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Games as a tool for teaching: The lesson plan uses games as a tool for teaching. The game is used as a tool of engagement but there is no work on any other topic such as language, story writing or content. However, the development of the lesson to teach how to use Scratch  is really good and comprehensively.

Games to enhance traditional teaching & learning: In the lesson plan there are elements of gamification, as it gives the opportunity to students to analyse and explore the games to choose the three best in a padlet

Alignment with Learning Outcomes: There is only one learning outcomes defined. Some such as developing a hypothesis could have been integrated into the lesson plan. There could be an activity at the beginning where students formally develop and discuss  a hypothesis regarding the use of the animated story.

Balance: There is an ok mix of Learning Activities but the Practice activities dominate the lesson plan. I would suggest to allocate more time in between the different stages for Collaboration and inquiry of the applied concepts. This would make the lesson plan more balanced.

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An animated story is a transposition of a story in digital format, with the help of different backgrounds and characters that move, talk, according to the narrative of the story.

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Games as a tool for teaching: The lesson plan uses games as a tool for teaching. The game is used as a tool of engagement and there is  work on another topic such as language and culture.

Games to enhance traditional teaching & learning: In the lesson plan there are elements of gamification, as it gives students the opportunity to give feedback to the work of their peers and obtain points for that.

Alignment with Learning Outcomes: There are no learning outcomes described.

Balance: There is good balance among activities and most of them are included. I would also have included “inquiry” which is directly linked to the aim of the game, as far as I am concerned.
Good Job

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Read about English speaking countries. Create a game and play the games of groupmates. Give feedback

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I think the author chose a very interesting game for the age of children in primary school and will get through this, pupils have fun and learn a lot.

Students will, through these classes have practical training on animal characteristics, as well as improving knowledge of computer use.

The author is not developed a way of rewarding and competitions during the game I think it is important to motivate pupils.

I think it's time practical training quite a bit, I should leave more time for independent work and reduce the introduction to the topics and methods of work. I understand that these are young children and that they need more to explain before starting work, but still needed to be reduced to a shorter form.

Daiana, thank you for a great project and I wish you every happiness in its application in the classroom. Greetings from Serbia.

Nikola.

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-The lesson plan makes direct use of games as a tool for teaching & learning:for example, the lesson plan develops a classroom project that revolves around the theme of biomes using the programming tool Kodu in order to implement students in coding. I think it’s a very good idea as I believe that when students create their own games or rules etc., related in subjects familiar to them, they are devoted in the game and the learning process.

-The lesson plan uses game elements to enhance traditional teaching & learning: Indeed in the lesson plan there are elements of gamification, as it gives the opportunity to students to analyse and explore what are the factors that makes a game interesting or not.

- The lesson plan is well aligned with its learning outcomes: activities and assessment clearly link with the defined learning outcomes and allow the teacher to determine by the end of the lesson(s) if the objectives have been achieved and it is also well organized.

- The lesson plan is balanced: there is a good mix of activities with at least four different Teaching & Learning Activities used (TLAs in the Learning Designer) and none of the Activities taking up more than 35% of the time (see the pie chart for this).

Congratulations!

Have a nice summer!

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I use peer-review both in the lessons with my kids and at school with my colleagues. We have all have reflection blogs and we post interesting things and ideas to share with the other teachers. Then, each of us make comments suggesting ideas or appreciating the work the others have done.

It is motivating and enriching because you feel accompanied.

When I do peer review with my kids I generally give them a checklist so that they know what to focus, they all share the same aims, and nobody feels threatened with negative comments. I also encourage children to add a positive comment in the review.

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With my students we talk about games. I'm interested in knowing what they play at home. THis year they started bringing their devices so I generally see the apps they have downloaded to play. They explain me about their favourite games and we "find excuses" to use them in the classroom.

Most of them love minecraft. I will need to try it out since I don't understand it quite well. I don't see those graphics as entertaining as the realistic ones other games have.

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I'm 32 years old so I used to play that old MarIo Bros in my family game and I used to love it!! I can't imagine what it would be like to be a gamer today with those realistic graphics and sounds. I do have a play station but I haven't tried many games. I think I will devote my winter holidays to so some "research" so that I can use games in the classroom too.

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I was not aware of PEGI. I wil take it into consideration when choosing games for the classroom and I will also share it with my colleagues and parents at school.

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Parental control tools allow parents to protect their children's privacy and online safety according to various parameters. They can select which games children are allowed to play (based on the PEGI age ratings), limit and monitor their online spending, control access to internet browsing and online interaction (chat), and set the amount of time children can spend playing games.

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Why is it important to teach about games? (M6.1)

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Why is it important to teach about games? (M6.1)

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There are a number of reasons I consider when thinking about teaching about games:

1. Students learn while playing the game. By playing a game, students may be able to understand new concepts or ideas, take a different perspective, or even experiment with different options available for them.

2. Games provide a context for engaging practice. As a teacher of English, I consider important that games provide meaningful contexts for the use of the language as students have to write commands or understand what characters are saying or even read instructions.

3. Through games students can acquire different skills. Games require tudents to develop and use critical thinking skills, creativity, teamwork, and good sportsmanship.

4. When playing games, students can develop a variety of connections with the content and can generate positive memories. Those positive emotional connections lead to positive attitutede and can facilitate learning.

5. Games capture students’ attention and actively engage them. Students really love playing games, it is a good way to focus their attention and enjoy the lesson.

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Responsible Use: https://youtu.be/_NFaEMqjJY0

PEGI and Parents Control: https://youtu.be/LrABE62TxAQ

Evolution of Games: https://youtu.be/EfWEYewVBEc

Talking about games: http://www.pegi.info/es/

Peer Review: http://techtv.mit.edu/videos/14629-no-one-writes-alone-peer-review-in-the-classroom-a-guide-for-students

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I've never used them before and as I am a primary school teacher It would be hard to use these ones with my kids. But I will try out UDK for myself!! I might get engaged and I can design a game for my students to play and enjoy!

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Information for developers new to Unreal Engine 3 and Unreal Development Kit (UDK). Covers all aspects of the development process: Production Planning - Programming - Content Creation - Level Creation - Profiling & Optimization - Packaging & Distribution

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Games Design for Younger Children (M 5.3)

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Games Design for Younger Children (M 5.3)

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I have never used any of the games mentioned in the video but I heard about Kodu before and I downloaded it in my computer to work with my students. I thought that they could create games set in the different biomes we are working with as a way to finish the project.

Now that you mentioned Spark I'll try it out too!!

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I haven't used any of these tools in my class, but I would like to start incorporating them. I was thinking of organizing a kind of special study group for those interested in creating games during our winter holidays. I could pilot it with a group and during the second part of the year I could try it out with all of them within a school project. Just thinking out loud...

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A good game should be entertaining as well as challenging. I prefer games which have a story so I can feel part of it. I also pay a lot of attention to graphics, they should be clear and, if possible, realistic!

I also consider important to have clear objectives and an understandable control system. It should be easy to learn how to play and buttons/options should be at hand. Otherwise, you get bored trying t learn how to play!

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Games Design: https://youtu.be/m1XjurAUsU8

Simple Games Design Tool: https://youtu.be/KPby0ODFN9o

Games Design for Younger Children: https://youtu.be/4FcMEHXYKmQ

Advanced Games Design Tool: https://youtu.be/LzXMQVAwrOA

Activity: https://youtu.be/yIi9enA5ySg

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I have used games in my lessons for a couple of years. I always have both educational and non-educational games in a box for fast finishers to enjoy their spare time in class.

My new challenge now is to incorporate games with students devices. I would even like my students to create their own games!

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At my school badges are used daily in primary school. Students are given badges for god behaviour, best speaker effort among others.

Besides, we also have digital badges that are given through edmodo.

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Ever wondered how you can make Microsoft Office more exciting? Check out Ollie's video below. Here are the key links:

‘Ribbon Hero’ (www.ribbonhero.com), which is a free plug in for Office 2007, 2010 & 2013 and is now in its second generation.

Microsoft Mouse Mischief allows you to ‘gamify’ traditional PowerPoint quizzes and presentations to allow more than one user to collaborate at any time. Microsoft Mouse Mischief for Windows 7 and Windows 8 can be downloaded for free frommicrosoft.com/multipoint/mouse-mischief

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Never heard about Geocaching? Or are you curious how this exciting activity can be used in your teaching & learning? Check out Ollie's video below and his article onGPS in your classroom he wrote for Teach Primary Magazine.

I have never heard of it but it sounds like real fun! I will explore it during the winter holidays and see if I can use it the second part of the year!

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Get the free Official Geocaching app and join the world's largest treasure hunt.

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There are millions of geocaches worldwide, just waiting for you to find them. There are probably even some within walking distance of where you are right now. Visit Geocaching.com to see just how many geocaches are nearby and to learn how to start finding them.

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I used Aurasma with my nieces and they loved it. It is real fun and kids enjoy AR a lot. The only problem I find is that we need to have a front camera in the device. I can't do it with my students at school because I always have the laptop in class. And just one phone to be used by 22 students is not fun.

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Last year I carried out a project called "The time machine". Students travelled back in time to learn about different ancient civilizations such as egyptians, greeks, romans and vikings. To help students learn specific vocabulary related to each civilization, I created a set of cards to play taboo. Each card had a concept and a picture, and it also had 2 related words that students could not use to define the concept to his/her group. With this game students learnt new vocabulary as well as how to define concepts in the second language!

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Introduction: https://youtu.be/R-jzERBiuAQ

Augmented Reality: https://youtu.be/6-3sH2vEps8

Geocaching: https://youtu.be/AxAYnP2QqCY

Gamification: https://youtu.be/RlQza0fEPZM

Digital Badges: https://youtu.be/IQmnRWWxIH8

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http://www.learninggamesforkids.com/

http://primarygamesarena.com/

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Primary Games Arena - Fun Curriculum Games

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Share your examples of other simulation games or experiences of using the games Ollie mentions in the video - brainstorming and voting | tricider

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Let's do some brainstorming and vote for the best ideas. What do you think?

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Share some further examples or experiences of using the games mentioned by Ollie - brainstorming and voting | tricider

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Let's do some brainstorming and vote for the best ideas. What do you think?

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Share examples and pros and cons of movement games that can help you keep fit or be used in other ways - brainstorming and voting | tricider

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Let's do some brainstorming and vote for the best ideas. What do you think?

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Share your experiences of using the games and apps Ollie mentions and share any other games or apps that you know of and are useful for language learning - brainstorming and voting | tricider

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Let's do some brainstorming and vote for the best ideas. What do you think?

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When I was at secondary school my parents proudly bought a series of cd-rom which came with a newspaper every month. It was a multimedia course to learn english with games and activities which were supposed to be fun, but I found them really boring! My parents spent a lot of money and I didn't enjoy nor learnt from them!

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Educational Games: https://youtu.be/P_A2xdljPv8

Language games: https://youtu.be/gbXuFb_TeRA

Movement Games: https://youtu.be/YnVmpiZ8uh0

Brain Training Games: https://youtu.be/i4JkU4A5QKI

Simulations: https://youtu.be/oeQH9TeFJnU

Further Resources: https://youtu.be/o58OxzLsgHk

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My suggestion: God of War

http://godofwar.playstation.com/verify_age/?next=/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_of_War_%28series%29
My students talked about it so much that now I want to play it!
I have never tried it, but my students mentioned it last year when we were learning about Ancient Greeks. You can use it within a project about Greek Gods.

Restrains: Budget, amount of students per classroom

Solutions: We should ask school owners to buy a few in order to start it up and try out games in the school. Our classes have many students, so we might need an agenda so that all students have the possibility to play the games.

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Games in school 2016 - Using commercial games in schools

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I agree with Tarik from Turkey and Kaisa from Finland. Schools in Argentina are trying to get financial support to get some computers and projectors in the classrooms so it will be really difficult to get the money to buy consoles and games.

Right now my students are bringing their own devices to school (netbooks and tablets) so it would be a great opportunity to include games in my lessons, but they should be games that can work well with the devices we have available.

Now I'm trying out Kodu, a game lab I discovered after I participated in another course from European Schoolnet Academy.

I'll add a webpage suggested by NeleVm: http://www.gamesandlearning.org/

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Kodu Game Lab is a 3D game development environment that is designed to teach kids basic programming principles. Kodu allows creators to build the world's terrain, populate it with characters and props, and then program their behaviors and games rules in a bespoke visual programming language.

Kodu originated as a project in Microsoft Research. The original target platform was the Xbox 360 using C#, XNA, and releasing via the Indie Games Channel. The choice of releasing on the Xbox informed much of the early UI development since everything needed to be done using a game controller. Since porting to the PC, support for keyboard, mouse, and touch have been added.

The goal for Kodu has always been to be as easy as possible for new users. Guided by this goal, we've tended to design new features so that they are simple and understandable rather than more complex and complete.

The heart of Kodu is the tile-based programming language. The language is high level in the sense that a lot can be accomplished in a very few lines of “kode” compared to traditional programming. The kode is continuously evaluated so that it immediately reacts to any changes in the state of the world. For instance, the sample below shows how to program a character to find and eat all the apples in the game world. Line 1 says that if the character sees an apple, it should move toward it. If there is more than one apple in the world, it automatically chooses the nearest to move toward. Line 2 says that when the character bumps into the apple, it should eat it. The bumped tile is Kodu’s way of telling when two characters are close to each other. Once the apple is eaten, it no longer exists in the world, so the character will then go after the next one and so on until no more apples remain.

Having the tiles represent real-world events, actions, and objects helps bridge the gap between a new user’s real-world experience and the often abstract nature of computer programming.

Featured Worlds

Download Kodu

Classroom Resources

Videos

Tip and Tricks

Privacy Statement

EULA and Code of Conduct

Questions?

For questions or any support issues, email KoduSupport@InfiniteInstant.com.

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Last year students worked on a project called "The Time Machine". Students traveled back to the time of the Ancient Greeks and studied about their life. They prepared a presentation which I'm sharing. Even secondary school students prepared two plays they shared with us!

I think this year I could work with the same project but focusing on the olympic games. Students could play the game, and, while playing they could investigate about sports included in the olympic games, their rules and countires involved.

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Last year I carried out a project about the environment called "Green Helping Hands". Students recycled elements which were going to be thrown to the bin, they wrote poems as if they were those objects, the separated rubbish at school and they even visited the landfill site in Buenos Aires.

They mentioned this film so many times that I had to watch it! Students could think of the human impact on the environment after playing the game.

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2. Green Helping Hands - 5thformnewlands

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Thematic and Project-based Learning with games:

https://youtu.be/4-Vt-qVkiYQ

How to use games for thematic & project based learning: playing Wall-E
https://youtu.be/mvdBJ1n0PnE

How to use games for thematic & project based learning: Olympics
https://youtu.be/HA4X8AqzKNM

How to use games for thematic & project based learning: further resources
https://youtu.be/lbgafnwHtMw
Case Study: http://www2.futurelab.org.uk/resources/documents/project_reports/Console_Games_report.pdf

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When I was young I used to play handball. This game helped me build collaboration skills and team work as well as it aided me in the development of strategies in order to be successful in the game. When I couldn't do well in a match the teacher used to send me to practise throwing the ball to a specific point, so I could get better. Perseverance and effort.

Then, I used to play TEG, a strategy game in which you have certain missions and you need to "attack" your opponents. Again, it taught me about strategy and it even gave me the basics about locations of countires in the map!

My favourite video game was The simpsons. I used to play it in my "sega". Again, strategy building and analitycal skills were applied to get better and reach the final level.

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Games are important for a number of reasons

Students learn when playing the game. they can understand a new concept or idea, take on a different view, experiment with different perspectives. Besides, they learn about rules, respecting and following them.

Games provide a context for entertaining activities. Students are always eager to play, they ask for games all the time. And games become meaningful activities to practise a new topic, vocabulary or concept. They acquire the content because games are engaging and funny!

Through games students can learn a variety of skills. students can develop critical thinking skills, creativity, teamwork, and communication skills, among others

Students establish connections with different areas while playing games.many games trigger a variety of different stimuli; as well as sensory experiences for students. Besides, game put into play their knowledge of different subjects such as maths, language, geography, PE, histry, etc.

And most important of all, students LOVE playing games. They are kids and they need to have fun from time to time, even at school!

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Projects, Reports and other Resources on the topic of Games in Schools (M1.1)

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Projects, Reports and other Resources on the topic of Games in Schools (M1.1)

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I have used games for quite a long time, both electronic and traditional games.

My students used several games to practice certain aspects such as:

* children's rights https://www.childcomwales.org.uk/en/know-your-rights-game/

* Vikings: http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/vikings/

* Romans: http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/romans/

* Vocabulary lists: https://quizlet.com/80166741/food-chain-flash-cards/

* Scratch.

In the last two games, my stundets felt more involved as they had to create their own games!

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I'm sharing the videos from module 1 to watch them again once the course has finished.

Resources: https://youtu.be/J0FAgGcvLGQ

Reasons to use games: https://youtu.be/2t18sphUCOE

Games as learning facilitators: https://youtu.be/9VojW2P9N40

Activity 1:

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Hello! my name is Daiana Martinez. I am a teacher of English in two different schools in Argentina. I work with both primary and secondary school students in the suburbs of Buenos Aires.

I looooove my job and enjoy spending time with my students. I love planning projects which are enhanced with technology as I find electronic devices crucial for the XXI century education.

I also enjoy reading books, watching films and travelling around the world. Every time I have the possibility, I pack my bag and start a new adventure to different countries and different cultures. I have a curious self which is delighted to learn about others even during the holidays.

I would like to share with you my reflection blog in which I write posts related to education, both in english and spanish.

http://daimartinez1.blogspot.com.ar/