@derekrobertson's...

Develop your vocabulary or learn a foreign language with the DS or Wii

The success of games such as Dr Kawashima's Brain Training and Big Brain Academy had led to a plethora of other bandwagon titles that have not quite hit the mark in terms of long term engagement with, and desire to succeed within the game . However, My Word Coach from Ubisoft is one that in my opinion has managed to do for language what Brain Training does for Maths. I have been playing it for a few weeks now and find that for the 20-25 minutes that I play this everyday not only am I challenged but I am also developing my vocabulary. Have a quick look at the game:

I hope to be sourcing quite a few copies of this title so that I can have a look at using it in a S2 or S3 class. It really is quite a challenge and one that really appeals to me. I am making quite good progress at the moment but I do wonder how a 14/15 year old boy or girl may react to some of the puzzles that you just can't help but get stuck with.

Ubisoft have also brought out two Moder Foreign Language titles: My French Coach and My Spanish Coach. There are also sister titles to these games that take you beyond the beginner level. DS Fan Boy had written a good review of My French Coach but here is a quick look at My Spanish Coach:

Again, I hope to be putting one or all, of these titles in schools to see how they can support the learning of a foreign langauage. I'll have more to say about these games once I've had a chance to play them. One last thing, all these games are available for DS or Wii.

In the meantime hasta la vista or even à bientôt!

Marvelous free resources from Marvel Comics...

I was at a school in Falkirk recently and they were using Phoenix Wright for the Nintendo DS in their English Language class. I have long been of the opinion that games such as Phoenix Wright and other games such as Hotel Dusk: Room 215  could be used to encourage imaginative and creative language tasks in reading writing, talking and listening. Coupled with an application such as 'Comic Life' (now available for PC)then there is you have a very powerful combination to engage and motivate writing in particular.

For teachers interested in this approach you may be interested to know that Marvel Comics are offering free access to a selection of online comics featuring a variety of Super Heroes for a limited period. Along with graphic novels many of these comics not only encourage reading but they very often, if not always, offer social commentary or even explore more complex themes and issues in quite a substantial way.

Anyway, who was your favourite Super Hero? Wonder Woman was always my favourite superhero-especially when she twirled and used her golden bracelets to deflect bullets from would be assassins!

New Myst Case Study

A new case study has just been published on the LTS Consolarium site. Looking at the use of the Myst game in schools in Aberdeenshire in Scotland it documents how the project began, how Tim Rylands helped with CPD and the impact on learning it has had in one school in particular. Have a look to see how paired writing tasks were initiated and how it has motivated reluctant writers to write.

Crazy Talking in schools in Stirling

One of the number of pilot projects that I have am currently working on with local authority partners in Scotland has been the Crazy Talk project. Crazy Talk is a smashing piece of software that allows the user to import a still image, be it a photograph, a digital image created in a paint package or a scanned drawing. A simple wizard then allows the user to animate the image into an an animated, lip-synching, eye blinking, emotion face pulling avataresque artefact. The beauty of it is that the technical skills threshold for this application is very very low so it is something that ALL teachers could easily do.

I went o visit a P.6 class today who have been using Crazy talk in a a writing project about the Titanic. The pupils have been thinking and writing about what the passengers on the boat may have though about their new life in America and what life on the boat might be like. Here is an example of what one pupil did:

   

The teacher of the class and the Staff Tutors involved have made great claims about how this application has motivated the pupils in this class, particularly many of the boys, to engage with writing with an increased and enhanced level of commitment and interest.

When I visited today I found two P.6 girls recording a piece of writing that they had done in French into Crazy Talk. The content of their writing was very impressive as was the accuracy of the pronunciation. Yes, this a great class teacher in here but she has commented that the application has again motivated the children to write and talk in French .

This work was really interesting and it is to be presented at Learning and Teaching Scotland's Scottish Learning Festival (SETT) in September 07. Have a look at this project's presentation proposal in the brochure.

Many other local authorities are working on Crazy Talk projects so there will be much more to report very soon.

Toondoo: Online cartoon creation

Having found out about Toondoo from Andrew I thought I 'd have a go... Here's a very old Dundee joke that has been left to me in my dad's will!!!

Select this link if you have problems viewing it.

I'll get my coat.

Linerider: when doodles come to life

Have you ever been in a meeting where the soporific effect of the presenter or the warmth of the room has forced you to doodle to keep awake? I have, and when I look at the doodles that I generally make there is something rather disturbing about the ridiculous set of pencil scribbles that I create. Therapy required me thinks!

Anyway, I read a very interesting article in this month's Edge magazine that made me wonder what it would be like your doodles could come to life. Imagine creating a doodle world that by magic can become something dynamic and challenging in terms of what you create with your bored pencil. Well if that's you then you need to try Line Rider. This is a crazy Flash game that will amaze and astound you and take up lots of your time. All you do is draw a world on the blank screen with the pencil tool. When you press play, a small guy on a sledge attempts to slide about the world that you create.

Here is an example of Line rider in action:

Isn't that something! I have tried this a few times without any real success but I am getting there. I'll have to upload my efforts to YouTube too. For the primary teachers out there who remember the Foundations of Writing scheme this may strike a chord with you. Do you remember the activities that it was suggested that we do with emergent writers? Remember the line walks for example? The children would take a line for a walk and then tell the story. For example they could have slopes to slide down, spirals to climb up, rocky bits to scramble over etc. I wonder if this tool could be used in this context. Maybe a little bit of an ambitious leap but well worth a look...

Another nice thing about this game is that there is no points or competiton here. I like competiton, don't get me wrong, but this is a world where the player/designer can lose themselves and create something quite magiucal.

Have fun playing this....

Hand to Eye: Games and imaginative writing

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.