ICT Week 6- M Learning and Games

ICT Week 6- M Learning and Games

 

This week in ICT we were exploring how we can approach game based learning in the primary classroom and how mobile technology has implicated and developed teaching and learning. It was identified that we need to get UK learners enjoying and engaging in lessons far more. It is evident that gaming sells and children are great a consumer of these products e.g. Wii, Xbox, PSP, and Nintendo DS the list is endless. It has since been addressed that why not use gaming in a way which will encourage children’s learning in the classroom (EDP 4123, 2012).

 

What is M Learning?

Previously it was all about e-learning however that is now regarded as old hat! And the future is M learning which stands for mobile learning. We know that nowadays the latest technology fit in our pockets and growing interest in utilizing these technologies to encourage accessible and engaging learning is seen as very appealing to educational professionals.

 

One M learning tool that has been used in classrooms is the IPOD Touch which is very accessible and useful in the classroom. Below is a link to show how beneficial a school in Burnt Oak found this M Learning tool.

 

http://blip.tv/learn4life/what-happens-when-you-give-a-class-of-8-year-olds-an-ipod-touch-each-2634277

 

 

Kudo
Is a programming software which allows children to create their own game including the aim of the game, the characters and the actions that the characters carry out. I could see how children could get drawn into this imaginary world which they had made as there seemed to always be the opportunity to develop the Kudo world a little bit more. As discussed in last week’s blog programming gives children to learn through trial and improvement and Kudo is no exception.

Dance to Advance

This gaming software is a perfect example of how programming activities can be used in all areas of the curriculum. During the session the class were given the opportunity to develop their own Dance to Advance activities, this showed us that the tool can be used for all different curricular activities for example; I created one on changing decimals to fractions whereas others in the group concentrated on literacy, history, geography and science activities. Dance to Advance gives teachers the chance to develop exciting and engaging lesson starters, direct independent tasks as well as plenaries. You think of a topic that you want to question the children on and input the questions into the computer program as well as variety of possible answers. When the children think they know the correct answer they hit the square on the dance mat which corresponds with the answer on the IWB. Teachers could allow children to develop their own Dance to Advance questions and answers and get them to test them out on their classmates or at the end of a topic as a form of assessment. Children will love to engage with the Dance to Advance activities as it probable they will recognize them from the funfair or arcade as well as enjoy the active element of them.

 

Online simulation games

 

In many respects these are very similar to the modelling software as they are helping children to investigate ‘what if’ scenarios and experimenting with different approaches in the virtual environment.  

 

Kent ICT has a whole section of simulation games which can be used in the classroom and are accessible to all primary year groups. They have even divided the games into the curricular area they can be used in. The website also addresses why and when online simulations are better to use then the real life experiences.

 

I looked at a food chain simulation game which allows you to see over time how food chains change this would be a great tool to use with Key Stage 2 as you can observe the changes in pictures as the amount of plants, rabbits and foxes increases/decreases over the years. When you finish looking at the food chain you can observe the information in both a graph and as a biomass grid this simulation tool is good as it allows for differentiation as the first part of the task would be accessible to low ability and the other steps would keep the task engaging for the more able. Although it is important to use practical science experiments it would not be possible to observe the changes in a food chain over a long period of time without books or a computer resource like this one.

 



Simulation of food chain

 

graph of food chain results

 

Biomass grid of food chain

 



We also looked at Voki.com this give children and teacher the chance to make their own speaking avatars which they can choose the face, hair, clothes and make up of as well as decide what they want it to say.  The avatars can be beneficial to both children and adults as it gives them somewhat of a separate identity. Some children may become more confident in speaking to the class or the teacher particularly those who may be SEN or EAL. The teacher can also use the avatars as different subject characters like maybe a nutty professor for Science or a beautiful princess to read a fairy tale in English. Children of all ages will enjoy using the Voki avatars as they are accessible and the children have control over what they do.

 

I tried to uploaded my talking voki but I had some problems so here is what she looks like.

 

Overall I think it can be acknowledged that M learning and the various learning tools can be used effectively to develop children's learning in all areas of the curriculum, if addressed in a correct and organised manner.