Consolarium

February 21st, 2011

Sony’s Eyepet enchants learners and enhances learning

Derek Robertson

Comments: 1 Comment Tags: Tags: cfe, educational games, eyepet, game based learning, games based learning, gametolearn, GBL, ps3
 : Categories Argyll & Bute, Early Years, Sony PSP

The Eyepet for the Sony PS3 is a resource that the Consolarium team believe has great potential in schools. The promise of an augmented reality Nintendogs type character on the big screen that could be interacted with by groups of children was something that we felt would prove to be a magical experience for young learners.  When we first hatched and played with our Eyepet at the Consolarium we experienced for ourselves the power of this technology and we immediately began discussing just what this could bring to teaching and learning. We were enchanted with this beautiful yet vulnerable little creature and after much hand waving in mid-air our Eyepet came to trust us and looking after it became part of our day.

We put Eyepets in a number of schools across Scotland to see how teachers might begin to integrate the resource into their teaching. Cathkin Community Nursery in South Lanarkshire made superb use of their Eyepet and its application in the learning experiences of their learners was commented on favourably by HMIE. We have also spoken with many other teachers who have had similarly positive experiences however we have also had some teachers who have felt that the resource is not for them or for their children because it is too difficult to use. There is a knack to controlling the Eyepet with the card that is supplied (feeding the Eyepet and throwing biscuits for it is really quite tricky when you first start) so maybe this is a training issue for the Consolarium team. The advent of the Move controller for the PS3 has made this aspect of using the Eyepet a lot easier though. This being said there are many teachers in schools that we are working with who are making great progress with the resource as it is.

On a recent visit to Islay I visited Port Charlotte PS where I was introduced to P2-3 teacher Catherine MacMillan. Catherine is one of the teachers in Argyll & Bute who is working with the Eyepet this term.  I was introduced to her class, some of whom were working away in the corner about to hatch their first Eyepet.  Here they are going through the initial stages of the hatching process:

After the Eyepet had hatched it had to be scanned to see if it was hungry or not. Here we see the children scanning their new Eyepet to see if it requires feeding or not. :

Whenever I have seen the Eyepet used in schools I am always drawn to the look of concentration and involvement on the faces of the children as they play/learn with the resource. Can you see that on the children’s faces here? It also has to be said that the thoughtful and considered application of this engaging resource by teachers really can ‘make learning more creative, challenging and fun.’ This is most certainly the case with Catherine MacMillan because as we talked I quickly saw how she had seen the potential of this resource and just how it could help her deliver learning experiences in Curriculum for Excellence that would offer the challenge, demand and appeal that Port Charlotte PS expects. Her initial foray into making links to other curricular areas was focused on Writing. She saw the perfect opportunity to capitalise on the supportive discussions that were naturally occurring in the children’s groups when they were showing each other what to do with the Eyepet. This instruction giving would be explored further as part of a purposeful and relevant writing activity focusing on  instruction writing. One could associate this activity with this Outcome from CfE:

“I am learning to use my notes and other types of writing to help me understand information and ideas, explore problems, generate and develop ideas or create new text.” LIT 1-25a

Have a look at some of the children’s writing:

Here is Catherine talking about how she planned for this activity and how the Eyepet is helping her deliver this aspect of her teaching.

As Catherine and I talked the children played away quite confidently and contentedly and took charge of looking after their new Eyepet. I took the opportunity to continue talking about just what technologies such as games can bring to the classroom. Catherine had clearly given some serious thought to the application and appeal of a resource such as the Eyepet and as we talked she focused on the following aspects as positive reasons to use the Eyepet and also what she had seen for herself in the short time that she had been using the resource:

• Children demonstrate resilience and patience when trying to master the initial challenge of interacting with the Eyepet via the augmented reality controller for the PS3. Determined to succeed because of promise of reward in, and progress with, game.
• The game has proved beneficial in helping to help deevlop the social dynamic in relation to group collaboration and turn taking.
• Although clear focus on Literacy in teacher’s planning a flexible approach to planning alows learning to come from children’s experiences with the Eyepet.
• Thw fundamental importance that Eyepet and games are not rewards and that they must be fully integrated into the life of learning in the classroom.
• The teacher feels that the game has enabled her to cohesivlely and purposefully address a range of experiences and outcomes in CfE.
  

As you can see from the video, the children still carried on working independently as we chatted. So much so that even when the bell rang it took some encouraging to get the children away from their Eyepet and out to play:

We also discussed how, amongst other things, Catherine and her colleagues are using the Eyepet to aid transition from the nursery class to Primary 1. You can hear our discussion (over the children using the hairdryer to dry their Eyepet) here:

Transcript of discussion with Catherine MacMillan

We will be sharing some more experiences of teachers in Scottish classrooms who are using the Eyepet over the coming months. No doubt we will see some more innovative yet grounded practice from many of the teachers currently using the resource. If you are using this resource in your own setting then please do get in touch and share with us what your experience has been.

At the Game To Learn: Take2! Conference in Dundee on Saturday 19 March Brian McLaren, DHT Clackmannan PS (ex Consolarium Development Officer) will be delivering a seminar in which he will talk about his experience of leading the Eyepet initiative for the Consolarium. Come along to hear what Brian has to say.

*Full transcription of videos to come

February 15th, 2011

Kinectimals in the Nursery Setting

Derek Robertson

Comments: 2 Comments » Tags: Tags: Consolarium, edutalk, game based learning, games based learning, gametolearn, Kinect, LTS, micrsoft
 : Categories Early Years

At the Consolarium we have a long history in trying out games built for entertainment in the educational setting. This has been particularly true of games such as Nintendogs and Eyepet. These games were most definitely built for entertainment but the educational potential within these superb digital experiences is fantastic. As always, we continue to look to see what else can be explored in the games world in terms of its appropriate use in teaching and learning contexts…

The Kinect system for Microsoft’s Xbox360 games console was something that we greatly anticipated, particularity when we saw how the game Kinectimals might allow us to continue the theme of caring and nurturing for a digital creature/pet that was central to the experience in using Nintendogs and the Eyepet. If you haven’t seen Kinectimals then have a quick look:

As you can see we have the most wonderful participative world that has no controller but the player/players themselves! Just what, we wondered, could such a resource bring to the classroom and how it could support opportunities to develop rich learning experiences within Curriculum for Excellence.

Having shared this idea and proposed pilot project with the delegates at the LTS Early Years conference in November 2010 we were approached by Judi Regan from Menzieshill Nursery School in Dundee who said that she’d be more than willing to try out the resource in her setting. This agreed and after a discussion about its possible use we loaned the kit out to the school and let them get on with it. Alas, as is often the case with educational technology in schools, some technical issues presented some small hurdles that had to be cleared before any teaching and learning could be addressed! Issues related to linking up the audio to a pair of old PC speakers were eventually rectified and it was all systems go (apart from a scratched disc that had to be replaced)!

The resource was introduced to the staff by Judi and Louise Reid at last week’s in-service day and this was followed up today by me when I spent all morning working with various groups of children and their workers in order to set up profiles and start them on their journey with Kinectimals. It must be said that initial reactions to the resource from the children varied from bemusement to excitement but with very many of them wanting to know when it would be their turn!

Lousie Reid (Acting Head) and Judi Regan will be sharing their experiences via guest blogposts on our site over the next few weeks as well as through their seminar at the Game To Learn: Take 2! GBL Conference in Dundee on Saturday 19 March. Come along to hear their story and in the meantime have a listen to our chat with Judi about the early beginnings of their Kinectimals project.

Judi Regan discussion transcript

If you are also using Kinectimals in your seting we’d love to hear from you. Watch out for the developing story from the team and children at Menzieshill Nursery School.