Whatever the age or time, a good teacher will make appropriate, thoughtful and sometimes innovative use of their chosen resources and contexts to help them deliver teaching and learning that is that motivating and inspiring. This is exactly what Tim Rylands, the first presenter at the Hand to Eye conference (part of Game City) in Nottingham has done.
In a charming presentation, aided by his daughter, Tim talked about his use of the game Myst as a tool to inspire and contextualise imaginative writing. Many of the strategy/narrative driven games for the PC are not only engaging in terms of the plot but they are beautifully crafted environments that are a joy to interact with. Tim has used these worlds in such a way that he has opened up a world of imaginatively descriptive writing to his pupils, and particularly the boys. The children’s work was very impressive.
Some of the tasks he described were:
A verbal walkthrough: As Tim moved through the world one child had to describe, as eloquently as he could, the journey, the surroundings and what the character may be feeling at that time. His ability to match the mood of their verbal report to the music was excellent.
What’s behind the door? In this example Time asked his children to design a door for their homework. These doors were then scanned onto the IWB and they began to discuss ‘what was behind the door?’ There are many doors within Myst, Riven and Exile games that Tim discussed but he told us of this task being done during an Ofsted inspection. One of the recorded pupils in his class proved to be hugely engaged and switched on by this task as he excitedly commented on the fact that the person behind the door in question didn’t want to let you in because there was no lock on the door…but, they did want to let you in because the fact that there was no lock enticed you to go in the room…
From a my point of view a s teacher I was rather sceptical that this excellence might be focused on the more able groups but the number of children who were showcased talking, writing and carrying out associated ICT tasks was incredible. The fact that there has been clear evidence to show that standards and attainment have been enhanced in the past 5 years was there for all to see.
It seemed that Tim Rylands is an example of a teacher who would be an inspirational teacher no matter what age he taught in but his creative and imaginative use of the games contexts provided in Myst, Riven etc. gives us food for thought in terms of the contexts that we present to learners from the digital age, particularly when it comes to motivating boys to engage with writing.
Thanks for two great ideas, Tim (via hmd). I love the walk through - could see how this could be done in any language or even in a music class - and the doors concept is one that could be used in so many subjects. Brill!
Posted by: Ewan McIntosh | October 29, 2006 at 11:05 AM