can present in my writing in a way that will make it legible and attractive for my reader combining words, images and other features.  LIT1-24a.

I enjoy eating a diversity of foods n a range of social situations.  HWB1-29a.

I experience and sense of enjoyment and achievement when preparing simple healthy food and drinks.  HWB1-30b.

I can access, retrieve and use information from electronic sources to support, enrich or extend learning in different contexts. TCH 1-03b.

(Scottish Government, 2008)

 

One of the benefits of the games-based learning approach is that is encourages group work and allows a child to develop communication skills, talking in groups, listening and teamwork.  The Scottish Government sets out eight indicators of wellbeing which are commonly referred to by the acronym their initials make, SHANARRI.  Children are considered ‘Responsible’ if they have opportunities and encouragement to engage in play (Scottish Government, 2017).

The lesson plan surrounding making a pizza would result in a child ‘Achieving’ – being supported and guided in learning and in the development of skills (Scottish Government, 2017).  Furthermore, making pizza and encouraging healthy toppings would see the child considered ‘Healthy’ – access to suitable healthcare and support in learning to make healthy, safe choices (Scottish Government, 2017).

“Games… have become more demanding, often challenging players to solve complex problems” (Jones & Hafner, 2012).  However, children may not even realise they are learning (Higher Education Academy, 2018).  Some critics suggest that games are corruptive, addictive and a waste of time (Jones & Hafner, 2012) however, whilst our lesson plan was around games-based learning, it must be said that in the workshop we did not actually play the game.  With this in mind, it could be suggested that the benefits are greater than a risk of corruption or addiction.  Furthermore, the choice of game would be appropriate for an age group and would not promote violence or anti-social behaviours.  Actual game playing should be included to ensure children fully engage with the activities however it would not be necessary to include game playing as part of every activity.

References:

Higher Education Academy (Online) https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/knowledge-hub/gamification-and-games-based-learning [Accessed 12March 2018]

Jones, R and Hafner, A, (2012) Understanding Digital Literacies, A Practical Introduction Abingdon.  Routledge.

Scottish Government (2017) Wellbeing (Online)  http://www.gov.scot/Topics/People/Young-People/gettingitright/wellbeing [Accessed 12 March 2018)

Scottish Government (2008) The Curriculum for Excellence [Online] http://www.education.gov.scot/Documents/all-experiences-and-outcomes.pdf [Accessed 012 March 2018]

 

The question over whether Mobile Devices should be permitted for use in the classroom is a controversial one.  In my opinion I believe there is a place for allowing pupils to use their mobile devices e.g.: tablet, in the classroom.  Research by Ofcom cited in the Telegraph suggests “Six-year- olds have the same understanding of communication technology as 45-year-olds” (Curtis, 2014).  This suggests that children are highly literate in the use of mobile devices and use them to problem solve.  For example: in the past a child would be directed to a dictionary, but an online dictionary is faster and easier to navigate.  Additionally, a mobile device can access a variety of information without the need for library of books.  Furthermore “The digital economy is vital to Scotland’s economy.  82,700 people work in digital jobs in Scotland and the sector contributes £4.5 billion to Scotland’s economy” (Scottish Government, 2016).  Therefore, in my opinion, I feel that access to mobile devices in a classroom setting is a must to fully prepare children for the future.

 

Jarvis suggests that some of the problems surrounding technology in the classroom stems from a lack of consensus within the profession surrounding technology (Jarvis, 2015).  And given the previously cited research by Ofcom, if a child of six has the same understanding of communication technology as a 45-year-old it would be reasonable to suggest that educators may lack confidence in allowing technology in the classroom.

 

The issue was one of the discussions that we were asked to participate in as part of the input on mobile devices.

 

The term mobile devices encompass more than just mobile phones and includes devices such as tablets and recording devices.  One of the activities we were tasked with was using the Easi-Speak Microphone.  Effectively the device is a MP3 recorder, its design is attractive to children as it comes in bright colours and is the right size for a child’s hand.  It is simple to use and, I found one of its most user-friendly features was its simplicity when transferring the recording onto a computer.  The device itself connects directly to a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port.

 

Mobile devices allow for “Situated Learning” (Beauchamp, 2017, p.91) and the Easi-Speak lends itself well to this.  Imagine its usage as a group of pupils conduct interviews as part of a Topic/Literacy assignment.  The device can be taken to a location and recording made on site.

 

As part of a pair, we were tasked with writing an “I AM” poem.  When completed the poem was recorded line by line onto the Easi-Speak microphone.  We were then able to insert the audio clips onto a PowerPoint presentation.  The sound clips were added to images this meant that the poem became multimodal.  Beauchamp suggests that multimodality allows teachers to present information in various ways allowing for greater understanding by the pupil and can it can make work more interesting (Beauchamp, 2017).  Jarvis states “learners who alternate between reading and listening to audio files are likely to remember more” (Jarvis, 2015, p.73).  Multi-modality also allows for work to be more inclusive for those with Additional Support Needs (ASN).

 

The assignment also met outcomes from the curriculum for excellence as listed below:

 

I can present my writing in a way that will make it legible and attractive for my reader, combining words images and other features.  LIT 1-24a

 

Having explored the elements which writers use in different genres, I can use what I learn to create my own stories, poems and plays with interesting structures, characters and/or settings.  ENG 1-31a.

 

I can create, capture and manipulate sounds, text and images to communicate experiences, idea and information in creative and engaging ways.  TCH1-04b.

 

(Scottish Government, 2008)

 

When reflecting on the experience I noted that the insertion of the audio made sense of the pictures on the screen and not having to focus on the reading of a slide meant that the presentation was easy to engage with.  This became more apparent as I had the opportunity to view the multimodal “I am” poems made by my classmates.

 

Whist it is a mobile device, the Easi-Speak does not pose the same risks as another device that is internet capable.  It is natural to worry that children are unsafe online, and it would be difficult as a teacher to monitor a class who were using their own devices that have internet surfing available.  One possible solution would be that mobile devices should be limited to tablets that require WI-FI, that way a strong firewall would be effective.  However, research shows that children expressed an informed understanding of the dangers which could posed by using a device which allowed them to be online.  They show awareness of pranking, hacking and receiving abuse.  They research suggest that children would disclose to a significant adult and were also aware of agencies such as Childline or the Police (Scottish Government, 2016, p.7)

Erland & Fiona presentation

 

References:

Beauchamp, G (2017) Computing and ICT in the Primary School From Pedagogy to Practice 2nd ed. London: Routledge.

 

Curtis, S (2014) Digital learning; how technology is reshaping teaching (online) Telegraph [online] Available: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/11051228/Digital-learning-how-technology-is-reshaping-teaching.html [Accessed 08 March 2018].

 

Jarvis, M (2015) Brilliant Ideas for using ICT in the Classroom London: Routledge.

 

Scottish Government (2016) A digital Learning and Teaching Strategy for Scotland, The views of Children (Online) http://www.childrensparliament.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/REPORT_digital-learning-consultation_Childrens-Parliament-1.pdf [Accessed 08 March 2018].

Scottish Government (2008) The Curriculum for Excellence [Online] http://www.education.gov.scot/Documents/all-experiences-and-outcomes.pdf [Accessed 05 March 2018]

Scottish Government (2016) Enhancing Learning and Teaching Through the Use of Digital Technology, A Digital Learning and Teaching Strategy for Scotland (Online) http://www.gov.scot/Resource/0050/00505855.pdf [Accessed 08 March 2018].

 

 

Multimodality

Today’s Digital Technologies input focussed on multimodality and how it can enhance teaching and learning in the classroom. We then looked at different ways to create multimodal texts, and in particular, explored the program called ActivInspire. As a cohort, we have learned about multimodality in our semester one module, Literacy for Understanding; however, time did not allow us to look at this in depth, we now have the opportunity to fully explore multimodality.

We learned that a text is considered multimodal when it combines two or more semiotic systems; there are five semiotic systems altogether: linguistic, visual, audio, gestural and spatial. It is understandable that it is so important for teachers to fully understand multimodality, as we all know that children all have very different learning styles, and multimodality can cater to a wide range of them. Beauchamp (2012) states that multimodality “allows teachers to present an idea in a variety of different ways to help pupils understand it”.

The curriculum displays the need for multimodality in the classroom, as the Literacy and English Principles and Practice document states that the “framework reflects the increased use of multimodal texts, digital communication, social networking and the other forms of electronic communication encountered by children and young people in their daily lives”. Beauchamp (2012) also goes on to say that “we must challenge the implicit assumption that speech and writing are always central and sufficient for learning.”

The reasons for using multimodality in the classroom are vast – presentations that include more than 2 semiotic systems tend to be: captivating, motivating, interactive, personalised, dynamic, memorable and engaging. Multimodality can be introduced into a classroom in many different ways: one of which being presentations on interactive boards. Prandstatter (2014) states that “touch displays can become a social learning tool encouraging hands-on experiences thereby helping children learn by doing.”

We focussed on a program called ActivInspire, which is very common in schools. It allows you to create interactive flip charts which bring lessons to life. There are two forms of ActivInspire: Primary and Studio. The former being more suitable for younger children with bright colours and enlarged, simple icons, with Studio being slightly more advanced and functional. ActivInspire has many features: adding annotations, highlighting texts, adding handwritten notes or drawings, inserting images or videos, creating shapes and designs, adding backgrounds etc.

We were tasked to work in pairs to create some ActivInspire flipchart slides to create an interactive lesson in a classroom. My peer and I chose to make a French lesson. The focus of the lesson was learning basic French colours. The slides included interactive activities for the children to complete such as drawing a line from the English to the French translation and unscrambling the letters to create the French word for certain colours. The idea being that this flipchart would assist in teaching the children, by getting them to be active in the lesson. Completing this task really made me understand how an interactive flipchart is so much more captivating for children, as opposed to regular PowerPoint presentations.

References:

Beauchamp, G. (2012) ICT in the Primary School: From Pedagogy to Practice. Pearson.

Education Scotland

https://education.gov.scot

YouTube ActivInspire series of support videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oj4UPCSpBD0&list=PLika7PgNHNP3P5H0YbVpFvgFyzhnPZG5D

 

For today’s lesson we were exploring games-based learning “Digital Games-based Learning is the integration of gaming into learning experiences to increase engagement and motivation.”(Higher Education Academy 2017). One of the main reasons I chose Digital Technology as an optional module is during our first semester in another module we were introduced by our lecturer Graham, how the Wii Game ‘Rock Band’ could be used to engage and motive children from creating a band, drawing or painting the band members, going on a world tour and calculating prices of tickets, working out where to go and when, the options are almost endless and include so many, both cross-curricular activities and life-skills from collaborative working to problem solving.

We began today’s lesson by working in groups to create a mind map on the positives and negatives we  thought about Game-Based learning. Some of the positives we decided upon were that children were free to express themselves, in control of their own learning and the interactivity they allow. We then did some further reading and returned to our mind-map. From our reading this emphasised the collaborative and co-operative working opportunities and promoting exploration games-based learning can provide in a classroom.

 

 

Jean Piaget first introduced the idea of discovery learning and Piaget, alongside Vygotsky has argued that play is a crucial component for development from birth through to adulthood. He suggested children learn best through ‘doing and actively exploring’ (Mcleod, S. 2015). Vygotsky built upon this by suggesting that children not only learn by doing but this learning is most valuable when done in social groups, learners helping and teaching each others,  Vyotsky names this the ‘More Knowledgeable Other’. Both Piaget and Vygotsky have changed our schooling system and the way we teach immeasurably and Games-Based learning has the ability to incorporate all of their main theories, promoting social learning, discovery learning and allowing them to actively explore.

An idea for Games-Based learning we were exploring in today’s lesson was the Mario Kart game on Wii console. We were to create our own Mario Kart vehicle:

This has been the first lesson where I have been confident with the technology we have been using. I love the Mario Kart Wii game and I found it really fun to create my own vehicle, it reminded me of the excitement I would feel in Primary School when we were given the freedom to create and draw our own character, this is an excitement I hope to be able to bring to my own classroom and after this lesson I have many invaluable ideas which I can take forward with me. If doing this in a classroom I would provide a range of materials for the children to choose from so they could choose different colours and textures to cut and stick onto the vehicle they were creating. This activity could then be extended in so many different directions which is what we were to discuss in small groups after having created our vehicles.

We created a poster based upon the Mario Kart Wii game and an activity we could extend to Inter Disciplinary Learning (IDL). Whilst creating our poster we found ti difficult to put activities under specific areas of the curriculum as most of our activity ideas were cross-curricular and so covered more than one area of the curriculum. We decided our activities would be based upon the design of a track for the cars to race around, we would encourage the children to create a track to manoeuvre  Beebot around, this included writing directional instructions specific to their track for their peers to follow, creating a short animation film of Beebot moving around their track and writing a reflective blog throughout the whole experience. This is one example of the inter-disciplinary learning Games-Based Learning allows. From these activities we covered Maths, Art, Technology and Literacy however we had many ideas of how we could have extended this evan further to different areas of the curriculum, beginning to incorporate children’s movement through health and wellbeing. Some of our Experiences and outcomes from the Curriculum for Excellence as seen in our poster below included

• ‘I can describe, follow and record routes and journeys using signs, words and angles associated with direction and turning’ MTH 1-17a
• ‘I can present my writing in a way that will make it legible and attractive for my reader, combining words, images and other features’ LIT 1-24a
• ‘I can explore and experiment with digital technologies and can use what I learn to support and enhance my learning in different contexts’ TCH 1-01a

(Education Scotland, 2004)

 

Today’s lesson made me excited for the future and provided me with the ideas and ignited my passion to use Games-Based Learning in a classroom one day as I have explored, researched and discovered the benefits and possibilities it can bring to learning. Mario Kart for Wii is a game which has been around for a while, since my childhood, and so I am familiar and confident with it however there are several new games which could also be relevant and valuable to learning opportunities which the children may have more knowledge in than I do. This is not something to be feared though as I can learn from the children and this would also be an exciting opportunity for them to teach me aspects of the game I might not be aware of.

 

References

Education Scotland (2004) Curriculum for Excellence; Experiences and Outcomes [Online] https://education.gov.scot/scottish-education-system/policy-for-scottish-education/policy-drivers/cfe-(building-from-the-statement-appendix-incl-btc1-5)/Experiences%20and%20outcomes [Accessed:06/03/2018]

Higher Education Academy (2017) Gamificaiton and Games-Based learning [Online] Available at: https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/knowledge-hub/gamification-and-games-based-learning [Accessed: 06/03/2018]

McLeod, S. (2015) Jean Piaget [Online] Available at: https://www.simplypsychology.org/piaget.html [Accessed: 06/03/2018]

McLeod, S. (2014) Lev Vygotsky [Online] Available at: https://www.simplypsychology.org/vygotsky.html [Accessed: 06/03/2018]