\three areas that generally get neglected in school: architecture, animation and game design.
students create their own games using these concepts. They may choose from several programming platforms, including Beta, Kandu, Flowlab, Unity, Atmosphir, Gamestar Mechanic and Game Maker. Some of these require knowledge of coding; others are almost purely visual.
Quizzes are considered mostly an assessment tool. The reward is in the end of the game. The player cannot “lose life.”
Students who are used to the logic of a game, expect rewards throughout the game.
Therefore, instead of a final assessment quiz, the class can be phased out with several training quizzes. Each of the training quizzes can allow students to have several attempts (equals lifes). In addition, students can be stimulated format wise in playing the quizzes=gaming activity by some reward systems. E.g., for each training quiz being scored above B, students can collect badges/tockens, which they can redeem at the end of class. Content-wise, students can be stimulated in playing the quizzes=gaming activity by stepping on the next level and switching from text-based quizzes to quizzes including more multimedia: audio, video and interactivity
Frossard, F., Barajas, M., & Trifonova, A. (2012). A learner-centered game-design approach: Impacts on teachers’ creativity.Digital Education Review, (21), 13-22.
Fu-Hsing Tsai, Kuang-Chao Yu, & Hsien-Sheng Hsiao. (2012). Exploring the factors influencing learning effectiveness in digital game-based learning.Journal of Educational Technology & Society, 15(3), 240-250.
Overview of the programmatic standards for general and special education, how these standards are integrated in special education curriculum, and e-portfolio requirements for documenting acquisition of the above standards.
Gaming and Gamification.
why Gaming and Gamification? Vygotsky and ZPD (immersive storytelling is a form of creative play)
from: https://cpb-us-e1.wpmucdn.com/blog.stcloudstate.edu/dist/d/10/files/2015/03/Gaming-and-Gamification-in-academic-and-library-settings-final-draft-1digudu.pdf
play >>> games >>> serious games >>> Game Based learning >>>>+ Digital Game Based learning
“Games are type of cooperative learning. Games embody the essence of constructivism, which for students/gamers means constructing their own knowledge while they interact (learn cooperatively). Learning can happen without games, yet games accelerate the process. Games engage. Games, specifically digital ones, relate to the digital natives, those born after 1976 – 80, who are also known as Generation Y, or Millennials”
is it generational? Is it a fad? is it counter-pedagogical?
what is the difference between GBL (Game Based Learning) and DGBL (Digital GBL): share examples, opinions. Is one better / preferable then the other? Why?
Kahoot game (Yahoo): https://play.kahoot.it/#/k/1412b52c-da28-4507-b658-7dfeedf0864c
hands-on assignment (10 min): split in groups and discuss your experience with games; identify your preferable mode (e.g. GBL vs DGBL) and draft a short plan of transitioning your current curricula to a curricula incorporating games.
What is gamification? Why gamification, if we have games? “Gamification takes game elements (such as points, badges, leaderboards, competition, achievements) and applies them to a non – game setting. It has the potential to turn routine, mundane tasks into refreshing, motivating experiences ”
hands-on assignment (10 min): split in groups and use your electronic devices: smartphones, tablets, laptops to experience any of the following gamification tools:
continued practice, clear goals and immediate feedback
project-based learning, Minecraft and SimCity EDU
Gamification of learning versus learning with games
organizations to promote gaming and gamification in education (p. 6 http://scsu.mn/1F008Re)
the “chocolate-covered broccoli” problem
Discussion: why gaming and gamification is not accepted in a higher rate? what are the hurdles to enable greater faster acceptance? What do you think, you can do to accelerate this process?
Gaming in an academic library
why the academic library? sandbox for experimentation
the connection between digital literacy and gaming and gamificiation
Gilchrist and Zald’s model for instruction design through assessment
Discussion: based on the example (http://web.stcloudstate.edu/pmiltenoff/bi/), how do you see transforming academic library services to meet the demands of 21st century education?
Gaming, gamification and assessment (badges)
inability of current assessments to evaluate games as part of the learning process
“microcredentialing” through digital badges
Mozilla Open Badges and Badgestack
leaderboards
Discussion: How do you see a transition from the traditional assessment to a new and more flexible academic assessment?
Exit slips can take lots of forms beyond the old-school pencil and scrap paper. Whether you’re assessing at the bottom of Bloom’s taxonomy or the top, you can use tools like Padlet or Poll Everywhere, or measure progress toward attainment or retention of essential content or standards with tools like Google Classroom’s Question tool, Google Forms with Flubaroo, and Edulastic,
Low-stakes quizzes and polls: If you want to find out whether your students really know as much as you think they know, polls and quizzes created with Socrative or Quizlet or in-class games and tools like Quizalize, Kahoot, FlipQuiz, Gimkit, Plickers, and Flippity
Dipsticks: So-called alternative formative assessments are meant to be as easy and quick as checking the oil in your car, so they’re sometimes referred to as dipsticks. These can be things like asking students to:
write a letter explaining a key idea to a friend,
draw a sketch to visually represent new knowledge, or
do a think, pair, share exercise with a partner.
Interview assessments: If you want to dig a little deeper into students’ understanding of content, try discussion-based assessment methods. Casual chats with students in the classroom can help them feel at ease even as you get a sense of what they know, and you may find that five-minute interview assessments
Misconceptions and errors: Sometimes it’s helpful to see if students understand why something is incorrect or why a concept is hard. Ask students to explain the “muddiest point” in the lesson—the place where things got confusing or particularly difficult or where they still lack clarity. Or do a misconception check:
Milliman also plans to create a U Arizona course tailored to individuals who might come to the university via the Age of Empires IV experience. “It will help them transition from being gamers to being students,” he explained. “This will get online students familiar with doing historical research and being a university student. There won’t be any textbooks or tests. It will be project-focused and based on the experiences they had playing the game with our additional content.”
By reflecting-in-action, the practitioner is able to gain metacognitive awareness and perceive his/her intuitions and biases, test hypotheses, and take on new perspectives. The approach of having students learn by designing their own games combines design thinking and game-based learning (Kafai, 1995, 2006; Li, Lemieuz, Vandermeiden, & Nathoo, 2013). Design thinking also supports new forms of literacies brought on by new media technologies as well as game-based learning.
It is likely that the effects of gamification cannot easily be measured satisfactorily through surveys of motivation, engagement, attendance, or grades because there are too many variables that could affect how students respond. Critics of gamification argue that it over
simplifies complex problems (Bogost, 2015; Robertson, 2010). However, both gamification and design thinking are approaches to problem-solving. With design thinking, gamification may be used in more meaningful ways because design thinking offers a different lens through which to conceptualize the problem.
Acquisitions and partnerships are a cornerstone of Byju’s early learning programs: It bought Palo Alto-based Osmo in 2019, which combines digital learning with manipulatives, an approach the companies call “phygital.” For instance: Using a tablet’s camera and Osmo’s artificial intelligence software, the system tracks what a child is doing on a (physical) worksheet and responds accordingly to right and wrong answers. “It’s almost like having a teacher looking over you, My note: this can be come disastrous when combined with the China’s “social credit” system.
By contrast, Byju’s FutureSchool (launched in the U.S. this past spring) aims to offer one-to-one tutoring sessions starting with coding (based in part on WhiteHat Jr., which it acquired in August 2020) and eventually including music, fine arts and English to students in the U.S., Brazil, the U.K., Indonesia and others. The company has recruited 11,000 teachers in India to staff the sessions
In mid-July, Byju’s bought California-based reading platform Epic for $500 million. That product opens up a path for Byju’s to schools. Epic offers a digital library of more than 40,000 books for students ages 12 and under. Consumers pay about $80 a year for the library. It’s free to schools. Epic says that more than 1 million teachers in 90 percent of U.S. elementary schools have signed up for accounts.
That raises provocative questions for U.S. educators. Among them:
How will products originally developed for the consumer market fit the needs of schools, particularly those that serve disadvantaged students?
Will there be more development dollars poured into products that appeal to consumers—and less into products that consumers typically skip (say, middle school civics or history curriculum?)
How much of an investment will giants such as Byju’s put into researching the effectiveness of its products? In the past most consumers have been less concerned than professional educators about the “research” behind the learning products they buy. Currently Gokulnath says the company most closely tracks metrics such as “engagement” (how much time students spend on the product) and “renewals” (how many customers reup after a year’s use of the product.)
How will products designed for home users influence parents considering whether to continue to school at home in the wake of viral pandemics?