CONTENTS
Every effort has been made to ensure that these sites are appropriate for 11- to 14-year-old students. However, The Tech Trainer makes no guarantee that all links to outside sites will be acceptable to all parents, teachers, or students. Adults should closely monitor student internet use as a safety precaution. Students should never use the internet without parent and/or teacher permission.
Miscellaneous Games
The Best Collections of Online Educational Games from Larry Ferlazzo
http://villainyinc.thinkport.org/
Game Show Format (i.e. Jeopardy, Wheel of Fortune)
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AIMS Puzzle Corner
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Create A Graph
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Digital Lesson
1. Bubble Mower
3. Bungalobooks - Connect the Dots With Your Mouse
5. Match Body Parts to Their Names
6. Match More Words And Pictures
8. Type Me Falling Letters Game
9. Drag the Pieces to Build the Squares
13. Pirates
14. Super Matchup
15. Connect the Dots Printable Coloring Pages
Schools Turn To Video Games Consoles To Help Pupils Learn (from Sunday Herald)
Ewan McIntosh, LTS’s adviser on new technologies, said Scotland’s schools had adapted to podcasts, wikis and social networking quicker than many other countries, but there was still much more to do.
Video Games Entertain and Educate
The Future of Reading - Using Video Games as Bait to Hook Readers - Series - NYTimes.com
Video Game Helps Math Students Vanquish an Archfiend - Algebra - NYTimes.com
Video Games May Foster Teen Civic Engagement
Major New Study Shatters Stereotypes About Teens and Video Games (MacArthur and Pew Internet)
More Nintendo DS Numeracy | Andy Pulman Edublog
Make 10: A journey of numbers (released 26/09/08) is a mathematics game where players must complete numbers puzzles centered around the number 10. The overall aim of the game is to find and challenge the so-called “Make 10 Masters” as you improve your maths and puzzle-solving skills. Players use the Nintendo DS Touch Screen to complete the maths puzzles, and a gradual increase in difficulty and storybook style presentation mean the game is accessible for players of all ages.
Cyan Porting Myst to iPhone | Touch Arcade
YouTube - Myst ‘Exile’ in the classroom
Studies: Video games can aid students, surgeons
www.mrwarner.com/2009/05/returning-to-myst-in-literacy-final-week/
Some serious rundown on how Myst is used (again) for some great learning
In order to explore games in libraries, researchers from the Syracuse University School of Information Studies, the American Library Association and the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana are working together. As the project grows, Director Scott Nicholson hopes that it will attract other researchers: “The advantage to having a common place to gather, both physically and virtually, is that it allows us as a group of researchers to explore gaming in libraries more effectively than if we were all working individually.”
games.eun.org/2009/05/research_results_released.html
European Schoolnet is undertaking a major study sponsored by the Interactive Software Federation of Europe on the use of games in schools in Europe: video games, computer games, online games that run on consoles, computers, handhelds or mobile phones.
www.wonderlandblog.com/wonderland/2009/03/why-making-educational-games-is-hard.html
* What are we teaching? * How will we know if they’ve learned it? * Who needs to know that they’ve learned it? Just question three usually means “a whole host of post-project data analysis”. “Games are software development projects: most good games are the result of rapid, iterative development. This is incompatible with upfront planning. As a sponsor, you have to think about how you can accomodate the uncertainty that comes with RID.”
news.scotsman.com/education/Guitar-Hero-leads-the-way.5151197.jp
“It costs about £250 per school, plus a video game, for a whole term’s work,” says Karen Robertson, a quality improvement officer who works in information and computer technology for East Lothian Council. “Games are very relevant and motivating for children. And it’s a real cross-curricular thing – a lot of schools have been using the Guitar Hero project (where pupils form their own virtual rock bands] in different lessons. They learn about geography by planning world tours, merchandising, even relationship building. A lot of bands would break up, then reform. “The way that we approach it is that the game is a type of stimulus – it’s fun, it’s something that they enjoy.” Andrew Gibson, 12, who is in his first year at Musselburgh Grammar, says the fun factor makes him work harder
news.scotsman.com/education/Teacher-who-inspires-pupils-with.5120017.jp
The depute headteacher at Musselburgh Grammar School, who was the only Scottish entry for the sixth Microsoft European Innovative Teachers Forum Awards in Vienna, admitted he had never used computer games until two years ago. Now he regularly uses them to find new and innovative ways of teaching.
www.edutopia.org/computer-simulations-virtual-learning-video
The “Simulating History” project, funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, is exploring the “ best potential” for educational computer simulations (sometimes called computer “serious games”) to teach Canadian history.
test.org.uk/2007/12/17/make-all-your-audience-into-heroes/
In the 6 months that we’ve been commissioning online education projects, we’ve both seen a lot of proposals that use these ‘winner takes all’ formats. These are sometimes like TV reality shows, where the interactivity is limited to the audience voting on other participants, and sometimes treasure-hunt-style ARGs. Whilst its inevitable that not all your users will become immersed in a game, I share with Alice a concern that we are importing broadcast ideas into online entertainment formats.
primarypreoccupation.wordpress.com/2009/01/23/dabbling-with-ds-and-deaf-dogs/
What are we doing playing Nintendo DS in our classroom? It all started when Ewan Macintosh came to Moose Jaw last summer.
gamingineducation.wikispaces.com/
Great wiki on gaming for learning that was spawned after a workshop I did in Moose Jaw, Canada.
www.engadget.com/2008/02/18/swinxs-lures-your-children-outside-tricks-them-into-…
a talking computer with an RFID reader, that guides kids through different pre-loaded games or stories. The kids wear RFID wrist bracelets that identify them in the game, and let them interact with the machine.
gseacademic.harvard.edu/~hdul/
The Handheld Devices for Ubiquitous Learning (HDUL) project, funded by Harvard’s Provost and under the guidance of Professor Chris Dede, sought to determine how wireless handheld devices (WHDs) –– which include, but are not limited to, cellphones, personal digital assistants, and mobile gaming devices –– could enhance learning and teaching in university settings. During the 2003–2004 and 2004–2005 academic years, HDUL successfully integrated WHDs into eight diverse courses at the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) and the Harvard Extension School (HES). This website documents the support materials and publications developed from the project.