Posts tagged ‘Tools’
Development Project – OceanQuest
I have not been posting on G&L for some time now and this is because I have been working on a research and development project. OceanQuest is a mini piece of game-based learning focused on creating engaging learning from relatively dry learning content. OceanQuest targets bearings in Key Stage 3 Mathematics, Ma3 (shape, space and measures). The game includes three different missions with varied tasks involving target practice, navigating between objects, giving bearings of objects, clearing sea mines and delivering supplies to islands. Below are screenshots of the missions:
I have compiled a 2 page teachers’ information pdf which contains more detail on learning objectives and the game itself. If you would like a copy please contact me. The game is password protected so please email me or comment on this post if you would like to play the game. The only requirement for the game is Flash Player 9. I have finished the first stage of development and am looking for constructive feedback or evaluations from people who work in related industries. If you are a teacher/other educator/developer or have experience with elearning and game-based learning, any feedback on the game will be very much appreciated. Educators, feel free to have students (KS3) play the game as feedback from the target audience will be extremely beneficial to the project.
I have had only positive feedback so far with people commenting on how fun and engaging it is and also on the potential they see in using the game with their students.
My email address: alex@gamingandlearning.co.uk
A Free Learning Tool for Every Learning Problem?
Zaid Ali Alsagoff posted a great list of free learning tools. Zaid has suggestions for almost every learning issue and below are some of them:
- Microblogging tool? Twitter
- Directory of edubloggers from around the world? International Edubloggers Directory
- Wiki tool? PBwiki
- Encyclopedia, which I can add to or edit? Wikipedia
- Audio recording tool? Audacity
- Tool to host my audio recordings? Odeo
- Tool to transform media into collaborative spaces with video, voice and text commenting? VoiceThread
- Tool to tell a story? Here are 50!
- Screencasting (recording) tool? Wink
- Hosted screencasting tool? Jing
- Mindmapping tool? FreeMind
- Tool to make screenshots from different browsers with one click? Browsershots
- Easy-to-learn 3D authoring software tool? Google SketchUp
See the full article here.
TeachMeet North East London 08 Event
FutureLab has posted up another Education & Technology event:
“19 May 2008
Redbridge Teachers Centre, Ilford
TeachMeet NorthEast London is a chance for education stakeholders to share effective, exciting and innovative uses technology in schools in an informal environment. If you come for the evening, then you can either present, or just listen to inspiring presentations on ICT in schools. People attending previous TeachMeets before have found them to be inspirational and a great form of CPD.”
According to the TeachMeet site you can also join the event via Flashmeeting and there is a Facebook page too.
Pupil engagement in BSF – Flux looking for ideas
FutureLab’s blog, Flux, has recently posted an article asking for ideas from people in the learning technology field about tools for engaging students and encouraging different ways of thinking:
“We’re in the process of doing some background research on tools that are being, or could be, used to support pupil involvement in the BSF/PCP design processes. We’re interested in the levels of engagement that different tools and approaches can facilitate.
Do any of you out there have any examples of tools, resources or techniques you’d mind sharing with us? For example, there are the beginnings of people using second life to allow children to design their learning spaces; thinking of other learning spaces – theme-ing and brainstorming workshop activities; Futurelab’s Power League, new school league tool and so forth.”
Author: Tim Rudd, Flux Blog, 18th April 2008
BSF – Building Schools for the Future project
For more information on this see the full article here.
Talk is cheap – FutureLab Power League
Free educational tool launched to support debate on any topic
Futurelab has launched Power League, a free online resource for schools which supports pupils of all ages to explore, debate and discuss any topic in a fun and easy way. Power League, available at www.powerleague.org.uk, enables the user to rank and display group opinions on any issue across the entire curriculum.
Author: FutureLab, 9th April 2008
Full article available here.
links for 2008-03-31 from Wagner
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This is exciting, and very un-Adobe. It’s an online photo editing application with all the bells and whistles of a web 2.0 application. I look forward to really playing with it.(tags: images)
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This article describes “a pilot curriculum built around a commercially available video game.” Students are playing Restaurant Empire in Middle School. I hope to see more and more of this.(tags: edugames)
Author: Mark Wagner, Educational Technology and Life Blog, 31st March 2008
Full article available here.
Google Goes to School: Google Tools for Educators
“Like many educators new to the use of technology in the classroom, using Google as a search tool quickly became a staple in my classroom. Over the past year, Google has stretched their search capabilities to include an abundance of open source web applications tailor-made for teachers. In fact, they’ve called this new suite of tools Google for Educators.
The web application found within Google for Educators allow teachers and students to:
– collaborate with their colleagues
– monitor and participate in discussions
– publish videos
– create PowerPoint presentation and web sites
– manage photos
– monitor online data. Google has gone the extra mile by providing teachers’ guides and exciting examples of classroom teachers using Google Tools to support the use of technology as a mindtool. Those best practices demonstrate how Google applications, when are used alongside meaningful classroom instruction, can literally change the face of classroom instruction.”
Copyright © 2008 Education World
Author: Brenda Dyck, Education World®, 29th February 2008
Full article available here.
Big Basket of Stuff #2
…in which even amnesiacs can remember games…students get connected and wikis get adopted..
Readers should get game-literate – Far from spelling the end of proper storytelling, video games point towards its future
: “When the popular novel was as new an idea as video games, the great and good were certain, as they were with early cinema, that no sophistication could come from this prose business, especially the sort of filth Samuel Richardson scribbled about.”
Replaying the Game: Hypnagogic Images in Normals and Amnesics: ” Robert Stickgold caused 17 different people to have the same dream. In doing so, he added to evidence that the purpose of sleep is to process information — to take the jumble of a day’s events, filter it, and send important impressions to the brain’s memory centers. (Tetris Effect)
Author: Mark Oehlert,
Full article available here.
Big Basket of Stuff #1: Wikis, IMs, and 3D
: “That’s right, the Office of Management and Budget, where caution and precision rule, has embraced Wikipedia as a model, hosting an online place where federal officials can swap information and ideas outside traditional boundaries.”
Meebo announces new features and partners: “First off, they have introduced a developer API for their Meebo Rooms product. This will allow people to integrate a Meebo Room into their own Web site. Meebo has said that this API will “…further accelerate the widespread adoption of Meebo rooms.” Meebo is hoping that Web site owners will take this as an opportunity to build a community.”
**Seriously, I’ve been using Meebo since it came out and it is growing up nicely….be sure to check out the “Room” feature…
Make3D turns your vacation photos into 3D worlds: “Ever wish you could recreate the effect of those neat multilens 3D cameras without having to buy the hardware? Lucky for you there’s some cool 3D technology coming out of Stanford called Make3D. The service uses machine learning to go over your photograph and recreate depth and perspective in three dimensions.”
SpeakLike translates chatting as you go: “It appears like an ordinary chat application as you type. Choose which languages you want to speak in. You can see what you’re typing in your own language and what the other person is seeing translated. If a word or phrase is more complex, SpeakLike will go to a human translator and make sure it’s accurate. The company says the more you use it the smarter it becomes and the faster it will return results in the future.”
Xtranormal: If you always wanted to direct: “Xtranormal makes a fun tool for making animated shows with cartoon characters. It could also be a tool for making machinima, if the company manages to license characters from game companies.”
Seven Strategies for Implementing a Successful Corporate Wiki
Author: Mark
Gaming & Learning 