Consolarium

Being involved with and leading the games based learning initiatives with the Consolarium is great fun but it is also a great experience in terms of meeting teachers who take some of our ideas forward and then really make the realisation of such projects their own. We are finding that in doing so, these teachers are setting the standard for the use of some of the games. Names that immediately spring to mind in this regard include Kim Aplin and subsequently Ollie Bray with Guitar Hero and Anna Rossvoll, Ruth McDonald and Michelle Law with Nintendogs as well as many others who have taken this on and extended the practice of the appropriate integration of computer games into teaching and learning. I’d now like to add another name to this list and introduce Margaret Young to everyone. A teacher at Port of Mentieth PS near Stirling Margaret has been using Moshi Monsters with her P.1 - P.3 class. I wrote about Moshi Monsters a wee while back due to my interest being stirred when I watched my wee girls using it last summer. It reminded me of Nintendogs in the way it replicated much of what that game does in terms of looking after a virtual creature: ensuring it was healthy and happy as well as managing a budget. However, Moshi Monsters has problem solving, early literacy and numeracy tasks all embedded into the game play as well as the facility to introduce social networking to children via a friends finder and a noticeboard.  However, this game was freely available (although an enhanced experience via subscription is now on offer) and can be used by anyone that has an computer with an internet connection.

I have been working on ways in which we could try an extended pilot for Moshi Monsters but while I have been doing that Margaret Cassidy, ICT Development Officer in Stirling decided to try it out with one of her teachers. She introduced the idea to Margaret Young at Port of Menteith PS and since the initial presentation of the idea the most fantastic set of associated rich learning tasks has just flourished.

I had the great pleasure of visiting the class last Wednesday morning and within 5 minutes I was captivated and enchanted by what I was seeing and hearing and I found myself like a child in a sweet-shop in terms of not knowing where to look in terms of the quality learning that was happening.

I had a discussion with Margaret about how she got involved in the project, how she managed it and what added value she feels it has brought to learning in her class and to her continuing professional development.

The game at the heart of the learning experience
The most prevalent method that we employ in our Consolarium initiatives usually involves the game becoming the contextual hub about which learning experiences are planned for and presented to the children. This gives the teacher the freedom and flexibility to combine curricular areas and present learning tasks via the creation of a collaborative story or a process of enquiry. The flexibility of such an approach allows the teacher to accommodate any ideas and questions that come from the children as a result of their experiences and interests arising from the learning tasks. This is exactly what Margaret has done with Moshi. as from the following examples you will see that the game really became the beating heart of the rich learning in the class.

Writing
Very many contexts for writing were facilitated by the game. These included writing adverts to sell your Moshi Monster’s house, writing to explain the desing of flags made to represent Monstro City as well as news flashes about what has been happening in Monstro City itself. I was particularly impressed by the idea of making a tourist information leaflet for visitors to refer to if they were planning a visit to Monstro City. Have a look at how the teacher did this:

…and have a look at some their adverts:

Talking and listening
An engaging debate was cultivated in the classroom when the question of whether or not the children should allow new building work to be permitted on Flutterby Fields: a beautiful fun place to be in Monstro City.  The teacher talked about the development of the children’s thinking and their ability to consider and reflect on opposing points of view in this task and even how some children changed their minds as a result of the discussions and arguments put forward by their peers.

Encouraging problem solving in maths
In order to function in the game you must visit the Hall of Puzzles. This is packed full of puzzles that engagement with rewards you with Rox, the currency in Monstro City. The more Rox you have then the more you can spend in the various shops that you can visit. The puzzles are particularly engaging and the children were all very keen to tell me what their high scores were at many of the different puzzle that are available. The teacher has worked with the children to set up the Hall of Puzzles in the class. This became a really appealing ‘den’ in the classroom for the children to visit and explore a range of puzzles and games with each other. Have a look at how this was done:

Design and Technology
The children were asked to think about what kind of shops should be in Monstro City. These ideas were then brought to reality as the children made their own models of their shops from card, paper and other materials.  Have a look:

Animation
Children are naturally creative. They have ideas. One of the superb aspects of learning with ICT is that it gives young learners the vehicle through which they can express their creativity and ideas and in doing so develop their ICT skills set. They can also have a positive impact on planning, presentation and awareness of audience. Here we have one example of a stop motion animation created by two 6 year old children. Just look at what they can do….

They also used Crazy Talk to bring to life their Monster characters that had been created in Art & Design.

All of these videos can be viewed at our Consolarium Blip TV channel.

Keeping connected and being safe
One of the benefits of using this resource is that children can keep connected. One child in this class spends six months of the year in Scotland and six months in New Zealand. Currently in her antipodean abode she can keep in touch with the class via her noticeboard. As Moshi Monsters is freely available to anyone (see their safety policy) there is an issue in terms of ensuring that the children are not exposed to any inappropriate contact. The teacher and the class decided to use a special code for the duration of the project and this meant that they could only accept a friend request if this code was in the name of the person requesting to make friends. This meant that the community was kept to the classroom and any worries about unknown people becoming involved with the children in the classroom context were fully addressed.

There has been some concern about children wanting to play with their Moshi Monster for far too long at home. Incentives to jump up the levels and to ensure that your Monster is happy and healthy in the game play need to be maintained and balanced in terms of appropriate time spent on the game. Lessons need to be learned about what the Consolarium can do to ensure that parents are fully informed about such initiatives, what benefits they can bring to their child’s learning but also what the school and the home need to do to ensure that children understand that too much of one thing is not necessarily good for them.  Everything in moderation is a lesson that we can help children learn.

Maybe Moshi Monsters also need to consider ways in which children can withdraw from the game for periods of time without their lack of engagement with their monster leading to its demise! Something akin to the ‘dog hotel’ in Nintendogs wouldn’t go amiss here.

A delightful time at Port of Menteith was most certainly had by me. Rich learning, happy and motivated children, innovative teachers and a Headteacher willing to allow informed risks with new ideas and approaches in the use of ICT and games, in this example, to happen in his school.

Superb stuff and very many thanks to all at Port of Mentieth PS and Stirling Council for enabling such innovative work to take place. Now, how do I make an extended study of this work….?

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

We’d love to hear from anyone else who is using this game so that they can tell us what their experience was.

One of the many Consolarium projects that are yet to feature in the sharing practice area of our site was showcased today at the Scottish Learning Festival. Entitled, ‘Cha cha cha: phonic blend or Latin American dance?’ it was delivered by Laura Compton and Margo Kerr from West Lothian Council and yet again the delegates who chose to attend this seminar were treated, quite frankly, to a superb presentation.

West Lothian Council was one of the local authorities who were an early adopter in relation to getting involved with out games based initiatives. They visited the Consoalrium earlier this year and a s result a number of projects are currently underway in their schools. However, the one project that has really taken off is the use of Ramba Studios Primary Phonics programme. This programme is designed to be used with pre and early readers in relation to the teaching of synthetic phonics…however the means of integrating with the game is through the medium of dance! Yes, a dance mat is the device that allows the player to play the game.

The team at West Lothian Council was so impressed with this resource that they bought 85 of them, one for each early years establishment in the authority. Today’s presentation was a clear and detailed account of what their experience with the game has been up to now.

I am actually still a wee bit emotional, really I am, as a result of what I saw today because some of the video evidence that was used in the presentation was enough to emphatically show how this game is having an impact in pre-school, primary and special needs contexts. One clip showed some children that were attending a speech therapy class. You have to see this clip because the look on these kids faces as they gained success in the game was priceless. This is what school should be about: dedicated and informed professionals identifying ways in which young learners can achieve success! Fantastic, it really should have been a keynote such was the significance of the shared experience of the teachers in West Lothian that have been using this application.

You won’t have to wait long for this because I am currently working with West Lothian in order to make this case study available.

Anyway, they had set up a demo group within the game by adding delegated names from the list that they had been provided with. These names were then called out randomly by the computer and the audience were so involved that they were more than willing to get involved and have a go. It was actually like the ‘Price is Right’ in terms of the delegates reactions when they got picked.

The depth and detail of what happened and is continuing to happen in West Lothian with the Primary Phonics dance mats will become crystal clear as soon as the case study is available. In the meantime may I suggest that queries about this be directed to Laura Compton and her team. They are a credit to the teaching profession in terms of their attitude, insight and knowledge. This kind of practice can only help to further inform teachers about how new technologies can impact on and enhance the teaching and learning in our classrooms.