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Hello! My name is Susana Aleixo. I am from Portugal and I teach English in Primary school as a second language.

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1.1 How do we learn with games?                         Activity: My favourite game and what I learned

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1.1 How do we learn with games?                         Activity: My favourite game and what I learned

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When I was a child I enjoyed playing outside. My favourite games were skipping and Simon says... Well I think it developed my physical abilities and creativity. Of course that it developed my social skills as I played with my friends. However I also enjoyed playing noughts and crosses when I couldn't play outside. It stimulated my problem solving skills, observing and thinking skills! These were my favourite games when I was a child. I read some answers of my peers and most of them refer games played outside with friends and table games. In my opinion these games reach all types of learners because they stimulated motor skills, but also thinking and problem solving skills in which anyone could play at his/her own rhythm.

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1.2 Gamification                             Activity: Fun theory

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1.2 Gamification                             Activity: Fun theory

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I'm an English primary school teacher (English as a second language), so I teach young children. In my classes I usually play games to engage and motivate my students! They love playing bingo, memory games and board games online. But I would like more... I like challenges so I'm ready to innovate using different games to improve my classes. Games can take an important part in my lessons, making learning more effective.

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1.3 How do games impact teaching & learning dynamics?                                    Activity: Your role in the classroom

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1.3 How do games impact teaching & learning dynamics?                                    Activity: Your role in the classroom

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At the moment I see myself as a moderator, well I’m trying to be a moderator, letting my students find answers. Depending on the lesson I can be located in different places In the classroom. If I’m presenting vocabulary or explaining something I’m in front of the class. But when students are doing activities, I always go around the class monitoring and giving guidance to my students. When they do a Show and Tell activity I usually deliver them a questionnaire in the end of the activity. This questionnaire is a kind of an evaluation of their performance (feedback). I think that if I introduce games more frequently in class, my position and role has to be more different. I’m ready to learn more!

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1.4 Creativity and games          Activity: Incorporating creativity into classroom practice

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1.4 Creativity and games          Activity: Incorporating creativity into classroom practice

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In my opinion teachers can help learners develop their creative habits and skills giving them tasks in which they must make their own decisions, choosing the way they want to accomplish it. I usually assign tasks in which students have to put in practice their problem solving skills and critical thinking. They give ideas, I only guide them. I think that games can develop creativity if we ask them to create their own games. It will foster their imagination and develop different skills. It is a big challenge in class.

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Activity 1 - Challenges for implementation  survey
I did the survey and added two ideas:
- You just added an idea for people to vote on: The number of students in class, sometimes there are more than 30.

- You just added an idea for people to vote on: Lack of equipment (computers, laptops..) in the classrooms.
Activity 2 - Ways to address the challenges – message to policymakers
The main challenge is having technological equipment for all students to play the game. There is only an ICT classroom and it is difficult to have access to it. I think that the number of students we have in our classroom creates some difficulties when playing games. I also agree that the pressure of accomplish the curriculum sometimes creates barriers, we need more time in class.

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1.6 Challenge break                   Activity: Gamifying the grading

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1.6 Challenge break                   Activity: Gamifying the grading

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I personally use stickers and badges to gamify my student's progress. Sometimes they get certificates too. At the end of each class students use emoticons giving their opinion of the class and their engagement in the activities they performed. (Feedback)

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Activity: Game-based learning and special educational needs

If you consider the students in your classes, how would they react if you let them play a game as part of the lesson? How would students with different profiles react? How could it affect your SEN (special educational needs) students?

If I let them play a game as part of the lesson, they would love it! Sometimes I use games as part of the lesson, not very often as they would like. In my opinion games reach students with different profiles, because games have dynamics, challenges and it motivates and engages students, even SEN students. I think that with games SEN students learn better!

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Activity: Taking serious games seriously

Have you used serious games in your teaching? Were they effective? Share any relevant experiences here. If you have never used a serious game, do some research and see if you can find a serious game which you could use with your class, and then share it here.

I have never used serious games in my teaching practice. But I’ m going to do some research and see if I can use a serious game with my class. Perhaps a serious game related to prevent bullying, a problem that most students deal at school nowadays.

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Real-life adventure games

Activity: What other real-life adventure games do you know of, from an educational setting or elsewhere? How could you use them with your class? If you already have experience with Escape Rooms or geocaching in a learning environment, then share your experience here.

Well I’ve never used real-life adventure games. For me this is completely new and I’m very excited because I’m learning a lot about different types of games we can use in our class! I teach English as a second language in primary school, so I could use an Escape Room experience with my class. Giving them clues for them to solve puzzles and word searches with vocabulary in English… it is an idea! I’m going to try this for sure!

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Activity: Games for thematic learning

Share some more ideas on how games not directly designed for learning could be used for thematic learning in this Padlet.

As a teacher of ESL in Primary school I usually use games such as Bingo, Snakes and Ladders, Ludo, and other board games that were not directly designed for learning. My students love these games and I adapt them to practise vocabulary, language structures and even to practise conversation while they are playing them. For example,  I use Bingo with vocabulary instead of numbers. They learn how to write words, and recognise them when they hear them! It’s quite effective in terms of learning. I’ve never tried videogames for thematic learning, because I teach very young students, but I’m willing to try it. I´m sure that students will love it!

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Activity:

Gamifying homework

How can you gamify the homework you assign to your students?

Well, using the Learningapps.org, for instance, I can create an app and this way I gamify the homework.  I can create quizzes and at home they solve them. So, at home students play and put in practise what they have learned. This way the word homework would be more exciting… (But there are some difficulties, because I teach ESL in primary school and I know that some students don’t have computer or internet at home). I think this is an excellent idea, because gamifying homework makes our students more motivated and engaged in the activity we assigned.

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Activiy: Your creative classroom

Do you try to encourage creativity in your classroom? How?

I teach very young students, so I always try to encourage creativity. I give them tasks in which they have to create something to present to the whole class about a theme we are studying. For example creating a city map with recycled materials and presenting their favourite food using varied material. Awesome presentations I must say! I also use games, because students become more engaged and motivated!

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Activity: Share your project

We are interested in sharing our work and developing a community of people interested in these activities, practices, and ideas. If you have already created something, please post a video or a picture of it together with a short description and some guidelines to help us get started with tinkering!

I’ve never heard about tinkering but I’m willing to find out more about it! So, I´ve never been involved in a project like this. Well, but this year to commemorate Halloween students did Halloween masks using recycled material! They had to develop their masks and they did well.

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Activiy: Real learning in virtual worlds

Could you see yourself using Minecraft? Reflect on how you could integrate Minecraft into your teaching and share any ideas in this Padlet.

I’ve never played Minecraft, but after watching this video I think That I can see myself using it in my teaching. I teach English as ESL and after watching some examples of using Minecraft it can useful for some themes. However first it is important to have computers in class enough for students to play, because in my school we don’t have these resources available. Then I can use it to practise vocabulary related to the house and furniture. I think it is a good tool for that.

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Activity

My Scratch project

We are interested in your own work! Please share any Scratch project you developed for/with your students in this Padlet.

Well I'm not an expert in coding, but I tried Scratch and I created this project for my ESL students to introduce themselves answering the question:"What's your name?" It was a challenge for me! But I want to learn more....

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Activity: Assessing competences using gamification mechanisms

What kind of gamification technique could you use to assess and certify the development of competences like creativity?

I think that I could ask them to create a game or a poster to assess my students creativity at the end of a unit, for example. They could use some sites, such as LearningApps and create a game to check the contents of a unit. That could be a way to assess this competence, but also collaboration if this work is made in group.

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Activity: Creating games with our students

The process of creating a game is a complex one – could you nevertheless see yourself introducing game design aspects into your teaching? How could you bring your subject learning into this? How much time would you need? Reflect on how game design can be integrated into your teaching and share your thoughts in this Padlet.

The process of creating a game is complex, however I can see myself introducing game design in my classes. As a ESL teacher I could ask my students to design a game to practice vocabulary, for example. That would be very interesting and engaging. I teach young students so this could develop several skills: problem-solving skills, digital skills and collaborative work. They could put in practice what they have learnt and develop their creativity and learning perspective. I think that it would take time to get students introduced to game designing and for that it is important to have available resources like we saw in the previous shared videos.

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Activity: Through the lens of game design

Is the process of design thinking useful for you to construct learning experiences for your students? Could you rearrange your lessons in such a way that they follow the design thinking process outlined above? And how could you bring together a design thinking approach in the context of a project on game design with your students? Reflect and share in this Padlet.

In my opinion the process of design thinking is useful to construct learning experiences for students. It gives students the opportunity to think by themselves and give them more confidence in creating something. It helps students to be more collaborative, to define what they want to create and its purpose. Then they define their ideas to make a prototype and finally testing if that works! It is a way to prepare our students for the challenges of the upcoming future. I could rearrange my lessons in a way following the design thinking process. I could challenge my students to create a game in which they could practice the vocabulary of a house. To reach this stage, they have first to follow the stages of the process of design thinking…

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Activity: Your game design tool

Do you have any experience with game design tools? If so, which game design tool are you using? Why? What are you looking for in a game design tool? Share your thoughts in this Padlet.

I have some experience in creating games with LearningApps. I’ve already used Scratch, but in a very simple way, creating a scene for my students to interact. However, I think that there are many potentials in using game design tools. I’m ready to try a learn more about this, because from the experiences shared and that I learned in this module it leads our students to a more effective learning process. Students get more motivated and boosts the way they learn! I feel very motivated and willing to try all these methods!

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Webinar - Designing games at school: From concept to development

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Webinar - Designing games at school: From concept to development

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Activity: Stirring up competitions for review

One way to gamify the process of review is to set up competitions. Do you think a competition is motivating or damaging? Considering the subject you teach, what kind of competition could you develop for your upcoming review?

In my opinion using a game competition in the beginning of a lesson as a process of review of the last lesson can be very motivating. Students love competitions and they get more involved in the activity. I think that if we control the way they compete it is never damaging, because the point is not winning but what they can learn from it. That’s the most important goal of playing a game.

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Breaking the rules: gamification of learning

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Breaking the rules: gamification of learning

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Activity: Decomposing the play-learning strategy

Reflect on what you have seen. What’s the role of the teacher and the students in this scenario? What are the main elements of such an approach to learning? What are the possible challenges? What extra elements would you add in this approach and what would you not include? Share your thoughts in the Padlet below.

The role of the teacher is to organise the information and guide the students, monitoring their work, challenging them to use their creativity. This challenge empowers students making them more confident and autonomous. The main role is on the side of the students. They are the most important in the learning process and they decide and think how to do things. They develop lots of skills, such as  problem solving skills.

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TeachMeet: How do you play with purpose in your classroom?

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TeachMeet: How do you play with purpose in your classroom?

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Learning designer

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A visually structured approach to learning design to think through and support your students’ learning

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Thank you to my dear colleagues

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