Tuesday 14th March
Digital Games Based Learning
As I walked in to today’s class I found a Wii out; two chairs and Mario Carts displayed on the whiteboard. Once I saw this, I knew today was going to be interesting and fun. The main game we used for digital based learning was Mario Carts. The points of using games as a tool for in the classroom are: using games can be a stimulus, using games to teach content, using games to teach social skills and for the children to create their own games which can be creatively stimulating.
This quote, I liked in my further reading as it has become so true with our modern 21st century society: “Computer games are the most powerful learning tool of our age.” (Professor Henry James MIT) I was not aware of the several advantages that posed with using such things as the Wii and Digital Based Learning. The most important advantages that stood out for me were:
- Increased Motivation
- Grab Attention
- Recall of information
- Reinforce Knowledge
- Stress-free and pleasurable
Using their creative language and mind-skills on digital-based learning poses more effective than giving a writing task on paper. It is very important to make sure that children are always learning and are intellectually stimulated and digital game based learning seems to do this. As Russel from Education Scotland said: “I want to drive forward a culture change in Scottish education and ensure new technologies can be embedded into learning,” (BBC News, 2012, P.1) and the use of Digital Games-Based learning like the Wii allows this aim to be accomplished.
Although, to make sure that the game is effective and will be the best opportunity for learning for the children, the following should be asked and answered correctly to whether it will be the best learning tool for the children:
- Can the game be used to develop specific curricular content (areas, detail within areas). Does the game support assessment?
- Is the game providing a stimulus for other activities?
- Can the game be used in a stand alone lesson, but also have potential for wider topic/cross curricular work?
- Does the game provide a challenge that generates ongoing learning flow?
- Is problem solving promoted?
- How is the game pitched (complexity, stage, variables)?
However, there seems to be a negative stigma attached with the use of games in classroom. A very important and true point raised was: “some adults expressed concern about the nature of children’s use of videos and computers, but were unaware of the ways in which children were engaging with, and making sense of, their activities, whether as solitary individuals or in social and collaborative groups.” (Loveless. A and Dore B. p5, 2002)
Another topic that we learned about was the SHANARRI wheel, another very important aspect to know if I am to be successful. It is an important for children’s learning environment. What it stands for is:
- S – Safe
- H – Healthy
- A – Active
- N – Nurtured
- A – Achieving
- R – Respected
- R – Responsible
- I – Included
This can link to the four capacities as if the children are safe and are responsive to the SHANARRI wheel then, they complete aspects of the capacities. The four capacities and SHANARRI wheel fit hand-in-hand with one another. The four capacities are another important aspect that a teacher needs to know to be an effective teacher. They are very important within the Curriculum for Excellence a bible towards an effective teachers career, they are:
- Successful Learners
- Effective Contributors
- Confident Individuals
- Responsible citizens
Here is an effective diagram of what it looks like to get it right for all the children and provide the best learning opportunities possible:
Once we all had a turn of seeing how Digital Based Games learning can be intellectually stimulating we were given the task of making our own lesson plans and ideas that fitted into the different capacities of the CfE documentation. Here is what we came with:
(c) Mr Ewing and Mr McCrone
As you can see from our poster we created a: Numeracy, Health and Wellbeing, Literacy and Modern Foreign Language lessons. All of these tasks are based around having used digital game based learning which help to interest the children as the above advantages state how using games can be much more interesting for the children. From a teachers point-of-view using one digital based game can stem across to different levels of the curriculum and create ideas for different lessons.
However, teacher’s must always, “have ambitious strategy regarding the use of digital technology in education and actively look for opportunities to continually invest in a sustainable digital infrastructure.” (Scottish Government, P.9) The teacher should be confident with the use of such things as a Wii and how to make that relevant toward a specific lesson to enhance learning.
Until Next Week,
Christopher
References:
Scottish Government (2009) Curriculum for Excellence: Experience and Outcomes. [Online] Available:https://www.education.gov.scot/Documents/All-experiences-outcomes_.pdf [Accessed: 7 March 2017]
Loveless A. and Dore B. (2002) ICT in the Primary School. Graphicraft, Hong Kong: Biddles Limited, Guildford and Kings Lynn
BBC News (2012) Education Scotland Looks To Expand Use of Tablet Computers in Schools – BBC News. [Online] Available: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-18081005 [Accessed: 14 March 2017]
Professor Henry James (Blog 5) Games in Schools MOOC [Online] Available: http://scotedublogs.org/tag/games/ [Accessed: 14 March 2017]
Scottish Government. (2016) Enhancing Learning and Teaching through the use of Digital Technology. [Online] Available: http://www.gov.scot/Resource/0050/00505855.pdf [Accessed: 14 March 2017]
