For those of you with Wii consoles, head over to the Nintendo channel now and you can see the DS and Brain Training being used in a year 5 classroom on one of the recent Videos.
Hooray, I was right for once! It shows the Brain Training game being used as a mental warm up in maths, and goes over most of the benefits I mentioned in my reviews. I was suprised to see that the school had invested in a DS and Brain Training game for every child in year 5!
Hats off to Dr Kawashima, you maths savvy Japanese brainbox, you!
Friday, 17 April 2009
Tuesday, 3 March 2009
Zack & Wiki - Quest for Barbaros' Treasure
Definate golden time material here.
This is another game in the 'point and click' genre, similar to Professer Layton in a previous post. As with Layton it employs a rich story with many characters with in-depth profiles. The main premise of the game is a classic pirate adventure, employing a level based system that requires a number of logical steps to overcome each one.
The main difference between this and Layton is that the puzzles, although thought provoking and logic heavy, are not directly subject relative. I remember similar style titles on the old Acorn computers of my primary education which always interested myself and friends, that was if we could figure out how to run the flipping program!
As an educational tool its use is limited. More of an enjoyment title which requires logical thinking to progress, as I said before, golden time applicable certainly.
Discussing the 'Wii in the classroom' idea with peers it came to my attention that having the console there for golden time would be almost certainly an argument starter. To this problem i've come to the conclusion that if a Wii was to be encorporated as a learning tool, a rota system would need to be operated, as a general rule only 4 children or less are going to be able to access it at once.
This is another game in the 'point and click' genre, similar to Professer Layton in a previous post. As with Layton it employs a rich story with many characters with in-depth profiles. The main premise of the game is a classic pirate adventure, employing a level based system that requires a number of logical steps to overcome each one.
The main difference between this and Layton is that the puzzles, although thought provoking and logic heavy, are not directly subject relative. I remember similar style titles on the old Acorn computers of my primary education which always interested myself and friends, that was if we could figure out how to run the flipping program!
As an educational tool its use is limited. More of an enjoyment title which requires logical thinking to progress, as I said before, golden time applicable certainly.
Discussing the 'Wii in the classroom' idea with peers it came to my attention that having the console there for golden time would be almost certainly an argument starter. To this problem i've come to the conclusion that if a Wii was to be encorporated as a learning tool, a rota system would need to be operated, as a general rule only 4 children or less are going to be able to access it at once.
Monday, 2 March 2009
Scrabble DS 2007 Edition
There comes a time when you have to question the logic of a video game. I enjoy playing the board game scrabble, I find it challenging and often I learn new words from looking them up or from those i'm playing with.
By this I don't doubt that scrabble would be a welcome addition to a classroom, perhaps as something to play during wet breaks etc. I cannot however encourage the buying of a video game based on a board game that offers nothing more than the origional.
This is a prime example of what to avoid in ICT in schools, technology for the sake of technology. Why buy an electronic version of something thats good enough in its non electronic state.
What i'm saying is - buy a scrabble board, not the game.
By this I don't doubt that scrabble would be a welcome addition to a classroom, perhaps as something to play during wet breaks etc. I cannot however encourage the buying of a video game based on a board game that offers nothing more than the origional.
This is a prime example of what to avoid in ICT in schools, technology for the sake of technology. Why buy an electronic version of something thats good enough in its non electronic state.
What i'm saying is - buy a scrabble board, not the game.
Samba de Amigo
Some may be suprised at my inclusion of this game in an educational tool blog, but hear me out.
Samba de Amigo is a game for the Wii that uses the Wii remote and Nunchuk attachment as makeshift maracas.
Its essentially a rythm action game in which you shake the 'maracas' independantly to correspond with the song that is playing.
As a very bright, colourful, festival themed game there is no doubt it will appeal to children throughout primary school.
Education-wise i can see this game assisting in the old 'fine motor skills' department as well as some of the music criteria of timing and pace.
The variety of songs include many latin and salsa numbers in their language of origin, which can be classed as music of the wider world and could help in a geography or music project depending on the place of study (e.g. Brazil, Spain etc).
With all the Dancing Stage and Guitar Hero games, its nice to have a simple percussion game that can be accessed by all ages, instead of tripping you up or breaking your fingers!
Samba de Amigo is a game for the Wii that uses the Wii remote and Nunchuk attachment as makeshift maracas.
Its essentially a rythm action game in which you shake the 'maracas' independantly to correspond with the song that is playing.
As a very bright, colourful, festival themed game there is no doubt it will appeal to children throughout primary school.
Education-wise i can see this game assisting in the old 'fine motor skills' department as well as some of the music criteria of timing and pace.
The variety of songs include many latin and salsa numbers in their language of origin, which can be classed as music of the wider world and could help in a geography or music project depending on the place of study (e.g. Brazil, Spain etc).
With all the Dancing Stage and Guitar Hero games, its nice to have a simple percussion game that can be accessed by all ages, instead of tripping you up or breaking your fingers!
Friday, 20 February 2009
Professor Layton and the Curious Village
This game is essentially a 'point and click' story adventure. The difference being its frequent and clever use of puzzles to progress through the game. These puzzles range from visual tricks to logical thought processes to word poblems.
The obvious use of the game in school is that of interest in, and a want to solve and explore the puzzles. I believe the best way to use the puzzles (and something I plan on doing) is using them as daily puzzles to be solved at the beginning of the school day on the board. I spent a long time on a recent practice, searching for fun and stimulating problems to be solved in the morning for a yr 5 class - this game would have helped me a lot.
Another aspect, something I think may come into effect in the near future, is the use of video games as narratives to derive writing tasks. This games story (although would be too challenging for yr3 and below) could be an interesting and unconventional way of introducing a story to set up a task (using characters to make own story, what happens next in the story etc).
All in all an enjoyable and mentally stimulating game. Not one to spend a whole lesson playing, but definately has potential in the classroom!
The obvious use of the game in school is that of interest in, and a want to solve and explore the puzzles. I believe the best way to use the puzzles (and something I plan on doing) is using them as daily puzzles to be solved at the beginning of the school day on the board. I spent a long time on a recent practice, searching for fun and stimulating problems to be solved in the morning for a yr 5 class - this game would have helped me a lot.
Another aspect, something I think may come into effect in the near future, is the use of video games as narratives to derive writing tasks. This games story (although would be too challenging for yr3 and below) could be an interesting and unconventional way of introducing a story to set up a task (using characters to make own story, what happens next in the story etc).
All in all an enjoyable and mentally stimulating game. Not one to spend a whole lesson playing, but definately has potential in the classroom!
Thursday, 19 February 2009
Brain Training
Brain Training was of of the early games to be made for the 'Touch!Generations' series that aimed for a non gamer market.
I've found this game to already be a popular choice in school because of its heavy emphasis on learning, memory, maths and reading.
It basicially consists of a collection of simple 'mentally stimulating' activities to be attempted every day in order to increase fluency in the tasks and hopefully overall ability in the feild.
The games main way of letting you know how well you are doing is by giving you a 'brain age' the lower you get the better. This can be a little unhelpful to children as the lowest possible is 20 (although quite tricky to get).
I'll go over a few of the activities to give you a feel for the sort of things on offer.
Calculations - One question will appear on the top screen, and the player must hand-write the answer on the touch screen. The calculations involve simple addition, subtraction, and multiplication (2 digit to 1 digit max).
Reading Aloud - an extract from a classic story is given for you to read aloud, turning pages as you would a book. At the end of the extract, you get given a 'words per second rating'.
Syllable Count - Given a sentence or two to count the number of syllables in each.
Time lapse - Requires you to calculate the time between what is shown on 2 anologue clocks.
Multiplayer options are reasonable. Only one game is needed to download a competative version of the calculation solving game, which could be useful in the classroom to give children a challenge (against other children or the teacher).
Numerous tests have been conducted as to the effectiveness of this game on memory and skill, with varying results. Personally I see it as another means of making maths and some English accessible to certain children.
I've found this game to already be a popular choice in school because of its heavy emphasis on learning, memory, maths and reading.
It basicially consists of a collection of simple 'mentally stimulating' activities to be attempted every day in order to increase fluency in the tasks and hopefully overall ability in the feild.
The games main way of letting you know how well you are doing is by giving you a 'brain age' the lower you get the better. This can be a little unhelpful to children as the lowest possible is 20 (although quite tricky to get).
I'll go over a few of the activities to give you a feel for the sort of things on offer.
Calculations - One question will appear on the top screen, and the player must hand-write the answer on the touch screen. The calculations involve simple addition, subtraction, and multiplication (2 digit to 1 digit max).
Reading Aloud - an extract from a classic story is given for you to read aloud, turning pages as you would a book. At the end of the extract, you get given a 'words per second rating'.
Syllable Count - Given a sentence or two to count the number of syllables in each.
Time lapse - Requires you to calculate the time between what is shown on 2 anologue clocks.
Multiplayer options are reasonable. Only one game is needed to download a competative version of the calculation solving game, which could be useful in the classroom to give children a challenge (against other children or the teacher).
Numerous tests have been conducted as to the effectiveness of this game on memory and skill, with varying results. Personally I see it as another means of making maths and some English accessible to certain children.
Monday, 9 February 2009
The Wii
Primarily a home video games console, the Wii has opened up the market to all sorts of new types of gameplay from its revolutionary control system.
For those who are not yet familiar with the Wii, the control system involves a simple single handed controller (based on the style of a tv remote for easier access to 'non-gamers') thats motion based controlling means all sorts of physical moving based games are accessible.
But whats this got to do with ICT and learning, I hear you ask?
Well... this console can provide a means to develop simple, and more complex motor skills by 'playing' some of the games on offer.
This idea is similar to the program brought into some American primary schools using the 'Dance Dance Revolution (Dancing Stage - Eur) games to tackle increasing obesity probems using the active game.
I'm going to include the pre-packaged game, Wii Sports, in this post as its almost considered part of the console.
This game has 5 sports in which to play, all requiring specific hand and arm motor skills to play. It is not aimed at a particular market in its style and does not change its simplicity based on the age of the player (so could be used across key stages and ages).
If two classes or schools were to have a Wii console, messages can be sent to either through a wireless network (which almost all schools have). This could be used to send information about what the class is up to, what is being learned etc, allowing for an interesting correspondance between classes. This of course could be achieved with a computer and e-mails, but this is a different example, using a different ict system.
An idea came to me in which a message could be sent to the class to give a an activity introduction from someone unfamiliar. In the same way a 'fisherman' could send a letter to the class asking them to 'find the best material for his coat' (the whole thing set up of course by the teacher).
Other channels present on the Wii system that could provide a springboard for interest and activities are the photo, weather and news channels.
All three of these provide fantastic opprtunities in class. The weather and news channels give frequent updates, and are visually child friendly (although the news is not completely child filtered but works well with adult supervision).
The photo channel allows pictures to be downloaded, viewed in a slideshow with music and visually played with. This is not particularly special though as a pc can do all of this.
The best benefit of the Wii in my mind is its getting reluctant children active, and simply providing another interesting, educational and fun resource into the classroom.
For those who are not yet familiar with the Wii, the control system involves a simple single handed controller (based on the style of a tv remote for easier access to 'non-gamers') thats motion based controlling means all sorts of physical moving based games are accessible.
But whats this got to do with ICT and learning, I hear you ask?
Well... this console can provide a means to develop simple, and more complex motor skills by 'playing' some of the games on offer.
This idea is similar to the program brought into some American primary schools using the 'Dance Dance Revolution (Dancing Stage - Eur) games to tackle increasing obesity probems using the active game.
I'm going to include the pre-packaged game, Wii Sports, in this post as its almost considered part of the console.
This game has 5 sports in which to play, all requiring specific hand and arm motor skills to play. It is not aimed at a particular market in its style and does not change its simplicity based on the age of the player (so could be used across key stages and ages).
If two classes or schools were to have a Wii console, messages can be sent to either through a wireless network (which almost all schools have). This could be used to send information about what the class is up to, what is being learned etc, allowing for an interesting correspondance between classes. This of course could be achieved with a computer and e-mails, but this is a different example, using a different ict system.
An idea came to me in which a message could be sent to the class to give a an activity introduction from someone unfamiliar. In the same way a 'fisherman' could send a letter to the class asking them to 'find the best material for his coat' (the whole thing set up of course by the teacher).
Other channels present on the Wii system that could provide a springboard for interest and activities are the photo, weather and news channels.
All three of these provide fantastic opprtunities in class. The weather and news channels give frequent updates, and are visually child friendly (although the news is not completely child filtered but works well with adult supervision).
The photo channel allows pictures to be downloaded, viewed in a slideshow with music and visually played with. This is not particularly special though as a pc can do all of this.
The best benefit of the Wii in my mind is its getting reluctant children active, and simply providing another interesting, educational and fun resource into the classroom.
Thursday, 29 January 2009
The Nintendo DS
Might as well begin with the DS as i've alredy had some success with it in the classroom.
Although not necessarily a game, the DS has a couple of built in feature that can be useful in the classroom.
Firstly, PictoChat. For those unfamiliar, PictoChat is a simple messaging program that allows small amounts of words or pictures to be sent to other DS systems in the close vacinity via wireless conection. Because of the DS's touch screen interface, posting messages and pictures is as simple as using a pencil.
Why not use a pencil and paper then?
In my experience, just using a DS instead of pencil and paper is enough to keep some children amused for hours, not all, but some. I've found it partcularly useful when giving small groups of children a quiz on subject matter, as I can post a question on my DS and the children are challenged to post the correct answer as quickly as they can on theirs.
I saw something similar recently on teachers TV where they were using PictoChat in a similar way, specifically on the topic of mathematical angles.
The other feature is that of Download Play, an option to link up with other DS consoles to partake in the same game. Often this only requires one person having a copy of the game in order for the others to join in.
This is fantastic for children who have the console but not a game. In a classroom context only one copy would be needed for many children to participate, which is great for the classroom budget!
Handheld consoles have always been a child dominated market, the DS being no exception. If a school was to order in some of these consoles, I would suggest only buying a handful of units. As much as it can be used to enhance learning and interaction, its just not practical to have an entire class worth of DS'. Small groups are the best way to utilise this console.
I may also add that a third version of this console will be available in the not too distant future called the DSi. This new version will have ceertain upgraded features, like built in cameras, but im not going to go into details too much here.
Okiedokie!
Although not necessarily a game, the DS has a couple of built in feature that can be useful in the classroom.
Firstly, PictoChat. For those unfamiliar, PictoChat is a simple messaging program that allows small amounts of words or pictures to be sent to other DS systems in the close vacinity via wireless conection. Because of the DS's touch screen interface, posting messages and pictures is as simple as using a pencil.
Why not use a pencil and paper then?
In my experience, just using a DS instead of pencil and paper is enough to keep some children amused for hours, not all, but some. I've found it partcularly useful when giving small groups of children a quiz on subject matter, as I can post a question on my DS and the children are challenged to post the correct answer as quickly as they can on theirs.
I saw something similar recently on teachers TV where they were using PictoChat in a similar way, specifically on the topic of mathematical angles.
The other feature is that of Download Play, an option to link up with other DS consoles to partake in the same game. Often this only requires one person having a copy of the game in order for the others to join in.
This is fantastic for children who have the console but not a game. In a classroom context only one copy would be needed for many children to participate, which is great for the classroom budget!
Handheld consoles have always been a child dominated market, the DS being no exception. If a school was to order in some of these consoles, I would suggest only buying a handful of units. As much as it can be used to enhance learning and interaction, its just not practical to have an entire class worth of DS'. Small groups are the best way to utilise this console.
I may also add that a third version of this console will be available in the not too distant future called the DSi. This new version will have ceertain upgraded features, like built in cameras, but im not going to go into details too much here.
Okiedokie!
The Plan
So after careful consideration i've decided to base my posts on something I know more about than anything else. This would be the realm of video games.
'Edutainment' has always been a tricky area of gaming, trying to combine the world of learning with electronic 'fun' based programs has, in my experience, never quite taken off as it has done in recent years.
In my opinion this is largely because of the efforts of Nintendo to create the new gaming market of 'casual gamer' - people who would not normally like games, getting into them.
As much as this has been a double edged sword to those who enjoy these video games (increased revenue for the company to make more games, but less drive to make 'hardcore' traditional games) one cannot ignore the practical use of video games in the classroom.
A medium that has always been critisized for 'rotting children's minds' has now become a valuable learning aid. Hey, it worked for television, it was only a matter of time before gaming took it's place in the classroom.
So heres the plan. As I have a rather large gaming repetoir, many of which have educational value, i've decided to review these games based on their usefulness as an educational tool. This doesn't just mean the mentally stimulating ones, I plan on checking out some more active ones too.
Lets-a-go!
'Edutainment' has always been a tricky area of gaming, trying to combine the world of learning with electronic 'fun' based programs has, in my experience, never quite taken off as it has done in recent years.
In my opinion this is largely because of the efforts of Nintendo to create the new gaming market of 'casual gamer' - people who would not normally like games, getting into them.
As much as this has been a double edged sword to those who enjoy these video games (increased revenue for the company to make more games, but less drive to make 'hardcore' traditional games) one cannot ignore the practical use of video games in the classroom.
A medium that has always been critisized for 'rotting children's minds' has now become a valuable learning aid. Hey, it worked for television, it was only a matter of time before gaming took it's place in the classroom.
So heres the plan. As I have a rather large gaming repetoir, many of which have educational value, i've decided to review these games based on their usefulness as an educational tool. This doesn't just mean the mentally stimulating ones, I plan on checking out some more active ones too.
Lets-a-go!
Tuesday, 20 January 2009
The beginning...
I plan (emphasis on 'plan') to give exciting, interesting and genuinely mind blowing information over the course of this blog. I've got some ideas, you've probably got better ones so let me know by commenting. In fact, comment about anything entirely (Its all website hits at the end of the day!)
All else fails, i'll press the skynet 'execute' button.
All else fails, i'll press the skynet 'execute' button.
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