This week we played the FreeRice.com game at MxL.This is an English vocabulary game whereby 10 grains of rice is donated to the United Nations World Food Programme for every correct answer.In subsequent rounds of the game, the words were repeated and this provided the chance to correct previous mistakes that we made.FreeRice word power game will certainly challenge our students, increase vocabulary and improve pronunciation.Improvement in language skills will follow.In a way, it can be seen that ideas of charity and charitable organization are embedded and students can from this.
Video games has a bright and growing future in our education system.It is especially so as it can engage our students and enhance learning through creativity and innovation.Traditional teaching methods, standardized curriculum and testing will have to be revamped to cater to the ground breaking potential of gaming and the new breed of digital-savvy students. Video games are seen as enhancing students’ problem-solving capabilities as they put them in spot and they are forced to solve.Games are also seen as a form of assessment as it also gives feedback.Assessmentis not separated from learning. Students are seen as producing knowledge in gaming not just facts as they collaborate in groups and design games.Educators will have to take into account the benefits of gaming and redesign lessons that will promote students’ innovation and creative capabilities.
The Indiana University School of Education did a research on middle school students and found that they spend about 30 hours a week playing games. As opposed to the amount of time they spend on their homework, this is a disproportionate figure. The attraction of gaming is that students do not have to fear failing as it is on a trial and error basis.However, in education it is the front loaded system where students are provided information first followed by testing and this is daunting.
Over the past 3 weeks our game-based learning at the MxL was a fun-filled enriching and educating experience.Our class was exposed to wide-ranging experiences as we were transported to various “places” and “experiences as in Dafur, tennis court, Trauma Center, boxing ring just to name a few.Very often values and educational lessons are subtly embedded in game-based learning.It has many advantages in terms of cognitive, affective and psychomotor aspects.This cannot be delivered through the conventional way of teaching.Students learn values as they develop strategies, skills and tactics.They bond and share the fun as they learn with a group of fellow gamers.The challenge for educators is to balance the amount of fun and learning and design it such that with the appropriate teaching methodology, it benefits students.
Computer games have potential educational value for teaching and learning and cannot be ignored as our students are digital natives. It is a powerful tool when incorporated with teaching pedagogies as it covers a range of styles, themes and content. Basically, issues that teachers need to consider are firstly if the computer game content is suitable for the learning objectives of the curriculum subject.Secondly, the length of time taken to learn to use the controls should not adversely impact the time needed to complete the learning objectives. Thirdly, how beneficial is the game and does it provide access to different scenarios, levels and missions which could be useful to the topic being taught.
Demo Project : Face Book (FB)
It’s a free-access social networking website whereby it emphasizes on expanding online network of people with the same interest or with an interest to discover the interests of others.People use FB to keep in touch with friends and learn more about the people they meet.As it is the most popular interactive platform used by our Singapore students, lessons geared towards it will certainly be a hit with them.Students put up as much information about themselves on their profile page and personalized their FB. Teachers can use it effectively by asking students to do descriptive writing exercise when students interpret and make inferences of their classmates’ profiles.The teacher can look at the postings and provide her feedback.
Demo Project : Comic Life
Comic Life can be created by putting together our pictures, photos, captions, lettering text and speech balloons. As the name implies Comic Life is a fun way that students will enjoy and relate to. It helps break down and simplify difficult ideas and transforms boring subjects to interesting ones.This will be very useful for Literature lessons as in character and plot analysis.It can also get students’ involvement in lessons in away that the traditional teaching simply can’t.
Gaming:Dafur is Dying
The game is educational in the sense that it impresses on us how tough life is for others and not take things for granted.Just to get a bucket of water in a war torn place was such a harrowing experience for the people.Lessons on what other people go through in other parts of the world is embedded in the game.One need not go to Dafur to learn this.Playing this game needs one to stay alert, quick with controlling the buttons.This certainly needs practice and planning the route to the well to get water needs some coordination.The disadvantage of the game is that once we master it, it is easy to get hooked on it.
Gaming: Trauma Centre
This game reminds me of the TV series Emergency Room (ER).The clock is ticking and two surgeons need to coordinate and work as a team to “assemble” and align theshattered bones and stitch back the “patient” within a pre-set timeframe.Otherwise our patient is going to die or wake up screaming or both! Wow, traumatic for the “surgeons”.But, it’s a really learning experience.Let’s suppose a 12 year old gamer plays this game.He or she will certainly learn all about the surgical procedures, operating safety measures, surgical instruments, become more dexterous, learn about the fragility of life, value of time and teamwork.
Gaming is an in-thing with students and as it is effective we need to find ways to deliver our lessons through games.This will make lessons more engaging and stretch students’ attention span.
Our ICT class was held at the MxL Lab. I have mixed feelings. The first part of the lesson, Jessica’s team and my two teammates were impressive and were like cool cats. During my turn of the demo presentation it was disastrous. I was a bunch of nerves and sounded like a nervous-wreck even to my own ears!
Blogging is very powerful as it enables distributing of information and with the comment feature, questions can be asked, comments and critques give a voice. Being observed and assisted by other students enable students to stay engaged on the task.
MixedInk
Using MixedInk in our lessons is an impactful tool. Working in a specified timeframe, this tool provides an avenue for groups of students to simultaneously post their ideas and work towards a consolidated version. For instance in a creative writing group project, students can submit their suggestions and ideas and then come up with the most suitable version. This encourages collaboration and sharing. The teacher can provide guiding scaffolding to ensure that students are on track. Students are being prepared for the real world in school.
Outside the school domain, it can solve real world problem. When everyone pools their contribution and the best version of the idea is put forward as in a protest letter from members of public airing their grievances e.g. against increase in bus fare or residents’ outcry on demolishing an old treasured building. It enables the crafting out of the best idea from the submission of all the “spokespersons” and projecting the group’s opinion.
Station 4 - Wii (Sports and Fit) - Gaming
The second part of the lesson was a real treat. Finally, I “played” tennis - backhand, forehand and volley! The boxing punches were also fun ! It was a fun-filled de-stressing session. It was a visual treat to watch Riza skiing merrily, Jessica hullahooping energetically and Alphonsus swinging blistering punches that will put Mike Tyson to shame!
What I learned from the activities?
Games are an in thing with students. We need to think from their perspective. I guess, gaming helps us to relate better with students. Learning how to dodge those punches and play proper tennis certainly needed thinking and strategizing. Therefore, I would say it’s an energizing and healthy activity certainly not a waste. I enjoyed it! Students nowadays are digital natives and have this we-and-them attitude towards teachers. Gaming is fun and a starting point to win students over and show them that there is a child inside every teacher. The challenge is to strike a balance and ensuring that the curriculum aspect is not overlooked and must be delivered.
Station 5 - James Paul Gee's 36 Learning Principles of Games
Our group chose one of the principles and tried to google for more information. It was quite a rush. We need to relook at this alternatively select another learning principle.
To turn an ICT-integrated classroom into a conducive learning place and develop students’ “higher order thinking skills”, teacher needs to position herself such that she can monitor to ensure that students are involved in the class activities set by her.Each student’s cognitive development is different.Teacher can flash on the screen and give out non-ICT tools like printed instruction sheets that help them with the lesson and outlines functions that students need to access often. Before a lesson starts, teachers can adopt the strategy of doing a brief recap of the previous lesson and move onto to the current lesson. This clearly shows the students how to proceed onto to the next lesson.When their lesson is completed teacher needs to wrap up by connecting what they learn to the next lesson.This can be done using concept maps.
Providing meaningful scaffolding as in worksheets, students will understand and complete their lessons. A teacher’s “with-it-ness” ensures that she can conduct the class by guiding students who are having problems at the sameensuring that the rest of the class is proceeding with the lesson (Lim CP et al, p. 394).
Sharing out of work among teachers, student helpers and technology support staff helps the teacher to focus on ICT teaching activity.This facilitates constructive learning.Designated advanced and assistant students can help their peers who are not IT-savvy and also take care of the routine work such as to collect and distribute lesson materials.Technology support staff can assist when technical failure occurs.Teacher also needs to ensure proper resource planning as in there are sufficient technology related hardware, software and peripherals for the entire class in order not to cause any lesson disruption.
Teacher needs to put in place clear discipline-specific procedures and educational rules (Lim CP et al, 2005).This will ensure that students will be motivated to abide rules and conduct themselves accordingly before, during and after class as they know teacher’s expectations, objectives, lesson sequence and their individual roles.
2. Implementation issue : Time management
Strategy
Teacher can better control the lesson by using timer to indicate that it is time to move on to another task. Progress of the lesson will take place without breaking the momentum of the class
3. Implementation issue : Teacher ITC Literacy
Strategy
Pre-service and in-service teachers should look upon technology as a evolutionary and progressive learning opportunity (Zhao Y, 2002). Armed with a positive attitude, teachers must keep abreast with technology and ICT literacy by attending ICT workshops.
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Section 2 : On-line environment
1.Implementation issue : Cyber-bullying
Strategy
Cyber-bullying is “bullying using technology” with an intention to harm and harrass others.One strategy is to enforce a strong message that cyber-bullying will not be tolerated and the severe consequences to it.A nation-wideanti cyber-bullying campaign, school workshops, talks, publicity bulletins and raising awareness are intervention strategies. The government, youth groups, police departments, schools and parents can partner to work towards promoting children’s cyber wellness and eradicate cyber-bullying.
Schools can use the MOE’s Cyberwellness Programme to tackle the cyber-bullying and internet pornography issues by educating and empowering the students. Students should learn to take accountability for their actions.School curriculum must also include lessons on cyber-bullying and internet pornography. Interactive channels of communication should be established so that students will not fear coming forward with their problems.Parents need to play an active and vigilant role in supervising their children’s internet usage.They should become IT-savvy so that they are well-equipped to provide the support and protect their children from cyber-bullies.
2. Implementation issue : Internet pornography
Strategy
Students should be made wary of the dangers of giving their personal details, particulars, family and friends’ details and their whereabouts to strangers on the internet and social network.Paedophiles with the protection of anonymity,can easily chat up and befriend children with the intention to exploit them.Parents must make children understand the dangers and must be kept informed of their children’s internet activities.
School counselors and the National Committee on Youth Guidance and Rehabilitation are two places where help can be sought.An intervention strategy is schools and parents can ensure that they switch their web browser to “safe search” mode and installfiltering software.Parents can install theMcAfee Parental Control which has filtering protection for instant messaging and chat rooms and the Predator Guard which effectively scans all text on computer screen in softwareand captures objectionable messages and languages
References -Journal article
Campbell, M A (2005).Cyberbullying : An old problem in a new guise?Australian Journal of Guidance and Counselling 15 (1) : 68- 76.
Lim, C.P, Pek M.S. Chai, C.S. (2005).Classroom Management issues on ICT Mediated learning Environments.Journal of Educational Multimedia & Hypemedia, Vol. 14, p391 – 414.
Lim, C. P., Teo, Y. H., Wong, P., Khine, M. S., Chai, C. S., & Divaharan, S. (2003). Creating a conducive learning environment for the effective integration of ICT: Classroom management issues. Journal of Interactive Learning Research, 14(4), 405-423.
Zhao, Y., Pugh, K., Sheldon, S., & Byers, J. L. (2002). Conditions for classroom technology innovations. Teachers College Record, 104(3), 482-515.
