Education Isn't A Game...Or Is It?

Should Games Be Integrated Into Instruction?  

Educators are considering this question more seriously as virtual software are being created for use in education.  The video above takes a serious look at the question.  Innovators in this field of technology and educators share their views on virtual games in the classroom. Mckinley Technology High School in Washington, D.C. is highlighted as a school that makes virtual software a priority in instruction.

What Is Simulation Software?

Simulation software essentially provides learners with choices of tasks and when to complete them. Simulations can be physical (users control what happens on the screen) or iterative (users control the frequency and speed of simulations). The purpose of simulations are to teach students a procedure or experiencing an unfamiliar situation.  Students have opportunities to create products, extend learning at their speed and interest level, and solve authentic problems. Uses of this software includes virtual field trips and experiments that in reality would take days or months to see changes or enhance experiences provided. 

McKinley Technology High School Example

The video used McKinley Technology High School in Washington, D.C. as an example of a school that relies on simulation software.  The principal explained that it was the goal of the school to produce students who were, "No longer consumers of technology, but rather, designers of technology." This vision allows students to make their education more personalized. The students created software, advised authors of software, such as the Federation of American Scientists on games created and how they could be improved.  Students stated that they were motivated to learn because of this approach.

Supporters of Simulation Software in Education

Proponents of simulated software argue that students are more engaged in their learning experience.  One speaker connects boys having the hardest time learning. Rather than a cause of behavior problems being ADHD, the child may need to be stimulated more during learning. If incorporated in the school, virtual games may provide that needed stimulation.

People Still "On The Fence" About Simulation Software

Some people are cautious about using virtual games in their curriculum.  The thought of a video game is a relatively new concept in school. There are still educators who think games should be kept out of education. They are concerned that simulations can be misused or provide inaccurate examples of real-life experiences.

Really??

I am very open to the possibilities that the simulation software can provide my students.  I can see how the LoTi levels would increase to a 4-6 with these experiences. The students could have access to outside resources  and a "real-world" problem and solve that problem without leaving the classroom. This could save money for the school by not going on a field trip or provide the resources that I don't have at/near my school. There was one comment at the end of this video made about the day every school incorporates virtual games in their curriculum. The speaker claimed, "the best teacher in the world would be on every desktop."  Really?? Who is going to analyze software and make sure it is appropriate and useful for the content learned? Who is going to provide background information regarding the content and software? The Teacher - I know that I can be the "best teacher in the world" if I provide as many experiences and resources as possible for my students. Gaming software should be considered as one of those experiences if available.

Examples of Simulation Software

SimCity - http://www.simtropolis.com/

Oregon Trail - http://oregontrail.com/hmh/site/oregontrail/

The Stock Market Game - http://www.smg2000.org/

Gizmos for Math And Science - http://www.explorelearning.com/

  

It's Not All Cut And Paste In Kindergarten Anymore!

Remember kindergarten? We used to cut, paste, make finger painting masterpieces and practice our roles as future moms and dads in the housekeeping section. Oh sure, we learned to count, write numbers and identify colors, but I loved the down time! When was the last time you walked in to a kindergarten room?  I think you would be surprised by what you see.  I have taught kindergarten for 4 years.  Students still play in housekeeping, and unleash their creative juices in many arts and crafts projects.  They are also, taking Accelerated Reader tests, playing Mega Math (a software tool provided by our math book publishers) to practice the latest taught math skills and writing the missing ending sound under pictures on our class ActivBoard. Software tools aren’t just for older students, our primary students benefit from them as well.

Three types of software tools are identified in classrooms today: word processing, spreadsheets and data bases. These tools do not stay for long, as companies develop more improved tools. In any given school day I personally use the word processor because it saves time, makes documents look more professional, and allows me to easily share my documents with coworkers or parents. Spreadsheets are great for graphing information a class collects, grades, etc.  The motivation to do real-life problem solving is much higher, especially if students are involved in the process of choosing the data and collecting the data.  Databases provide teachers and students opportunities to organize documents created and data collected.  As a kindergarten teacher, my students are not independently using these 3 tools.  I strongly believe people should develop fine motor skills with handwriting.  There are exceptions, of course, I have had a student who I knew would benefit from support from an occupational therapist.  A word processor is a huge help to these students, such as mine, who need to overcome that frustration and produce written thoughts that are incredible

Using software tools in instructional shouldn’t overshadow traditional learning practices, but rather, compliment them.  I really try to integrate a form of technology in every project we work on.  As teachers we all want our students to participate on higher levels of Blooms Taxonomy than applying. Integrating software or web-based tools is an important thing to consider.  Confession time: not all of the technology used is by the students.  They use material from puzzle generators that I create. I am able to modify work for each student based on their level. For example, a couple students may complete a dot-to-dot using numbers to 10 and another group may be comepleting a dot-to-dot with numbers that skip count by 10’s to 100. This software provides room for me to accommodate all of my students needs. I use excel for data collection.  Graphic tools that my students LOVE and have produced some amazing projects with include: Graph Club and Kid Pix. For the letter of the week, students find stamps of objects that begin with the letter. When we work on patterns, students make patterns with the stamps and name them (ABAB or ABB).  My lessons plans are completed and saved through OnCourse – an on-line tool.  I share my lessons, without having to make paper copies with my co-teachers and administrator. My students love to study animals and our school bought a wonderful program called Pebble Go.  This primary web-based encyclopedia teaches students about animals in different animal groups, their habitats, babies, size, nutrition and other interesting facts.  Students often opt to go on this independently during computer lab.  We also outline and map concepts we are learning with the help of Kidspirations. While learning about animals we may complete a concept map about the way animals move and the student needs to put each animal in the correct box. You can’t get as much interest and involvement from students with a worksheet! 

A final multimedia source my class uses is PhotoStory.  At the end of each year, we reflect on the activities we do every day in kindergarten.  I ask the students what would you say if a new kindergartener asked you this summer what you do in kindergarten.  We brainstormed a list and the students choose 1 activity each (sometimes we got doubles). They draw detailed pictures of those examples.  I scan the pictures and add them to PhotoStory. I record the students describing their pictures. Then I add the story to my blog for the summer.

One of my class assignments this week was to check out the site: The Next Steps.  This site is a fabulous tool for teachers to avoid surfing the web and having to sort through the ineffective software out there.  I familiarized myself with the projects and, though I didn’t find anything that I could use for my Engaged Learning project, I did see a couple that I plan to monitor this year.  While searching the internet for other internet-based projects not mentioned on “The Next Step” I found one called “Square of Life.”  Students share living and non-living things that they find in their school yard with other participating classrooms.  The classes look for similarities and differences in the two data. Then the students prepare a final report. Although this project is not offered at the moment, I am bookmarking it.  My kindergarten classifies living and non-living objects in the Spring.  The technology tools used could include recording video, taking pictures, using multimedia sources, such as movie maker about “The Big School Yard”.  Students can write sentences (most likely not using a word processor) about same and different.  Involving a kindergartener’s surrounding world (i.e. the playground) will keep any 5 or 6 year old engaged.  With all of this in mind, I believe the LoTi level for this project would be a 4b.  Many surprises would come our way when we learn about what other kids discover at their  playgrounds.  Kids will have to consider why we did not find the same things on our playgrounds.


SQUARE OF LIFE PROJECT

Kindergarten has changed so much.  Kids are still learning basic skills, but the tools to teach them are sophisticated and encourage engaged learning.

2 More Fabulous Examples of Engaged Learning

My cohorts came up with great examples of engaged learning as well.  If I could I’d take an aspect of each of them and bundle them into 1 project.  (That’s my goal with my own engaged learning project)  Two things I noticed that were consistent with all of the films: 1) Standards studied by the students were not identified and 2) types of assessments of the projects were not discussed.  As one person commented, the purpose of the video may have been to show students actively engaged in learning, not the standards or assessments used.  As an educator, I’d say it is fair to argue we’ve almost gotten standard-based learning and formative assessment down (always room for improvement, of course) but let’s hide the textbooks and see what we (the class) can come up with.

It wasn’t easy choosing my favorite and runner-up, but here they are:

Kudos to The Technology Techie, LeTilia for finding a perfect introduction to what engaged learning is all about. This video provides an overview of the technique used. It explains the roles of the students, teachers and, yes, even the community.  If followed correctly, your class will be active on the “Evaluation” level of Blooms taxonomy, as shown in the video.  The potential is great for students to achieve a level 5 or 6 on the level of technology use implementaion (LoTi). It involves creative use of available technology and, let’s face it, kids can be more creative with technology than adults.  If you teach elementary grades, do not be disheartened by the high school example.  I teach kindergarten and I am already coming up with ways to get my students more active while learning the standards. My runner-up shows an example of a younger group involved in engaged learning.

My runner-up was Nathalie’s video, “Learning Landscape: Kids Monitor Terrain with Tech”. The school highlighted was completing a very meaningful project to their local environment. They used sophisticated equipment, took responsibility for their learning and collaborated well with students from different grades.  The students shared their findings with scientists. (I kind of wish the kids typed the e-mail, not the teacher) The students learn globabally thanks to the internet and reliable educational sights, such as Journey North and JASON.  The teacher in the video felt technology was a huge catalyst for self-learning in the students. This is the ultimate goal of engaged learning. Great job Nathalie!

Getting Down And Dirty With Engaged Learning

Who’s doing the work? This question is important when observing students in “engaged learning.”  When students are engaged in their learning they are assuming an adult/professional role (scientist, economist, etc.). Teachers take on a facilitator role and ensure that the standards are met as the students produce  products.  They provide feedback as the students move through the project. The learners choose topics that are meaningful and useful to them.  Their ideas can be applied to their own lives.  This approach to learning has shown improvement in test scores and less behavior problems in the classroom.

For my first assignment, I found a video, From Worms to Wall Street: Projects Prompt Active, Authentic Learning.  I believe it demonstrates engaged learning.  This video is appropriate for all grade levels. It is beneficial to a school that may be looking to take on the engaged learning initiative.  Please click on the film above to view.

The video describes the authentic learning found in Newsome Park Elementary in Newport News, Virginia.  Students from kindergarten through 5^th grade collaborate on class topics, from science to social studies, each semester, produce products and share their findings with other students and parents.

This video showed examples of engaged learning across the grade level. A 1^st grade class learned about animals through the study of worms. They become “wormologists’ with the guidance of their teacher.  She helped them narrow their animal study to animal that would be realistic to raise in the classroom.  Students came up with the actual idea. Using scientific approach the learned about worms in several phases. Another 1^st grade class were inspired and curious about one of their classmates who has cystic fibrosis.  They researched the causes of CF and hoped that they would learn of a cure in the end.  A third class classified and researched animals that effect asthma and animals that do not. The class and teacher understood that they were exploring an area outside of their expertise.  They collaborated on ideas of who might have the answers to their questions. This brought in a guest speaker from the local hospital.  A 4^th grade class, studying a fantasy stock market, decided to step out of this comfort zone and create a business, Flower Power.  “Employees” bought seeds, grew plants and sold marigolds at school.  Their stock was worth 10 cents per share.  I found it interesting that a 5^th grade class became engaged in the 4^th graders learning by attempting to buy-out Flower Power’s shares and control the entire company. What an incredible real-life situation.

Using the indicators of engaged learning I felt Newsome Park Elementary had showed a strong evidence of engaged learning.  The students were challenged to become professional scientists, business men and woman and health care educators.  Each project was authentic because the students participated in real-life scenarios (starting and running a business); they used technology to share their findings using PowerPoint, word documents that showed mapping information skills, and video. Teachers guided students to consider what they wanted to learn. Their questions were open-ended and required research by the students to learn their answers. Students didn’t know if their business, Flower Power, would be successful.  The “wormologists”  chose to do experiments on dead worms.  Though not explicitly stated in all of the examples, I assume multiple subjects were integrated through these projects.  The teachers each played a role of facilitator for their class, guided conversation and focus and one teacher even stated that she learned as much from the project as the students. There were many opportunities for social interactions, as the students worked together to take care of the worms, sold marigolds and walk-a-thon tickets. Feedback throughout the projects looked to be ongoing in the video. Classes held meetings to review what they learned and how they could take it one step further.

The indicators that were not strongly evident were the assessment indicators.  While interviewed, the principal did say test scores improved. Due to this statement, I again assume assessment included rubrics and criteria was set and discussed for exemplary performances.  Also, the standards covered were not given.  The classes must have addressed these standards since the test scores increased.

Each of the projects described in the video showed different levels on Blooms Taxonomy.  The “wormologists” and researchers of CF and asthma showed evidence of the analysis level on Blooms.  They each followed a scientific study that involved: identifying, diagramming, comparing, contrasting, and inferring. One way I thought a higher level on blooms could be reached was they could have created brochures about asthma and pets that could be displayed at a doctor’s office. Also, the students learning about worms could have demonstrated the importance of worms in soil by using 2 flower boxes – 1 with worms, 1 without. An expert from a nursery could come in and explain the signs of good soil.  The stock market project was incredible.  The class took their work to the evaluation level.  The students created a business, monitored their profits and even got a 5^th grade class to attempt a buy-out.

On a scale of 1-10, the students seemed to be highly motivated by their class projects. I would give it an 8.  In the interview, the principal commented on the decrease of behavioral problems in the classroom. It was evident that the students enjoyed learning and knew a lot about their topic. They were all an integral part of the team.

Technology used included PowerPoint, video recording, word documents for organizing data.  Computers appeared to be readily available for students. Most projects highlighted showed these components.  It looked to me as if more display boards were used when presenting information.  I was a little disappointed about that. This video focused on authentic learning in this school more than technology.  Therefore, the inspiration one would draw from viewing this would be to apply authentic learning practices in the classroom, rather than integrate more technology. Newsome Elementary is a science, math and technology magnet school.  I would think they could create a second video focusing on the importance of technology for these projects.

From what I observed, the Level of Technology used in implementing (LoTi level) was 5. Students were independently creating flow charts about information learned, publishing brochures for prospective buyers, and generating spreadsheets to analyze sales data. Though not stated, the students completing the Wall Street project most likely used stock market technology for research.

This video would be instrumental to professional learning for teachers and administrators who are trying to create an engaged learning environment in their schools.  It provided examples across  grade levels of student engagement in many types of projects.  Prior to presenting this information, I would want more information about the school and their scores. While working on this project, I went to the school’s website to learn more about Newsome Elementary.  A video was embedded on the home page about “NASA Day”.  It gave a brief synopsis of a visit from 14 NASA scientists and some of the activities the school participated in.

I was intrigued and inspired by the video. I always want to provide the best possible learning experiences for my students. Sometimes when I think I am, an example rolls around and shows me that I could do more in my classroom.  I feel this was a good kick-off for exploring my topic for my Engaged Learning project.  I have many questions about the implementation of engaged learning. I agreed with 1 person who blogged below the video on Edutopia – how can these projects last the entire semester? Do the students have a specific time during the day that they work on them? I am thinking about my own classroom management and how I could make this work. I realize this would involve more planning, on my part, but what an awesome feeling to see your students invested 100% in a project! I am looking forward to the challenge.