Game week

This week was game week, when we arrived in the room there were a number of different game consoles such as the WII, computers, ipads etc. We were told to walk around the room and try out each game, we then had to rate it on how it could be used for education and learning. Some of the games such as the computer and ipad could be used for learning games however I don't see how the Wii AND xbox could be used.It was however interesting to see the differences between each console and the things they had to offer.

The computer is obviously the most simple way of bringing gaming into the classroom as there are hundred of educational games that can be downloaded or played online, however the Doctor Who game that we were provided with was not educational and was not only difficult to play but also very boring, there was to much dialog and it became very tedious.

 

The Wii and Xbox both provided games which contained sensors so your body controlled the game, I can see how children would find this entertaining however for educational purposes I do not see it as useful, firstly it can only be used by a maximum of two people at a time and in a classroom over twenty this could be difficult also the games were not educational at all but more for sport.

Overall I think that gaming consoles are difficult to bring into the classroom as they don't contain games that are relevant to education, however as exercise and a way of playing games they are a brilliant idea.

 

Creating a game

Today we were given the task of creating a game using '2Do it yourself' this is a simple program to make simple quick and easy games. It is perfect for children to use as it provides simple instructions using videos to follow on how to create a game. I decided to create a maze game based around the story of little red riding hood. I really enjoyed doing this activity and being able to be creative and learn how to us the software. After an hour my game was complete and I was really proud of it. This is a great way of recapping subjects and stories in the classroom as the children can create their own games but at the same time learn. Unfortunately after countless attempts I was still unable to embed the game onto my blog but the link below will take you straight to the game.

https://11db6fb6-a-62cb3a1a-s-sites.googlegroups.com/site/smueducationproject/welcome/Red%20riding%20hood.swf?attachauth=ANoY7coos1kzVpEX7_iUJNKqhHU4KficJSdb-wEjCurzB4f4TTJKssalhUqh9lAzC49kMLgullX-WvCAoHJOEid07S8TN0-cLFRHALOvq8XGydz3mh6raCs0ya6VRXXAwdCu2pZrXV8l1ot7uPHLoa_7NKBy_wghca7va3p1ThB2JNlhpQMxG-2eKSL3Gyrw-qEhSkbpcw7sxCZio2ZBO_Q8X2zkijTcR-sGqv5sZofMHtTXoOX2lZg%3D&attredirects=0

Debate

This week we conducted a debate around the topic of gaming in the classroom, and whether gaming should or shouldn't be allowed in the classroom to teach the children. My group was for gaming and we came up with a number of relevant points to present to the opposing team.

• Provides different ways of learning
• Makes learning interactive and fun
• Helps children who find reading and writing difficult
• Powerful learning tool

At first we found it very difficult to get our point across as we were not as organsied as we would have liked, however after the opposing teams turn we were able to argue back and had some valid points. At the end of the debate the opposing team won, however I believe that if we had been more organised at the beginning we probably would have. The opposing team did have a lot of valid points however and they did produce a good argument.