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Primary Group Presentation

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Literacy Game Based Learning can:

Encourage children to take ‘risks’ with their learning
Develop problem solving skills
Improve childrens’ views on learning
Improve communication
Increase motivation/engagement
Develop creativity
Improve collaboration
Enhance links between home and school life
Overcome barriers referred to as the Digital Disconnect.

adapted from Groff et al (2010) + Kirkland et al (2010)

Guitar Hero - Collaborative Story /Biographies

http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/sharingpractice/g/guitarhero/introduction.asp?strReferringChannel=usingglowandict&strReferringPageID=tcm:4-478011-64

This blog post explores how the game Guitar Hero could be used to stimulate creative writing.

Using the game Myst to engage and motivate reluctant writers

http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/video/m/myst02p7markswritinghasimproved.asp?strReferringChannel=deletion

Another case study from the Learning and Teaching Scotland website exploring how the game 'Myst' can be used to engage and motivate reluctant writers.

Tim Ryland http://twitter.com/timrylands

I find that I spend hours sieving through Tim Rylands website/blogs/Twitter posts for inspirational ideas. Tim Ryland- the story so far.... http://www.timrylands.com/html/the-story.html

If you are looking for ideas of how you can use Game-Based Learning/Digital Literacy to raise standards then look no further. There are enough ideas here to last you a whole academic year!

Free on-line Game-Based Learning programs

BBC's Gut Instinctshttp://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/ks2bitesize/games/gut_instinct/pop.shtml

This game can be used to consolidate Maths, English or Science skills. I really like the way children can compete against each other safely online either at school or at home. There is an option to design your own Avatar which the children seem to really enjoy. By entering a Class League name you can create a 'virtual room' where up to 30 children can compete against each other. The graphics and sounds are super and I particularly like the league position update after every round. I have thought about using this for homework as a Saturday morning challenge!

Another similar on-line program is Tutpup which follows the same strict e-safety rules, but allows children to compete against peers from around the world. I also like the 'Hall of Fame' and 'Certificate' area which enable children to work through progressively more difficult levels. I

http://www.tutpup.com/

Kodu - http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/projects/kodu/

Kodu is a free program produced by Microsoft which enables users to design, build and play new games. The completed games are visually stunning and are completely created using the tools within Kodu. Completed games can be uploaded to X-Box Live and played either on a PC or X-Box. You can even control your Kodu characters using an X-Box controller. I have experimented using this program with a lunch time technology club that I run and have been amazed with the results. This type of Game-Based Learning challenges children to develop many of the essential 'learning to learning' skills that we hope will make them successful life long learners. Follow the links below to find out more about the educational benefits of using Kodu and for ideas of how to use it in the classroom.

http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/usingglowandict/gamesbasedlearning/gamedesign/gamedesignandlearning.asp

http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/usingglowandict/gamesbasedlearning/gamedesign/kodu.asp

Check out the Kodu Promotional video!

Another great thing about Kodu (especially for those of us who are not yet confident using Game-Based Learning strategies) is the large selection of video tutorials which are available on-line.

If you are thinking about planning a Game-Based Learning experience, I would suggest you consider the following points:

-Game-Based Learning experiences need to be well planned

-Children need to have a clear set of rules/expectations.

-School Leaders must ensure that parents/carers understand the educational benefits of this type of learning.

-Teachers need to understand the technology being used.

Groff et al (2010)

Articles which I hope you might find interesting/useful

The impact of console Games in the Classroom

http://www.childrenliteracylab.org/uploads/website/docs/1818-1-Console%20games%20report.pdf

Games-based experiences of learning

http://futurelab.org.uk/sites/default/files/Games_based_experiences_for_learning_0.pdf

Games-Based Learning Experiences: Testing the principles with teachers and students

http://futurelab.org.uk/sites/default/files/Games_based_learning_report.pdf

Flash Face

I think this simple little web based program could make an excellent tool for stimulating writing. Children could work in small groups with one member of the group describing the person's characteristics whilst the other person attempts to create a photofit. Perhaps another member of the group could jot down all of the descriptive words. The character(s) could be used to stimulate a number of different writing projects across KS2. I think it would also be very useful for art (portraits), perhaps using the Interactive White Board.

Have you seen this person?

Flash Face

http://flashface.ctapt.de/

EYFS Group Presentation

EYFS Literacy Game Based Case Studies

Tom Barret - http://twitter.com/tombarrett

Using Endless Ocean (Wii) in the Classroom – Making a Class Aquarium for Descriptive Writing

http://edte.ch/blog/2009/11/03/using-endless-ocean-wii-in-the-classroom-making-a-class-aquarium-for-descriptive-writing/

In this blog post Tom describes how he has used the Endless Ocean Wii game to stimulate descriptive writing with his class.

Marc Faulder- http://twitter.com/marc_faulder

Using Kinectimals to Support Play in the Early Years Classroom

http://edte.ch/blog/2011/02/20/using-kinectimals-to-support-play-in-the-early-years-classroom/

Marc used an X-Box Kinect and the game Kinectimals as a stimulus for a project looking at animal homes. Marc created a blog entry to reflect on how his Game-Based Learning strategies impacted on children's learning and his own professional practice.

(If you have not seen the Kinectimals game before - see the YouTube video below!)

Additional Teaching and Learning Resources.

Espresso - Example

Information quoted from: http://www.youtube.com/schools

'YouTube for Schools provides schools access to hundreds of thousands of free educational videos from YouTube EDU. These videos come from from well-known organizations like Stanford, PBS and TED as well as from up-and-coming YouTube partners with millions of views, like Khan Academy,Steve Spangler Science and Numberphile.

School admins and teachers can log in and watch any video, but students cannot log in and can only watch YouTube EDU videos plus videos their school has added. All comments and related videos are disabled and search is limited to YouTube EDU videos.

You can customize the content available in your school. All schools get access to all of the YouTube EDU content, but teachers and administrators can also create playlists of videos that are viewable only within their school's network.

YouTube.com/Teachers has hundreds of playlists of videos that align with common educational standards, organized by subject and grade. These playlists were created by teachers for teachers so you can spend more time teaching and less time searching.'

BBC article on YouTube for Schools: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-16141986

BBC Webcams

Follow the link below to view some of the BBC's fantastic Wildlife Webcams. You can view anything from a Badger to a Tiger.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/england/webcams/animals/

Awesome Highlighter

Awesome Highlighter is a useful webtool which allows users to highlight sections of webpages. An excellent tool for focusing attention when viewing information on an interactive whiteboard.

http://www.awesomehighlighter.com/