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As the year comes to an end so does this blog, we've done some pretty cool stuff this year but its time to go our separate ways, bye.

End of the year wrap up

End of the year wrap up

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This year we have spent our time in Gifted trying to better the school, ourselves, and the lives of the people around us. In our efforts we have tried to keep our group collaboration related to our individual topics of interest. Third quarter we decided to shift our topic to better reflect what we wanted to achieve in this class and in the discussions that followed we decided to focus our time on the different aspects of educational games.
We have been able to study and post about a number of different kinds, benefits, and parts of educational games. In the beginning we focused on what and how games were able to teach students. Ryan focused on how video games could educate student. Jordan worked with the language of games. Lindseys posts examined the story line of games and how it affected the game. Victoria researched how new technology affects games and how students respond to these games. Of course we included a lot more into our blog which helped us to build a greater understanding of what works and why.
But what did we accomplish? As group we were able to pick a topic and not only study it but do so in a way that incorporated topics that really interest us. We have found what we believe to be the best techniques for teaching students and what games best utilize these techniques. One of the ways we were able to find some of the best games was by interviewing a student who we thought was in the age group that could best benefit from the use of educational games. This isnt quite finished but here is the wrapup of our progress this year

Current Language Games

Current Language Games

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Language games already exist, and I decided that I need to know what language games already exist for children to get an idea for what a language game I create would look like.

1. Word Puzzles. These can be fill-in-the-blank, or other formats. These games require certain words to be found to complete objectives.
2. Reading comprehension. These games require players to look at a page of text and identify what certain words mean using context clues or prior knowledge.
3. Word/Letter sounds. These games use audio to help players understand how words and letters sound when spoken.
4. Synonym/Antonym. These games require players to find which words are opposites of each other or similar to each other.
5. Crossword Puzzles. These games require players to find a word to fit in a certain space using definition and word length as the only clues. As more words are discovered, words that cross other words also give hints to what another word may be. These can be as simple or as advanced as the gamemaker wishes.

These are just a few examples of the hundreds of language games that exists, but these are extremely common types.

Indirectly educational games.

Indirectly educational games.

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Most kids, students, people in general, don't like learning. This is probably because of schools and their techniques and I'm sure I could make 100 posts on how that's true but that's not what this post is about. Games are often underutilized as teaching techniques. Many games teach valuable skills but do not do so in a direct manner. For example, a direct learning game is flyswatter, jeopardy, or memory. An indirect learning game often teaches skills including problem solving or strategy. I think it is important to incorporate indirect games with direct games when teaching. These games seem less like learning exercises to students while still providing an education on skills that are not often taught in schools. 

This is a collection of what I believe to be important indirect learning games which I have in my house. 

Visual eyes is a game where players must decipher phases from a number of pictures. This game relies heavily on critical thinking skills and it requires people to think outside the box. This game can be hard to start because most people don't think visually but with a little time this game really builds up these skills. I included pictures of some examples of phrases so you can see what the game is like. Another good thing about this game is that as long as everyone can see the dice there are no strict player limits.

Dominoes is a classic game and it, along with its more modern counterpart triominos, can be a really good game with regards to strategy and number recognition. These games would be really valuable learning instruments for teachers of younger kids. This game is not really heavy on the learning but it is pretty fun, I admit to spending quite a few days playing triominos as a child. Plus these games provide a nice break from the constant repetitive memorization of math facts.

Quiddler is another game that I believe would be really important for young students. It focuses on making little words as well as some "big" ones. This game helps students recognize how letters combine to make words and to make this recognition quickly. 

Qbitz is easily the hardest game here. It like the last game Set focus on identifying patterns and making visual connections. Both of these games also create a more competitive spirit between players which could end really well or really badly. I personally really enjoy these games and I believe that using these, and all of the other games, as teaching tools students will become better thinkers, learners, and strategists. 

Best Learning Game 2012

Best Learning Game 2012

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Blood Typing Game
Nobel has a prize for best educational game each year. Last years was a game about blood typing.

Here is the description of the missions in the game.

Hi and welcome to the emergency department at this hospital! 

Your challenge is to save three patients who have been in a car accident and need blood transfusions. It is your job to blood type each patient and give them the correct blood. Try to avoid making mistakes or the patient's condition will deteriorate! If you make no mistakes you will get all five out of five blood drops in the end.

First you select a parent
Then you look at the contents of their blood and give them the transfusion that reflects this.
You have to select all of the bloods that the patients body can accept so they don't die

This game is pretty hard to start but it gets significantly easier and it would definitely have helped me a lot when we were working on blood types in Biology. This game is really educational and visually pleasing. If I was a biology teacher I would show it to my students.

Language Games: How Should We Make Them?

Language Games: How Should We Make Them?

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Earlier, I made a post on the effectiveness of teaching a secondary language or advanced language to children at a young age. Since their brains are more capable of language learning, it makes sense to do this. The last step is how to make the game. I can think of several options.

1. Flash Cards. Good, reliable, but boring flash cards. This is probably the easiest method, but it fails to captivate children to the extent that it should.
2. Some form of board game. Whenever you roll the dice and land on a space, you draw a card and attempt to define the word. It can be in a foreign language or an advanced word. If it is defined correctly, some benefit could be given. If not, the child can write the definition down and use it should the word turn up again. Board games can be extremely captivating for children, given that they are done correctly.
3. Flyswatter. Words appear on a canvas produced by a projector, an instructor calls out the word's definition or meaning in the students' current language, and the first one of the two to hit the correct word gets a point for their team. Some students may find this boring, but others find the idea of challenge exciting.

Other options exist, of course, but these three seem the best on a gamemaker's standpoint. I may update this list if I think of anything new.

End of the year review games.

End of the year review games.

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So I am going to be posting some games I have thought of that would be cool quick and easy review games that would help teach for finals or any tests you are taking at the end of the year. I have no idea if anyone has thought of these before but I tried my best to create something somewhat original.

1) Hunger Games Review Game
So you get a bowl filled with numbers and assign a number to each student. Take two numbers and have the cooresponding students come up to answer a question. The losing student gets eliminated and their number is removed from the bowl. You can continue choose numbers until their is one student, the victor, remaining.