@derekrobertson's...

Can Dr Kawashima impact on maths? LTS extended study suggests it can

I have just returned from a meeting with my colleague Dr David Miller from the University of Dundee. I went to David some time ago with my Dr Kawashima idea along with a rough sketch of the methodology that I hoped to use. Those early meetings led to David coming on board to partner me on the work that I have been doing in putting Dr Kawashima for the Nintendo DS into schools.

We carried out a small scale intervention last year and this had such a dramatic impact that it was decided that Learning and Teaching Scotland would fund a much more extensive study in terms of increasing the sample size. As a result we put 16 class sets of Nintendo DS into schools across Scotland and used 16 classes as control groups. Pre and post tests were used to gather the data and since the project finished David has been doing the number crunching as well as beginning to tutor me in the art of SPSS!

This post is just a wee announcement to say that the results so far appear to be very interesting and significant. I don't want to say too much at this stage because we are sharing the results at a seminar at the Scottish Learning Festival on 25th September but what I would say is that the initial study received a wee bit of criticism due to the small sample, however, this extended sample size will undoubtedly allow us to make a much more solid case for what we have found. And what we have found is most certainly of interest to teachers, schools, education managers and even higher I believe. Oh, the games industry might want to take note too....

It'd be great to see you at SLF '08 and even better if you can get along to hear how Dr Kawashima CAN make an impact on children's learning.

Good at Guitar Hero? Get to SLF '08 Gamezone Challenge.

The Scottish Learning Festival is an annual event that celebrates and showcases the work and innovation that is happening in Scottish classrooms. No insular or parochial event this,  Keynote speakers from around the world regularly deliver their take on a wide range of topics to packed audiences.

This year's event promises to be yet another successful one with a number of particularly interesting seminars in place. Games based learning is well represented here. This post on the LTS Consolarium blog details what's happening in this field.

However, what I'm looking forward is the Game Zone Challenge! We have set up a couple of computer game competitions for schools across Scotland to get involved with. These are:

1. Scottish Schools Guitar Hero Challenge
2. Scottish Schools Sonic and Mario at the Olympics Challenge

We have set up groups within Glow, the Scottish schools national intranet, and this is where we hope that teachers and pupils will share their work and collaborate around the context of the competition, the game and the associated curricular work that can come out of this.

Now if you get along to the Gamezone Challenge be prepared for a show. We hope to have a PA, large screens, lights AND a dry ice machine for the Guitar Hero Challenge.... Rock and Roll! We're still working on ideas for the Olympics challenge...

There will also be a Dr Kawashima challenge on both days with teachers, and pupils if they're good enough, having a go aBest scores will feature on a leader board and the top eight will appear on stage at the end of the day to compete in the x30 download challenge. A rather tasty prize is on offer here...

To end the Gamezone Challenge we aim to have a pass the mic sing-a-long for delegates who want to come up and sing a line or two from a classic rock track. This will use a game called Rockband for the Xbox 360 and the guest vocalists will be ably accompanied by the LTS 'Rockband' backing band.

If you are a teacher in Scotland then get involved with the competitions and if you are a delegate from outside Scotland come along, cheer the players and maybe get on stage and share your best heavy metal howl. Now just off to perfect my Rob Halford high notes ;-)

Consolarium at the Scottish Learning Festival

The Scottish Learning Festival looks like it will be yet another success this year. The keynotes look particularly engaging and the seminars that showcase and share innovative practice throughout Scotland will go some way to helping to inform and influence practice in many other classrooms.

Games based learning has a very healthy presence this year with a stream and promotional brochure all of its own! Consolarium presentations are as follows:

• The Consolarium: Learning and Teaching Scotland’s Advocate for Computer Games and Learning: Yours truly discusses the life and progress of the Consolarium and what we have done this year in trying to take games based learning forward in Scotland.
• Crazy Talking the Way to Enhanced Literacy Skills: Joe Shaw and Margret from Stirling Council discuss how the Crazy Talk application became a hugely motivating factor in getting children to engage with writing.
• Star Qualities: Using the Sony Playstation Games Guitar Hero and Singstar as the Context for a Cross-curricular Project in the Upper Primary: Anna Rossvoll from Aberdeenshire will discuss how a P.7 teacher used Guitar Hero to create the most engaging context for learning for her children.
• Making Progress in Maths with Nintendo’s Doctor Kawashima: Again, yours truly presents a case study that looked at using the Nintendo DS in the classroom with Dr Kawashima's Brain Training.
• Cha Cha Cha – a Phonic Blend or a Latin American Dance? Using a Dance Mat to Develop Phonic Awareness in the Early Years in West Lothian: Laura Compton and Margo Kerr from West Lothian Council will be talking about the authority experience of using the Primary Phonics dance mats programme with Pre-school and Primary children.
• We also have Peter Liddle and Janette Thomson on the LTS stand and they will be talking about their experience of using computer games design applications in their classrooms.

Other games based learning presentations at SLF '07 are:

• Using Computer Game Design to Foster Successful Learners: Judy Robertson from Herriot-Watt University will talk about how games design contexts can create rich learning experiences for learners.
• The Sports Store Game: Delivering Curriculum through Games: Joe Wilson from SQA will be showcasing a new game that will allow players/learners to model business skills via a sports store.

Some very interesting stuff there that I'm sure you will find of great interest. Me, I hope to attend them all so maybe see you there...I'll be wearing a suit!