Educational Origami » games

On the wire – Science

andrewch — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 21:00:50 +0000

The number of websites that have come across my desk this week is quite outstanding. There are some great resources here that will suit many subjects and curriculum levels.

1. Working on the food chain - http://www.msnucleus.org/membership/storybooks/foodchain.html this is a simple explanation of a food chain. A good resource suiting younger students – upper Junior & lower middle school.

2. Cell visualisation project – http://www.kenneth-eward.com/cvp/cvpindex.html This is a more senior site with resources for the cell. Good graphics. The home site has a number of other resources that you may find of benefit – http://www.kenneth-eward.com/index.html

3. Purpose games – http://www.purposegames.com/ this is a site that hosts educational and quiz games. Really its a portal that you should consider visiting.

4. 35 + educational games http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2009/10/35-educational-games-and-games.html Free technology for teachers is one of my favourite sites and this is an excellent collection of educational games.

5. Web 2 tools for schools – http://cooltoolsforschools.wikispaces.com/ This is an excellent wiki developed by a New Zealand Colleague Lenva. A great resources.

6. Starter sheets http://edorigami.wikispaces.com/Starter+Sheets Professional development and teaching resources for commonweb 2 tools

On the Wire – Educational games and visualizations

andrewch — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 07:55:48 +0000

Here are some interesting games and visualization sites that you can use.

1. National Atmospheric and oceanic admistration – http://www.nnvl.noaa.gov/ This is a government site with some good visualisations and animations on weather etc. Good use of satellite images – worth a visit

2. Science net links – http://www.sciencenetlinks.com/interactives/systems.html This interactive starts with a voice saying “please help me I have lost all my organs” – from there the students have to help him rebuild his digestive tract, nervous system and others. The base site http://www.sciencenetlinks.com/ is also worth visiting too..

3. Climate Challenge – http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/hottopics/climatechange/climate_challenge/ This is a BBC science/climate game. Well worth looking at. Here is the lead line for it “A game where you are president of the European Nations. You must tackle climate change and stay popular enough with the voters to remain in office”

4. Connect2change – http://www.connect2climate.org/Mobile_Games.htm this is a site with a difference as it is games for mobile phones. The theme is climate change. Interesting.

5. Copenhagen Challenge – http://www.copenhagenchallenge.org/ Another climate change challenge game. This one is web based rather than mobile based. Here is the lead line from this Educational game “The United Nations Climate Change Conference 2009 – COP15, is being hosted by Denmark in Copenhagen in December this year. The Danish government’s goal for COP15 is to establish an ambitious global climate agreement which will apply to the period after 2012..”

6. V Gas – Energy Lifestyles and climate – http://alba.jrc.it/vgas/ This is a download and play game produced by the European Commission Joint Research Center.Also worth a visit is the Joint Research Center – http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/jrc/index.cfm

7. Learning games for Kids - http://www.learninggamesforkids.com/ This is a site for the younger students hosting a variety of different games.

These sites are bookmarked on my delicious site – http://delicious.com/achurches

Game consoles in NZ

andrewch — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 03:05:28 +0000

As part of a presentation I am preparing I needed some data on Gaming consoles in New Zealand.

A quick search revealed some interesting statistics – this is information about the Sony products but it gives perspective to the adoption of gaming concoles across NZ (stats for 2008). PlayStation:

accounted for 67 percent of all software sales and 55 percent of gaming consoles
selling almost 100,000 consoles in 2008
install base across all platforms is now almost 730,000 units
PS2 install base 525,000 consoles.
PlayStation Portable install base over 142,000 units.

Interesting… My guess is that over 75% of NZ house holds will have a gaming console of some shape and form.

Is digital technology shaping and moulding our youth…

Source: http://reseller.co.nz/reseller.nsf/news/582ECEC6FCA88A54CC257562000E9E76

A global perspective – http://www.vgchartz.com/

7 things you should know about Alternate Reality Games

andrewch — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 02:01:47 +0000

The guys from Educause have released their latest addition in the Seven things you should know series.

You can download the pdf version at http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7045.pdf

Great work and well worth downloading – read the brief at – http://connect.educause.edu/blog/pkurkowski/neweli7thingsbriefexplore/48028

Taxonomy of Interactivity

andrewch — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 21:29:29 +0000

Clark Aldrich isn’t some one I knew about or had met before a quick twitter comment. The link interested me it was about interactivity and games. Clark in this blog post has outline a taxonomy of interactivity ranging from level 0 (children should be seen and not heard approach) to level 6 (The students are running the show) .

http://clarkaldrich.blogspot.com/2008/08/taxonomy-of-interactivity.html

This is something that I like and could relate to. While Clark is looking specifically at the taxonomy of interactivity as it refers to games I see parellels to interactivity with teaching. The first link is the learning pyramid.

Clark Aldrich’s Taxonomy of Interactivity	Teaching and learning Taxonomy of Interactivity
Level 0: The instructor speaks regardless of audience. This is the proverbial talking head, often supplemented with PowerPoint slides. Most books fall here, and some lectures.	Level 0: Lecture 5% retention and Reading 10% Retention This is classic teacher centric chalk and talk.
Level 1: The instructor pauses and asks single answer questions of the students. “What year did the Spanish Revolution start?” When the question is correctly answered, the class continues. Many traditional e-learning courses fall here, as well as workbooks.	Level 1 to Level 3:Audio Visual – 20% Demonstration – 30 % Discussion Group – 50% The teacher starts with closed questions and progresses to open ended questioning. Starts with individual involvement and progresses to whole class . I often wonder with individual directed questions if these are in fact a control measure rather than a learning feature. By this I mean how often does the teacher maintain classroom control by asking questions at students who may be off task, misbehaving or are potential trouble makers.
Level 2: The instructor tests the audience and based on the collective response, skips ahead or backtracks. A good preacher might poll his or her audience (”Amen!?”), and based on the collective enthusiasm (”Amen!!”) or lack thereof (”…Amen…”) of the response, decide to linger and make a case or assume agreement and move on. This might require preparing three hours of material for a forty-five minute sermon.
Level 3: The instructor asks multiple choice questions of the audience, where a student might have the opportunity to defend different answers, or the instructor asks real time polling questions for data. Or there may be an open-ended student chat rooms in parallel to the presentation, which periodically surfaces an issue that the speaker addresses. Most branching stories fall here.
Level 4: Students engage labs or other activities that have a single, typically process solution, such as putting together an engine. Mini games are often here. The role of the instructor is starting to be more coach-like.	Level 4 to 5:Practice by doing – 75% retention I feel that in Clark’s taxonomy of interactivity levels 4 to 6 – Practice by doing, simulation and modelling represent a sliding scale here. Obviously some activities are going to be more effective and pertinent and will achieve better learning outcomes. Most of the approaches detailed in levels 4 to 6 are represented in practice by doing
Level 5: Students engage labs or other activities and create unique content; however, most solutions will fall into fairly common patterns if done enough times. This includes the analysis of case studies, the use of interactive spreadsheets, practiceware, and the playing of most complex games, including real time strategy (RTS) and tycoon games.
Level 6: The students engage in long, open ended activities, such as writing a story or creating and executing a plan, and where the class “ends up” is unpredictable. The instructor is now almost completely an enabler, a coach/facilitator, a resource. This includes the use of blogs and microcosms, and longer (multi-day) role-plays, including the use of virtual experience spaces. This column is copied directly from the blog post for comparision. Source: http://clarkaldrich.blogspot.com/2008/08/taxonomy-of-interactivity.html	Level 6:In classroom interactivity, the highest level interaction is represented by the students teaching their peers and for that matter their teachers. Games obviously do have limitation in regards to this.But opportunities using virtual environments like second life’s education Island do exist

Clark Aldrich’s

Taxonomy of Interactivity

Teaching and learning

Taxonomy of Interactivity

Level 0: The instructor speaks regardless of audience. This is the proverbial talking head, often supplemented with PowerPoint slides. Most books fall here, and some lectures.

Level 0: Lecture 5% retention and Reading 10% Retention

This is classic teacher centric chalk and talk.

Level 1: The instructor pauses and asks single answer questions of the students. “What year did the Spanish Revolution start?” When the question is correctly answered, the class continues. Many traditional e-learning courses fall here, as well as workbooks.

Level 1 to Level 3:Audio Visual – 20%

Demonstration – 30 %

Discussion Group – 50%

The teacher starts with closed questions and progresses to open ended questioning.

Starts with individual involvement and progresses to whole class .

I often wonder with individual directed questions if these are in fact a control measure rather than a learning feature.

By this I mean how often does the teacher maintain classroom control by asking questions at students who may be off task, misbehaving or are potential trouble makers.

Level 2: The instructor tests the audience and based on the collective response, skips ahead or backtracks. A good preacher might poll his or her audience (”Amen!?”), and based on the collective enthusiasm (”Amen!!”) or lack thereof (”…Amen…”) of the response, decide to linger and make a case or assume agreement and move on. This might require preparing three hours of material for a forty-five minute sermon.

Level 3: The instructor asks multiple choice questions of the audience, where a student might have the opportunity to defend different answers, or the instructor asks real time polling questions for data. Or there may be an open-ended student chat rooms in parallel to the presentation, which periodically surfaces an issue that the speaker addresses. Most branching stories fall here.

Level 4: Students engage labs or other activities that have a single, typically process solution, such as putting together an engine. Mini games are often here. The role of the instructor is starting to be more coach-like.

Level 4 to 5:Practice by doing – 75% retention

I feel that in Clark’s taxonomy of interactivity levels 4 to 6 – Practice by doing, simulation and modelling represent a sliding scale here.

Obviously some activities are going to be more effective and pertinent and will achieve better learning outcomes. Most of the approaches detailed in levels 4 to 6 are represented in practice by doing

Level 5: Students engage labs or other activities and create unique content; however, most solutions will fall into fairly common patterns if done enough times. This includes the analysis of case studies, the use of interactive spreadsheets, practiceware, and the playing of most complex games, including real time strategy (RTS) and tycoon games.

Level 6: The students engage in long, open ended activities, such as writing a story or creating and executing a plan, and where the class “ends up” is unpredictable. The instructor is now almost completely an enabler, a coach/facilitator, a resource. This includes the use of blogs and microcosms, and longer (multi-day) role-plays, including the use of virtual experience spaces.

This column is copied directly from the blog post for comparision.

Source: http://clarkaldrich.blogspot.com/2008/08/taxonomy-of-interactivity.html

Level 6:In classroom interactivity, the highest level interaction is represented by the students teaching their peers and for that matter their teachers.

Games obviously do have limitation in regards to this.But opportunities using virtual environments like second life’s education Island do exist

So here are some key questions:

Do you agree with this table? Where does your teaching practice fit on the teaching interactivity scale?

Does your teaching like mine fluctuate up and down the scale. This is I think natural, but if you were to average its position where would it be? Which slot do you fit most confortably into?

EdTechCrew – Podcast Interview

andrewch — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 00:26:18 +0000

On Tuesday evening I had a great podcast interview with the EdTechCrew. We had a 40 minute interview on a range of educational topics. I really enjoyed the experience and had a great time.

Its the first time I have done a podcast interview and also the first time on a skype conference call.

If you would like to listen – here is the URL http://www.edtechcrew.net/2008/09/02/ed-tech-crew-60-educational-origami-with-andrew-churches/

Anatomy Arcade

andrewch — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 21:56:06 +0000

http://www.anatomyarcade.com/index.html

If you are a biologist, general science teacher, health or PE teacher, this is a great resource for you.

This is their blurb…

“Anatomy Arcade makes basic human anatomy come ALIVE through awesome free flash games and interactives.

Finally, students can play flash games in class and not get in trouble for it and teachers can run lessons that will engage students like never before.”

They have games and resources that cover human anatomy. Its a fun interactive and captivating approach that will assist students and teachers alike.

Here are some of the links to Games by Body system

Science Game – Immune attack

andrewch — Thu, 29 May 2008 07:01:43 +0000

I found this site from Ewen Del.icio.us post on his blog. Its a game produced by the Federation of American Scientists. This is a good resource for teachers of science, biology and health. The game is played witha 3d simulation where you control a robot within the body.

Here is their blurb…

“The Federation of American Scientists (FAS) presents Immune Attack™, an educational video game that introduces basic concepts of human immunology to high school and entry-level college students. Designed as a supplemental learning tool, Immune Attack aims to excite students about the subject, while also illuminating general principles and detailed concepts of immunology.

To learn more about the game visit the Teacher Guide, Game Guide and System Requirements.”

Links

Sim Sweatshop

andrewch — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 01:38:12 +0000

http://www.simsweatshop.com/

This is a great simulation and brilliant tool. The flash 9 based site hosts a simulation of a sports shoe making sweatshop. The successfull worker (I’m not one of them) will make atleast 3 shoes a day to earn his $6.05 wage. making 2 shoes 1/2’s his or her pay packet.

He (or she) must also buy food and drink to, decide to join the union, and a variety of other tasks that the workers in this sweatshop face.

Game resources

andrewch — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 22:45:56 +0000

Do you know how amny game creation tools are out there. Most of us have heard of Gamemaker, but there is a whole heap more. have a look at this list:

http://www.ambrosine.com/resource.html

Latest Additions

Platform Studio free to use software for creating great platform games
GameBrix the first product created for Adobe flash designers that enables them to build flash based web games
Golden Realm 2d Game Maker engine available for only $1.00
Engine001 a game creation engine where you can bring your Action RPG and RPG ideas to life
Sakari Infinity a music resource web site with entirely original and custom music
JACL Adventure Creation Language free open-source language for creating interactive fiction and web-based adventure games
PlayerRealms free online adventure game maker

Engines/Authorware for Non-Programmers

2D Shooter Game Creator The 2D shooter game creator will let YOU create your own games, in the style of classic lightgun games, e.g. Time Crisis
3D Adventure Studio an editor for creating adventure games in style of Gabriel Knight 3 (WIN)
3DCakeWalk allows the development of commercial quality games with all the “state of art” features you will find in today’s leading games
3D Game Engine alpha release of an unfinished 3D game engine (DOS/GNU/Linux)
The 3D Game Maker point & click 3D game creator (Win)
3D Game Studio produce 3D realtime applications – demos, adventures, role playing, action, advertising, or racing games – without programming skills (WIN)
3D Rad a programmable, user-friendly, 3D real-time engine (WIN)
Abstract RTS Engine An RTS engine under development intended for user-produced rules, AI, and media modules (mods)
ADePT adventure developing and playing toolkit
ADRIFT a simple, yet powerful IF game designer (WIN)
Adventure Book CYOA creator