Consolarium

April 25th, 2011

School of Rock 1/10: Epic with Immortal Love

Derek Robertson

Comments: 5 Comments » Tags: Tags: apple, cfe, Consolarium, game based learning, games based learning, gaming, Gavinburn, GBL, Guitar Hero, ilife
 : Categories Curriculum for Excellence, Literacy, MFL, Music, Numeracy, West Dunbartonshire

The band Epic hails from P.7 at Gavinburn PS, Old Kilpatrick in West Dunbartonshire. Their song Immortal Love is due for imminent release and will, the band hopes, be featured on playlists on your music player very soon! Have a listen to their song and watch the accompanying video that the band made to go along with it:

Look at what children can do when they are faced with a challenge that is set within a context that resonates with them. Look at what children can do when a school embraces and integrates ICT in such a way that children’s skill levels progress and develop over the years. Look at what children can do when ICTs are embedded in sound teaching and learning experiences. Just look at what our children can do!

The video that you have just watched clearly demonstrates a high level of ICT literacy in the use of video editing software to tell the story of their song. In this case (and in the other nine examples in this series of posts) iMovie, from the iLife suite of software from Apple, has been used and techniques such as green screen, time lapse and transitions have been confidently and competently employed by these children in amongst the basic skills of shooting, uploading and editing their movie. A question for us to consider is where do these chidren sit in relation to progress in the Curriculum for Excellence Technology Outcomes. What would you use in order to assess performance and progress here? Your comments in relation to this would be most welcome…

Meet the children behind the band

I managed to grab some time to chat with the children behind Epic and I asked them a bit about their experience of the band in a Box project at Gavinburn PS. Have a listen to what they had to say:

The whole idea of the Guitar Hero (Band in a Box) Project was that in keeping with methodologies that Primary teachers have employed for many years, the actual game is used rarely in class but it acts as the source from which a collaborative story can be constructed. This collaborative story acts as the contextual hub around which learning in other curricular areas can be structured in a cohesive, purposeful and relevant fashion. The main thrust of the collaborative story that is created in this project is that the children develop a character that joins a rock band. This character then lives and breathes along with the other band members and is the vehicle through which learning is situated. As a result, associated tasks are directly linked to the developing life of this ‘rock character’ and the suspension of disbelief is continually in play as these older P.7 children get themselves lost in the developing experiences of their character. This kind of activity has the potential, if used thoughtfully, to position the aims of Curriculum for Excellence in purposeful, challenging and appealing ways.

Let’s explore how aspects of curricular learning have been developed in this project by looking at some work done by the pupils in this band:

Curriculum for Excellence: Literacy

Literacy is at the heart of this project and in particular the need to work as an effective member of a team is central to success in this project. The teachers involved in the planning of this topic wanted to focus on developing children’s ability to work effectively in teams and so decided to refer to LIT 2-02a in order to assess this aspect of learning.

The children were also presented with literacy tasks that were challenging but that sat perfectly within the collaborative story that developed as their band took life. Here we can see how the band comes to life in a magazine article that has been written by the children. Look at how they have also demonstrated their ability to use a desktop publishing application in a confident and skilled way.

Epic’s Rock Rumble Article

The teachers involved in the planning of this topic decided to refer to LIT 2-02a in order to assess this aspect of learning.

Our experiences over the past few years in using the Guitar Hero/Band in a Box idea have been that the initial stages of setting up the band and developing a rock alter-ego to partner the pupil on the collaborative learning journey they undertake as their ‘band’ evolves can be very powerful. Here we meet some of the band members of Epic as described by the children in these biographies (ENG 2-31a) written in the early stages of the project:

Meet Rocky De Lorean from Epic

Meet Metal Rock from Epic

Meet Heavy Rock from Epic

The teachers involved were very interested to ensure that the performance aspects of children’s work over the course of this project and so ensured that the following outcomes were also at the heart of the planning process: Spelling LIT 2-12a, Punctuation and Structure LIT 2-22a, Sense and Purpose LIT 2-23a

Curriculum for Excellence: Numeracy
One of the earlier ideas that came with the beginnings of the Guitar Hero in class project work was the opportunity to include a European Tour. This allowed exploration of European countries but also an opportunity to present purposeful, challenging and appealing tasks involving the use of money. The idea of costing a tour was born. At Gavinburn PS, however, they have taken that a step further… Direct links with learning French are maximised because each of the bands receives a letter from a French music agent who invites them to visit a French city and play a gig there. A budget is in place and the children then have to work out all travel and accommodation costs to fulfil that gig.

Epic’s Toulouse trip itinerary

Epic’s Toulouse trip budget breakdown

The teachers involved in the planning of this topic decided to refer to MNU 2-09a in order to assess this aspect of learning.

Curriculum for Excellence: Music

With the use of Garageband from the iLife suite of tools that comes installed on Mac computers, the group was able to structure and compose an original song.  The music you are listening to was put together using the preset loops available within Garageband. Inspired by contemporary music from the rock and R’n’B world as well as the Guitar Hero tracks, the group decided on the style of song the group wanted to compose.   They auditioned and selected guitar riffs, drum patterns, bass lines and piano fills, as well as textures and other loops from hundreds of samples available.   The group then created the track by arranging and layering their selected loops into verses, choruses and musical breaks.  Once the original backing track was created, they then recorded the vocals.  Looking at the Expressive Arts Music outcomes, it is clear to see that these young learners are displaying evidence of EXA 2-18a and EXA 3-17a.

Curriculum for Excellence: Modern Foreign Languages

Following on from the budget task the children then had to script and record their interview with a French music journalist. It is interesting to note that the Headteacher and the class teachers noting a marked change in attitude to learning French as a result of it being situated within this context. This also came through in discusions with the children.

Epic’s French music interview script

The teachers involved in the planning of this topic decided to refer to M.LAN 2-07b in order to assess this aspect of learning.

Have a listen to Epic’s interview with a French music journalist:

The teachers involved in the planning of this topic decided to refer to M.LAN 2-03b in order to assess this aspect of learning.

Congratulations to all the children involved in the band Epic and to the staff at Gavinburn PS for enabling these pupils to meet the challenge of Band in a Box in such a confident and successful fashion.

Visit the other nine posts as well to see how this work was not a one-off.

November 16th, 2010

Happy Birthday Windows – COMPETITION!

Brian Clark

Comments: 4 Comments » Tags: Tags: Competitions, computing, Consolarium, Glow, infographic, LTS, operating systems
 : Categories Consolarium, Glow, Literacy, rich tasks, writing

On 20^th November 1985, Microsoft released Windows 1.0.

This year is the 25^th anniversary of Windows 1.0.  In the 25 years that have followed, Operating Systems have evolved. A lot.  Windows 7 mobile, Mac OS X, iOS, Android and Linux are all commonly used Operating Systems today.  And there are many more!

To celebrate this event, we are running a competition for you to create an InfoGraphic about operating systems.  The winning InfoGraphic will turned into a poster and sent to all schools who take part.

Competition Details

Can you create an Infographic to chart the development of Operating Systems over the last 25 years? Here are some ideas….

• You could look at the features that have evolved over this time for a particular operating system
  
• Look at the range of operating systems currently available
• Compare features of 3 common operating systems
• The difference between operating systems for desktop computers and portable devices
• Show how the user interface operating systems have evolved over time, from text based to touch
• Perhaps you are studying computing and want to illustrate your knowledge of Operating Systems
• Or something else that you feel is appropriate
• All entries should be done through the Glow Group

Hold on, what’s an InfoGraphic?

An InfoGraphic is representations of information, data or knowledge. These graphics are used where complex information needs to be explained quickly and clearly.  Information is conveyed by graphic elements, including charts, graphs, text, dates and images.

Some examples of infographics are shown here …

Reasons To Get Involved

• Creative commons image searching
• Image file format
• Investigate graphics applications
• Presentation style – contrasting colours, use of font etc
• Curricular links to SG, Int 2 and Higher Computing in timely context
• Opportunity for collaboration

Important Information!

Closing Date has been extended to 17th January 2011

• Winners will be announced early in the new year
• Teachers must register their school on the Glow Page
• Pupils are responsible for uploading their finished InfoGraphic to the entries page in an appropriate format
• Glow Group Short Link – http://glo.li/oscomp

May 27th, 2010

EyePet as CfE

bmclaren

Comments: 2 Comments » Tags: Tags: andrea reid, cathkin, cfe, eyepet, hmie, liz mercer, nursery, South Lanarkshire
 : Categories Added Value, Consolarium, Consolarium visits, Games we have, Literacy, Multi-player games, Numeracy, Parents, South Lanarkshire, cross-curricular, game based learning, rich tasks

For a number of months I have been doing some work in and around South Lanarkshire authority, first of all with Aubrey Taylor  from the Advisory Service running staff development and latterly with  the support of Andrea Reid QIO in a number of primary and nursery schools. It’s really great seeing so many forward thinking folks in education in such close proximity to each other.  A good number of schools are running their own GBL topics with  and really staring to get great results from their work.

Cathkin Community Nursery

In particular I enjoyed visiting Cathkin Community Nursery which , with the support of Andrea Reid, has been undertaking a topic on pets which has included input from a special pet called “Eyepet” which comes as software on the PS3.  Check the video below for a wee flavour of the kinds of things he can do..

The steps shown in the video are only a small part of how the nursery went about planning and implementing a project with Eyepet,  but a case study exemplification will be produced and shared over the next couple of months.

I had never seen a GBL topic wholly undertaken in the nursery setting so I was intrigued to find out how they had gone about it. Liz Mercer the Head of Nursery was delighted with the way the project worked and how well it involved the children and their families.

“We are thoroughly enjoying our eyepets. They are part of our family now and the children have taken to them so well. Each group had adopted an eyepet, where they nurture and care for him/her. Some children have also created their own eyepet using a variety of materials. They are fab and on display in the room where eyepet lives and breathes.”

Open Doors Event

Cathkin Community Nursery then took the expertise they had gained from running Eyepet as part of their project and held an open doors event where the Early Years workers shared their experience of using Eyepet and how it tied to the curriculum with colleagues from South Lanarkshire.  There were also a number of other brilliant presentations on involving parents and involving children in the planning process and digital learning books. The evaluations from this event were wholly positive and it was great to see CPD opportunities like this being provided by practitioners for practitioners. Liz and the team are real advocates of CfE,   and you can see from the slideshow below how that looks in practice when undertaking the Eyepet project.

HMIE

You may also be interested in reading the thoughts of HMIE about this nursery.  Their report was published today and all areas of their work were graded as Excellent and HMIE thought their work with Eyepet was wonderful.

“Staff provide a very well-balanced curriculum firmly based on play, active learning and enjoyment. High quality staff interaction, a stimulating environment and very well planned use of resources support children’s progress most effectively”

We currently have a number of Eyepets out on loan across Scotland at the moment, some as transition projects and some as literacy focus work and the pictures below are of some of the reactions of children watching their Eyepet hatch and some of the work that has come out of looking after their Eyepet.

Home School Partnership

As a follow on to that I attended a couple of parent workshops run by Colin Venters from South Lanarkshire’s Home School Partnership, encouraging parents to see the potential of their child’s use of gaming consoles as a positive chance for meaningful interaction between themselves and their child. Hear below what Colin and some of the parents who visited had to say about these sessions.

February 24th, 2010

Consolarium Podcast 5: Samba de Amigo inspired learning

Derek Robertson

Comments: 9 Comments » Tags: Tags: Aberdeenshire, Consolarium, crazy talk, game based learning, games based learning, GBL, Glow, Nintendo
 : Categories Aberdeenshire, Added Value, Glow, Literacy, Nintendo, game based learning, podcast, writing

The latest edition of the Consolarium podcast is now available. You can subscribe to the podcast from itunes via this link or listen to it via the embedded player.

Super samba inspired learning in schools!

This edition of the Consolarium podcast is solely dedicated to a project that came to an end just before Christmas 2009. Meldrum PS and Slains PS in Aberdeesnhire had been working with the game Samba de Amigo for the Nintendo Wii. When this game first came out the team at the Consolarium thought that this would have great potential in schools and so it was duly purchased. Here’s what it looks like:

OK, I think that after that clip you may be asking, “How on earth can a game that requires the player to shake out samba rhythms help children learn?” Well it most certainly has. What has been going on?

Samba de Amigo inspires ‘relevant and engaging learning’

The methodology that the Consolarium invariably employs in our approach to game based learning involves the computer game being used as the central ‘contextual hub’ about which learning can be situated. We have used this approach with many of our previous projects and it has proved to be a successful methodology. The teachers involved in this project worked together to create a collaborative story that focused on a rags to riches tale about a favela dwelling samba musician who made it to the big time. Accompanying this came the story of a plane, that was carrying the newly created Samba music superstar, crashing in the Amazon jungle and the associated learning about that. Here is some of the children’s work. Here is a news report of that event:

Some people may still be of the opinion that the idea of game based learning is something that does not sit with what school should be about but we would argue that game based learning, if used appropriately, can excite, challenge and create relevant and appealing contexts for learners. Just look at how writing has been developed here”

• The children created their own samba stars and wrote a biographies about them. Have a read of one these: The life of Angelo de Rimosto (biography)
• The children were inspired to carry out research about the Amazon Rainforest as a result of the “plane crash’ scenario and other ways in which the teachers had created the settings in which intrinsic motivation to explore the topic. Have a read of this piece of writing: The Amazon Rainforest
• The children from both schools used Glow to begin to explore how they could work together on story start project. Here is the beginnings of their efforts: Trible Troubles Chapters 1, 2 and 3 If you would like to find out more about how Glow was used then join their Samba de Amigo Glow group.
• The children also used Crazy Talk to great effect to bring their writing to life. Here we see how writing about an imaginary Amazonian rainforest creature can be enhanced by this simple piece of technology:

If you take the time to listen to the podcast about the Samba de Amigo project then you’ll here us talking to a pupil about his experience. If we could have written a script for a pupil to read out about the benefits of game based learning then what he said (without coaching or prompting we may add) would have been what we would have said. He talks about his learning connecting up, about it being exciting and active and how he will rmember this project. Great stuff from him. Here is a brief clip of some boys  actively involved in the project and warming up for their Samba music creation lesson.

Hopefully the podcast and this brief blogpost will give you a flavour of just how good this GBL project was. A fuller account of what was done and how this GBL context impacted on learning will be released in the near future. In the meantime can we just say thanks to all at Meldrum PS and Slains PS for working with us on this project.

February 2nd, 2010

Wild Earth African (and Alloa and Aberdeen) Safari

bmclaren

Comments: 1 Comment Tags: Tags: African, Park, Tullos, Wii, Wild Earth African Safari
 : Categories Aberdeen, Added Value, Clackmannanshire, Games we have, Literacy, Numeracy, cross-curricular, game based learning

It’s always a treat to visit classes where the imagination and creativity of teachers and pupils has driven  engaging and effective learning and teaching. But shh! What’s that noise? Can anyone else hear the drums?

 Can you hear the drums?

I think we had better take a look around, follow me as we climb this hill for a look around.  Wow! what a panorama – look at all the animals..

Every child I spoke to was enthused and motivated by their topic, as was every teacher. You want creative and imaginative writing? It’s there, from a range of different characters and viewpoints. Functional writing? How many reports, factsheets, biographies would you like? Listening and talking? Interviews, presentations with movies, audio, photographs….

In mathematics the children were learning about measurement in a range of scales (15o kg of elephant poo anyone?) How tall is a giraffe? If an elephant was 2d what would its area be ? Can we draw it to scale in the playground? If we know that can we work out the volume of an elephant? So many mathematical questions.  How far away is the Safari we are going on?  How will we get there, will we fly and how much will that cost? and on and on and on; learning in context

I saw a variety of media and tribal art where the visiting specialists were involved in the planning and delivery, music teachers teaching tribal drumming and African chants, Masai warrior dances by children in Masai robes and class made jewellery.  I heard abou the significance of the jewellery in the different cultures and at every step the use of a range of technology enhanced and extended the learning going on.

And don’t even get me started on co-operation and collaboration as teams completed assignments together and presented their findings, reports and thoughts together.  The desire of the pupils to show their work and explain it’s significance and what they had learned was excellent, not just to me but to other classes and their parents and carers.  I saw children explaining food webs to their visitors, anything you wanted to know about a particular animal? Just ask the resident experts…..

December 15th, 2009

Learning is a Joy.

bmclaren

Comments: none Tags: Tags: Consolarium, games based learning, heppell, Nintendogs, Wild Earth African Safari
 : Categories Aberdeen, Consolarium, Consolarium visits, Games we have, Highland, Literacy, Nintendo, game based learning, writing

Over the last wee while I have been visiting schools to see the impact of some ongoing projects.  I visited Tullos Primary in Aberdeen where a class of primary 6 children have been undertaking a Wild Earth African Safari.  I popped in to see a primary 3 class in Dingwall Primary working on a Nintendogs project and then off to Alvie Primary in Kincraig near Aviemore where a composite p 3/4/5 were taking on their own African Safari.

In Tullos Primary the teacher undertaking the project spoke about her experience at an InService day and the rest of the staff were so impressed by the potential that they will be purchasing gaming technology of their own so games based learning can be extended throughout the school.

In Dingwall primary the children have been using their Nintendogs to enhance and improve literacy. Both management and class teacher have been amazed by the impact and how the desire to write and reach an audience outside the school, through their blog, has moved the learning of all the class forward.

From Alvie Primary the teacher has tied the whole experience together as an enterprise Activity and will showcase the work for parents in a Safari afternoon.  She also reckons that when the wii is returned to the Consolarium it will have a whole class of children attached to it who will not let it go!

In all classes I was met with enthusiasm and engagement and a joy about learning.  In the Guardian newspaper last week Professor Stephen Heppell  comments that ,

“Play is something that ICT has been bringing into learning from the very beginning.  ICT in learning holds the potential to bring back playfulness and engagement…”

     Guardian, Tuesday 8th December, Education Supplement

The Games based learning approach taps straight into this potential and, for those of us working in the Consolarium, we are lucky enough to see practical examples of the impact of this everywhere we go.  Share the joy!  If you and your class or school are using games based learning then please let us know and share your good practice.

December 8th, 2009

Living on an Island.

bmclaren

Comments: 3 Comments » Tags: Tags: Burravoe, Consolarium, games based learning, Glow, Shetland, Wii, Wild Earth African Safari
 : Categories Added Value, Consolarium visits, Games we have, Glow, Literacy, Nintendo, game based learning, writing

“No man is an island”

John Donne espoused that we are all connected and I think that we are all the better for it.  Having connections whether familial, social or professional enriches all that we do and extends, supports and challenges us.

I have been thinking recently about the way my learning has changed now that I am no longer in a school setting and how much I relied on the people in my school staff to bounce ideas off, to rant to, to use the experience of and to laugh with.  Now that I no longer have a physical staffroom to use I have found myself using the skills and knowledge of a different set of people in a very different way.  I have a virtual staffroom, open 24hrs a day containing a set of people from all over the world, with a huge array of skills and experience which I can tap into, and who generously share their learning.  I use Twitter.  There, I’ve said it and it doesn’t make me a bad person!

One of the first people I was in contact with in my very early days of twitter was Caroline Breyley, the headteacher of Burravoe Primary School on the Island of Yell, the second largest of the Shetland Isles. 

 She and her class were considering the use of Wild Earth: African Safari for the Wii and wondered if it would be a worthwhile context for learning.  Through the work they have shared with me it is clear that they have been involved in a very engaging, motivating and successful piece of learning.   I had the great privilege of meeting the children online at the tail end of last week.  We set up a Glowmeet and through the use of this technology children over 400 miles away, including at least one flight and a ferry, could share the fantastic work they had done with me in real time and get immediate feedback.  Go and visit the Burravoe Primary School blog, read about life in their school and read the “Brilliant Story” by Charlotte in  p3.

Through the use of technology available to those in Scottish Education our children have access to an immediate national audience for their work, Glow groups, glow meet, CANVAS and a host of blogs allow our children the opportunity to share their work and receive feedback .  We should all be sharing our practice and seeking feedback on the work we do and providing constructive feedback on the work of others. We cannot afford to be islands.

November 5th, 2009

Highland Tour

bmclaren

Comments: 14 Comments » Tags:  : Categories Highland, Literacy, cross-curricular

Over the last 3 days I have been visiting schools in Highland Region with whom we will be working over the coming months.  The enthusiasm and hospitality from everyone I met was brilliant and nothing, I’m sure, to do with the hardware and software that goes with the project!( although one school did take great delight in calling me “wii man”)

My journey took me just over 600 miles and 3 days from Castletown, just outside Thurso to Alvie, just outside  Aviemore, via Dornoch, Dingwall and Merkinch in Inverness.  Every school was different in many ways (in fact one school had almost twice as many primary sevens as another had pupils) and served a wide range of catchments;  but everyone showed a real commitment to embracing technology to enhance  learning and teaching and were in no doubt to the impact it might have on their children.  I am really looking forward to working with the schools over the coming months and will post regular updates on our progress.

March 16th, 2009

Moshi Monsters come to Stirling

Derek Robertson

Comments: 14 Comments » Tags: Tags: games based learning, Moshi Monsters, virtual learning
 : Categories Literacy, Numeracy, Stirling Council, Virtual Worlds, cross-curricular

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….?

October 2nd, 2007

Myst case study now published

Derek Robertson

Comments: 4 Comments » Tags:  : Categories Aberdeenshire, Literacy, writing

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.