Still Exploring, but at a Snail's Pace (in my case at least)

This post is from our ABC Online Gaming Club.

I thought I would share it and ask that anyone using GMod with their students who would like to share, please do.

From the Blog:
We haven't been able to meet up in past weeks, due to end of the school year meetings, steam updates and downtimes as well as other activities. That said the kids are working in Garry's Mod at their own pace and some have even produced some machinima for it, which we are hoping to post here. The kids will be writing one post prior to the end of the school year on their experiences so far.

At this point, the parental letter explaining the family sharing settings has been shared with parents through GDocs and we are set to have our last club meeting this coming Thursday.

The club will be back next school year and we hope to really make progress with our long awaited GMod accounts. We are definitely newbies when it comes to this application but willing and excited to learn.  If there is anyone out there that is using GMod with their students, we would really love to hear from you.

Jumping Back in with WoW!

The new school year is here and with it a new take on our gaming club. We are about to jump back in, after taking a year off, with our World of Warcraft  extra curricular club, which will run throughout  most of the school year.

Some things have changed however. This year the work won't revolve exclusively around a novel. That doesn't mean books won't be involved. It just means that we will open the club up a bit more to a greater range of language based activities.

Students who decide to participate in the club will have a chance not only to play World of Warcraft, but to engage in several other online gaming experiences including Minecraft. The lessons will involve game play time and a range of language based activities. Students will share their work and reflections on our ABC WoW Blog.

It should be an exciting year full of online gaming and language learning at the ABC. We look forward to sharing more with you as the school year progresses.

The Positive Effects of Gaming

This evening as I was wandering through posts on Google+, I came across this post by the Frugal Dad.

Now much of this is not news. Many of us have been hearing for years that gamer's brains are getter at certain tasks and that their are physical differences between brains on games and those not. Most of us are also very aware of the educational benefits of gaming,  but didn't you know that video games were being used for pain management in hospitals?  Did you know that after 21 hours of play a week, the benefits are outweighed by negative impact.  I didn't, not until today, so I thought I would share.

The following Info graphic  is worth looking at, so do scroll down.



Source: Frugal Dad

Learning Through Games

This is a great TED Talk on how powerful the the learning is that takes place in when playing MMPOG.
Our World of Warcraft students are a great example of this. The learning that has taken place in-game, since January is exponential. This doesn't even take into account the additional learning they have engaged in through the novel study element of the club.

Games aren't bad and yes books are still good!

Presenting Our WoW Project

Last Saturday we had the privilege of presenting our WoW project at the Social Learning Summit .  My co-presenter, who is a 12th grade WoW expert, and myself were really excited about sharing our experiences and those of our students in the club so far. The session was only 30 minutes long so it was a bit of a rush and we couldn't delve into things too much, but we managed to cover the important points. Hopefully through our sharing session we managed to spark an interest in other teachers.

There are two things that really stand out upon reflection on this project. The first is the ability of a blogging platform to facilitate the writing process, and enable students to collaborate, and teach others as they publish their ideas to the world.  The second is the way in a which a game environment not only helps students in thinking strategically, but also moves them towards directing and resourcing their learning.

Our students, took the initiative and began to research the WoW game. They  made it their business to visit and read through forums and wikis. They searched out and watched videos on the game, and they engaged in important discussions with other more experienced player's. Their appetite for learning kicked in and they became ravenous. Funny enough, at no point were they instructed to do so!

So the question is, if kids can turn on this need to learn more, and the appropriate web search and web evaluation skills are in place, enabling them to locate important resources and teach themselves, then how can we shift or redesign other learning experiences, in order to evoke a similar hunger, a similar response?

Online Gaming

Our kids have grown up with video games that are far more complex than those we were familiar with as children. They love games and understand online gaming environments. It makes sense to get creative and use games to help students learn important skills.

I wasn't always a proponent of gaming, in fact it has taken me quite a few years to really understand the positive impact that gaming can have on student learning. This changed when I started an after school WoW club. (There are other elements to this club besides the game, such as reading, reflecting and blogging.) It has proven to be a powerful experience for both myself and my students. Upon reflection of the work they have done in in WoW and our journey together (I play along with them), I am impressed at what we have accomplished.

By the end of our first lesson, we were all teaching, supporting and sharing our experiences, guiding each other, as we engaged in discovery through exploration and role play. Students began guiding their own learning, through discussions and quests with others in our class and other players in the game. They used all the resources at their disposal, game wikis, YouTube tutorials and more, without prompting, and became part of a larger learning community as they sought out connections with others. This in itself is a huge leap forward. The kids were driving their learning experiences, determining their own paths, resourcing their support and extension and building learning networks.

There is a lot learning that goes on in an online game. I made a point of taking a few minutes each week to reflect on my own learning experiences. I wanted to better understand what learning processes the students were going through during those experiences. They were reading, following instructions, building strategies, seeking solutions, collaborating with others, and learning from mistakes, while utilising online safety strategies. Aren't these skills we want to help our students develop?

The strategies the students developed throughout their journeys were often a result of the conditions and obstacles they encountered. Their quests, dungeons and group work, required not only travel strategies, but strategies to aid them in coping with other adversities along the route, recognition of obstacles, their locations and how best to deal with them. They had to employ good communication, netiquette and internet safety skills in dealing with other players within the game, while traveling and participating in team based activities. Students had to use their number skills to collect and trade goods, work with experience points while finding ways to level up as well as deal with training requirements. In-world reading was a major focus of the game, as students read through quest descriptions and followed instructions. Students applied their mapping and compass skills, determined routes and means of transportation, depending on topography. These were not skills directly taught in the club, instead students were supported in navigating the virtual world.

It is an eye opening experience for a teacher, who has spent many years, devoted to planning, resourcing and teaching lessons, to realise that with the right venue, students are capable of and motivated to drive their own learning in these ways. I think it only reconfirms that we need to get more creative and take risks, offer more options, give the kids a say, loosen up the reigns a bit, and embrace our roles as facilitators of learning.

The January Newsletter is Out!

Here is our January Newsletter. Do have a read when you get a moment and feel free to comment back to us on this blog.

This is a snapshot. Please click here to read it online.

When Glitches Lead to Gain

                             http://www.islabit.com/6789/corriendo-world-of-warcraft-en-un-iphone.html    http://otrapartida.com/ya-a-la-venta-la-version-completa-de-minecraft/10776/


Each Monday our World of Warcraft group meets to discuss our readings, blog posts and work together in-world. Unfortunately yesterday afternoon, WoW was experiencing difficulties with user log-ins and after a few tries we gave up. The kids then resorted to their next favourite game, Minecraft and a discussion soon began. Some of the students had found out on Twitter that on the 18th (tomorrow) Minecraft might be allow online users to play the complete game for free. They were very excited about this, and since I don't play Minecraft and couldn't access my WoW account,   I decided to delve into it further. 

It turns out that many online services have planned activities, amongst these "blackouts" to protest SOPA. We weren't terribly familiar with what that was, so we dug further and found out that it is a piece of US legislation that is meant to protect against online piracy- called the Stop Online Piracy Act. There is a great deal of public opposition to SOPA and as a result many online services have planned a blackout. 

  

http://ml109.deviantart.com/art/STOP-SOPA-279366889

What is your Opinion on SOPA?

The kids, our learners of the remix generation, were genuinely interested in what SOPA was and why Wikipedia, Minecraft and many others were so unhappy with it that they would go to these measures. I don't think I have ever had 6th graders ask me to send them news reports before. Yesterday after a brief discussion, many of them requested that I forward on the information to them. 

The Fullfillment of a New Comment!

It is always very exciting to receive feedback on published work. It generates a feeling of pride, boosts confidence and helps you to realise that you can make a contribution regardless of your age.

Today I received a notification that one of the student videos received a comment. 

Our novice WoWers were able to help someone with the game in their very first video tutorial. 

"gaqol29 has made a comment on Darnassus- transportation for Night Elves.mov: thanks alot this really helped me to get out of the elf world" 

Please do take a moment to comment on our WoW blog when you get a chance. The students are submitting their first homework assignments based on the readings and the game this week.

Flipping the Learning-Creating Videos in WoW

Our club met up again yesterday, but a lot has happened in the course of this last week. The students have been working at their quests every chance they get and some are now at level 20! I won't mention what level I am at.  They have learned how to get around, fly on griffins, take trains and boats, and use tunnels. They are way ahead of me now. Does that worry me? Not a bit, it is exactly what I hoped would happen. My students are furious and relentless about their WoW work.

So far we have only begun to use the blog. The skill is new to most of them and I want to make sure they are comfortable with it before introducing the readings and reflections. Soon after our first lesson, I realised that my carefully planned unit would need a major revamp. They were way past much of what I had planned for them. If only they were that way about all their school work....I am pleased to mention that the directed teaching has been minimal and I haven't spent hours putting online tutorials together either. They have been directing their own learning with very little support and sharing new skills with the group.

It is for this reason I thought it only fit to have them share some of their discoveries with us by recording using the WoW Mac Options. We could have gone further, narrated the vids, rendered them after careful editing in iMovie, or done screencasts with Quicktime or Screencast-o-matic, but all except one (which was done as 4 separate vids) are unedited footage. The learning has flipped with no upset to those involved. My students are now my WoW teachers and I retain my position as facilitator, the setter of assignments, readings etc...How I envy the speed with which they learn....again if only they could do that, or feel motivated to do so in all their regular lessons.

Did I mention a 12th grader asked to come on board (a level 84 12th grader!!!)? We now have an expert in the midst, which brings me back to my earlier statement, something about students as teachers. The roles have certainly flipped, leaving me free to learn alongside them, to learn from them and facilitate the journey ahead.

Our First WoW Meetup

We had our first World of Warcraft Meetup today! This was a very exciting first step for us. The kids couldn't be more excited and to be quite honest nor could the teachers. Please read more about it on our WoW Blog.

The November LRC Newsletter is Out!

Please take a look at the November Newsletter to find out more about what is happening at the LRC. We hope you enjoy it and would love to hear back from you, so please feel free to leave us a comment or two below.

The image below is only a preview. Please click here to download the complete newsletter.

Teaching Reading through Gaming and Teamwork

For several years now, I  have been hearing stories about how educators  use World of Warcraft for teaching and learning. Recently I decided it was time to take the plunge and give it a try. I was fortunate enough to attend ISTE 2010 where I made a Twitter connection that would prove very inspirational.


The Inspiration for my initial work with WoW came from the fantastic work done by WoW in Schools. If you have ever wanted to know more about how teachers are using WoW to teach students important 21st century skills, this is the place to go.

Anyhow, I need a plan that accounted for several things, the purpose or rationale for using WoW with our students (below), the skills I wanted to teach, the resources we would use, and of course the role of parents in all of this.

The purpose of the unit I came up with is to engage students in reading activities which that draw parallels between online gaming activities and involve an element of teamwork in a virtual world. Through quests, students interact with other players, reflect on their experiences in written form as well as through discussion drawing parallels between their quests and other experiences in-world and their readings. Each of the 10 lessons will include a blog post which will reflect on different aspects of the readings and student gaming experiences.

In planning the unit, I decided to focus on one of our school's Traits and Values, TEAMWORK. It seemed to me that a MMOG was a great way to focus on it. I chose a graphic novel to be the basis of our reading work, The Arctic Incident. Adapted by Eoin Colfer Andrew Donkin (Artemis Fowl Graphic Novel), and downloaded the trial version of WoW. I ordered 10 copies of the graphic novel, wrote a carefully worded letter for our parents, which explains the learning intentions, created a brief quest example video, and approached my school Admin team with a proposal to discuss. At the same time I began preparing lessons, each of which focuses on the following areas: A reading, A game challenge or activity,a discussion and a blog post, My next step was to create a response blog.

In about 2 weeks time I will be in a position to run an information session for the kids, send the letters home to parents and see what responses I can collect.

I haven't been this excited about a new project in a while, or at least a month or two anyway.

Wish me luck!