As Mitch Resnick explained, the aim of this tool is to get kids really creating. He made the point that kids might be able to use digital tools, but this doesn’t really mean that they’re digital natives. He added that they will not be true digital natives unless they’re able to make the tools and manipulate these themselves in a process/cycle: Imagine, Create, Play, Share, Reflect, Imagine, and so on.

Some great examples. But one of the most impressive things about the Scratch site is that there’s a community of people who’ve made stuff using the software. The variety of uses is impressive, but the depth of communication and reflection fostered by the community is truly impressive. Gonna get my own kids using this.

Here’s video tutorial showing how easy it is to make a Scratch game/animation:

The most striking thing about what Derek is doing is it’s relevance. He’s using simple technology that kids are already familiar with, but in a learning context. It has currency. He showed lots of video clips. The one that really hit me was of a young lad totally absorbed in a timed game on the Nintendo DS. He was doing sums. Doing them faster than I could. He was clearly engaged, clearly achieving, clearly aware that he was doing well. Apparently up to that point he had been considered a ‘problem child’.

He also showed some impressive statistics, anecdotal accounts and testimonials to show the effectiveness of games on speed and accuracy in test results using brain gym. Learners also felt better about themselves: improved confidence and self esteem.

He described a class where learners started the lesson on time and worked in silence on activities. He also described a high level of peer support.

This approach is also relatively light on resources. Consolarium uses readily available game consoles and handheld game devices with existing consumer games to engage learners. So no need to spend time and money on developing software and buying expertise, and no need to talk to the IT department about integration, compatibility or security. Just plug it into the TV and work out how to integrate the games into class work.

Although games can have an intrinsic learning point, he pointed out that games don’t need to teach something explicitly. He showed a class using Guitar Hero in an activity to stimulate a cross curricular project. The game helped to contextualise the learning and make the learning relevant. So in this case the learning happened away from the game. But the game set the scene, context and helped in the early stages to set roles and goals for the project. Nice. It looked like a lot of fun too.

Games become less of what we offer by the time kids reach middle school, where they were once part of kids’ education.

Here are a few other notes from his talk that I haven’t tidied up yet:

Tetris. Clever in that context, why not or how could they be clever in other contexts.

• tetris = spacial control, visual awareness and mental manual dexterity.
• zoombinis = strategy problem solving without even know that they were doing it.
• dance mats = help teach phonics
• pro evolution soccer and championship manager = teach strategy

www.ltscotland.org.uk/consolarium

He mentioned Tim Ryland’s work. Myst. Using the game in class to seed and stimulate a writing activity.

And tools to make games:

• Mission Maker
• Game maker
• scratch
• neverwinter nights is dialogue based . ss must create a story
• thinking worlds
• crazy talk – application that creates lip movemens on pictures. Allows ss to make their stories come to life.

Games for Change (G4C) — home

Video games rob reading, homework time: U.S. study | Technology | Reuters
Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine

actual paper http://archpedi.ama-assn.org/cgi/reprint/161/7/684

Superstar game developer Noah Falstein gave some great insights into Serious Gaming. He showed us a game where kids with cancer learn about their illness, and the effects of chemotherapy on their bodies, by playing a cool game where they run around a virtual body killing cancer cells.

Deb Polson showed the great things they were doing in Melbourne at the Australian Centre for Interaction Design She showed us a location-based learning game for kids which integrated various technologies around a treasure hunt activity in Melbourne’s city centre.

Caryl Shaw gave us a demo of Will Wright’s much anticipated Spore click for YouTube video

But for me the best bit was Nokia’s Jyri Salomaa talking about how they will offer Nokia’s platform as open source. I reckon Nokia will start something big in mobile learning soon in Asia. Watch this space.