September 26th, 2011

CPDConsolarium: GBL and Technologies loan service for Scottish schools

Derek Robertson

Comments: 2 Comments » Tags: Tags: Consolarium, CPDConsolarium, game based learning, games based learning, gaming
 : Categories GTC

Over the past few years the Consolarium team has invested in a variety of technical/digital equipment that it wanted to explore in relation to how its effective and innovative use could impact favourably and positively on teaching and learning contexts in settings from 3-18 years.

We have been thinking how best we can utilise this ‘cupboard of super stuff’ and how it can be out in schools helping teachers teach and children learn rather than not doing that! After some thought we came up with the idea of establishing a loan service that Scottish teachers could access via Glow – this is what we are now calling CPDConsolarium. Based on the excellent leading work of Con Morris and the CPDCentral team we have designed a community of practice that aims to act as the focal point for teachers to share their experiences, successes and challenges in using GBL, game design and other technologies in their practice.

We have an inventory of over 220 assets that can be loaned by any teacher that joins CPDConsolarium. Before they do this they must first of all join the community by filling in the online membership form. Once this is done they can then browse the searchable catalogue and see what resources are available and when they can loan them. If a resource is free then a bid is submitted. This is an important part because we are asking teachers to begin to reflect on how they plan to use the resource, what impact they anticipate on learning as well as what it means for their own professional development in relation to how the Standard for Full Registration is being addressed by their work in this area. Once submitted it goes through an approval process which can involve e-mails, phone calls to the school or Twitter DMs  by myself to the bidder in order to iron out any problems and to get the resource out to schools.

However, any bid that is accepted comes with a blank wiki page dedicated to that teacher and the resource that they have loaned and an expectation that the developing narrative of their experience will be documented and shared with everyone else. Without agreement to this no kit is sent out.

Some of the kit that is available includes:

• Sets of Nintendo DS, PSP and a wide variety of games
• 25 Nintendo Wiis and a wide selection of games
• 20 Sony PS3s with a wide selection of games
• 15 Microsoft XBoxes with a range of games
• 10 Macbooks with I Can Animate & I Can Present installed
• 10 Graphics Tablets
• 3D mice
• Class set of iPod Touches
• A number of sets of 20 PC Xbox360 controllers for Kodu
• 2 sets of licences for RPG Maker VX
• Arduino kits
• Lego Wedo kits
• Set of GPS devices
• and much, much more!

Already the community is growing and we have already approved quite a number of sets of kit.

This resource is here for any Scottish teacher who can access CPDConsolarium with their Glow account. It is our resource, for us to use and to help inform each other of our developing practice. Come and join and empty my cupboard of superb stuff!

August 11th, 2011

The Land of Me at Port Ellen PS: Gleeful children lost in the learning space 3/5

Derek Robertson

Comments: none Tags: Tags: curriculum for excellence, game based learning, games based learning, GBL, learning spaces
 : Categories Argyll & Bute

There has been much discussion over the past few years about the nature of learning spaces and how these should be designed in order to effect the best conditions for learning. This was something that I reflected on during and after my visit to P.1/2 at Port Ellen PS having seen a traditional rectangular classroom being transformed in to a magical place where adventure and learning happened.

Working with parents the class teacher at Port Ellen PS designed and made a number of areas that matched those in the The Land of Me. Each area had many references to the characters and themes running through the chapters in the software but also to a range of other contexts for learning and development. What was clearly evident though in my visit was the way in which the children had completely immersed themselves in the learning space that was their traditionally shaped classroom – and in so doing they had lost themselves in learning.

Dancing with otters at the riverside
I spoke with one young pupil about the area that had been set up as the riverbank. I was introduced to Dodo the Scottish Otter who I was told liked to dance. Dodo had a number of dance moves that the children had been
learning and putting together in sequences and they had been making their own too. I also saw that the children had been learning all about creatures that might live in or near the riverside and that they had been outside adventuring and learning about creatures that lived on their island. I will go in to further detail about curricular activity and CfE references in a later post but at this stage the gleeful look on this learners face in this accompanying video says a lot about how learning can be positively influenced by such a motivating and exciting learning space in which one can learn!

Reading in the cave
Classrooms sometimes have very comfortable spaces that are designated for reading. Spaces where children can relax on comfortable cushions or a nice carpet and take time to read. The take on this reading space during this project was structured around Granny Olive’s cave. This is the storytelling place in The Land of Me and it is a
calm and peaceful place where stories are brought to life by a very old giant tortoise. This video shows a young learner being interrupted by me when he was quietly reading The Stick Man. Listen to what he says and then watch how he engages with his book as I move away with the camera. Yet again, we see a thoughtful learning space situated in a meaningful context that appears to be having a positive impact on encouraging good learning; in this case independently-chosen reading time.

Classrooms, particularly those in Primary schools, are often transformed to mirror or ‘become’ the context in which learning is situated at particular times. When they are done well they can impact in a positive fashion on teaching and learning. As we can see from the work at Port Ellen PS the effort can be very worthwhile indeed.

August 10th, 2011

The Land of Me at Port Ellen PS: A visit from the King of The Land of Me 2/5

Derek Robertson

Comments: none Tags: Tags: cfe, Consolarium, game based learning, games based learning, The Land of Me
 : Categories Argyll & Bute, Early Years

The team at the Consolarium first saw The Land of Me when it was being presented at a game based learning conference in London. We were quite enchanted by the resource and felt that it could be something that, if used appropriately, could work well to support and enhance learning with younger children. We managed to meet up with James Huggins who is the CEO of Made in Me, the company that make the software and let them know that we would be interested in running pilots when the resource was ready to go…

Discussions continued with James and his team and eventually we managed to get things on the move. However, this was not where things stopped in terms of partnership with Made in Me. Very keen to see for himself how things had been going on in Scotland he asked if he could accompany us on out visit to Port Ellen PS to see for himself how his resource was being used in a teaching and learning context.

Once Janice McRae heard that James Huggins was coming to visit she began to think how she could best exploit this event to have further impact on the chidren’s learning…and in so doing she came up with an idea!

The King of the Land of Me comes to Port Ellen PS.

Janice’s idea was to ask James Huggins to act as the KIng of The Land of Me when he came to visit. That meant that the children could write letters to the King telling him what they know about his fabled land. James was in agreement and soon enough a batch of hand-written letters found their way to the KIng of The Land of Me’s postbox. James took time to to respond to all the children’s letters and duly sent them back with a promise that he would come to see them in the classroom.

This was the catalyst for great excitement and following on from the Royal Wedding this year plans were put in to place to ensure that things would be ready for the Royal visit.

On arrival at the school James was asked to wear a crown and a cloak so that his persona as the King of The Land of Me could be as true as possible for the excited children. He readily went along with this and was somewhat at ease in his Royal role! As he entered the class he was given a guard of honour by the children who were acting as animals from his Kingdom. A red carpet then led to his classroom throne where he was then met by his loyal and admiring subjects.

I spoke with James later that day about what he had seen and what he thought of the way that his resource was being used. His first reaction was to say that he was ‘speechless’ and that “we could not have created a better example of why it is we made The Land of Me or how we’d like it to influence learning!”

You can hear our conversation below:

The craft of the teaching and the way in which contexts can be created to help learners suspend their disbelief is clearly in evidence here.  Yet again we see how young learners can respond in such a positive fashion to this methodology and how the thoughtful and imaginative teacher can create the environment in which rich learning can happen and thrive.

August 10th, 2011

Land of Me at Port Ellen PS: Planning for good learning 1/5

Derek Robertson

Comments: 2 Comments » Tags: Tags: game based learning, games based learning, GBL, The Land of Me
 : Categories Argyll & Bute, Parents, cross-curricular

This year we worked with the people at The Land of Me to pilot their software in schools in Dundee, West Lothian and Argyll & Bute. We have already seen some great work in the use of this software to support and enhance learning in Pre-5 and P.1 & P2 classes in Dundee and West Lothian and were also made aware of work ongoing in some of the Argyll and Bute schools via a class blog and a Made in Me’s Facebook page.

Janice McRae from Port Ellen PS on Islay was one of the teachers who came along to the Land of Me introductory session in Inveraray earlier in the year. As a result of her experience on the day and following on from subsequent discussions with colleagues and her own thinking about the needs of her learners she has put together the most inspiring learning experience set in The Land of Me, one that has encouraged parental involvement in so many ways and that has created a space in which her pupils can suspend their disbelief and embark on a learning adventure!

“We had three weeks of learning before we even looked at the software!”

I managed to get out to visit Janice and her class just before the summer break to see just what had been happening. You can listen to my chat with her about how she planned to use the Land of Me and how things progress from then on…

Planning for learning

What was interesting about how Janice McRae planned to use the Land of Me resource was that in the first instance she did not share it with her children for three whole weeks. During this time so much was done in terms of asking questions and initiating discussions in order to create the context for enquiry and curiosity that could then be further developed when the resource was introduced. Some of the questions that were discussed included: Who lives in the Land of Me?; What is a map?; How would we get to the Land of Me? As a result of these discussions some of the children suggested that they make the Land of Me in the classroom!

“Let’s turn the classroom into The Land of Me!”

The Land of Me is made up of a number of chapters that are set in different geographical scenarios. We meet the main characters Buddy Boo, Eric and Willow in the desert, on clifftops, by the riverside, in the arctic and other places too. With the help of her partner and many of the parents Janice went about transforming the classroom into The Land of Me with all the scenes represented in the software physically incorporated into the classroom. Parents helped make camels for the desert, brought in trees for Bramble Wood, built the cave where Granny Olive reads her stories and even made wooden cutouts of the main characters from the story.

With things in place both contextually and physically it was now time to go on a learning adventure…

August 8th, 2011

GBL in schools: A slow and steady approach or REVOLUTION? What say you?

Derek Robertson

Comments: 1 Comment Tags: Tags: compas, Consolarium, David Shaffer, epistemic games, futur en seine, game based learning, games based learning, GBL
 : Categories Consolarium

When we first began the Consolarium initiative way back in 2006 its main aim was to explore and share ways in which the use of computer games and game design could have a positive impact on teaching and learning and support Curriculum for Excellence in Scottish schools. Over the years this aim has remained the same and our reach across the country has been quite a success. Many of the ideas, approaches and methodologies we employed as well as many of the challenges that we faced in growing this practice became of interest to educational colleagues in England and further afield and this led to a number of invitations to speak at many conferences and other professional development settings. This wider recognition from colleagues outwith Scotland has played some part in affirming Learning and Teaching Scotland’s (now Education Scotland) ambitious and somewhat prescient decision to invest in and commit to such a venture back in 2006.

One of the invites that we were able to accept and honour recently was from the Digital City events (part of the Futur en Seine Festival) in Paris. As part of a three part seminar programme organized by Le Group Compas, Cap-Digital and Microsoft we were asked to deliver a keynote talk about our work in leading game based learning in Scotland and also about what we have seen in terms of impact on learning.

The session was to be shared with Professor David Shaffer from Wisconsin University. Prof. Shaffer is the author of How Computer Games Help Children Learn and he is the person behind the Epistemic Games website.  It was a delight to share the session with such an eminent GBL leader and as it turned out although we shared the same belief that games can help children learn, how we should go about this was slightly different…

Our main thrust in relation to games in schools has been to use commercially available games (COTS) that have been built for entertainment and not for education. Our reasoning behind this is embedded in James Paul Gee’s take on Semiotic Domains and the fact that so many computer games present challenging, demanding, complex and culturally appealing contexts for learning that schools can undoubtedly employ to great effect. Some examples include using these games in schools:

• Guitar Hero
• Nintendogs
• Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training
• Eyepet

We have also worked closely and carefully with our Local Authority Education partners and schools in Scotland to ensure that our endeavours are always wholly based in sound pedagogic principles that would fit in with the established practices and workings of a classroom to some degree but that would also begin to challenge established mindsets regarding the nature of technology in learning, valuing and exploiting what children value in their own cultural domains and how effective learners can be independent of adult intervention.

Prof. Shaffer’s work with Epistemic Games focuses more on making bespoke games that would enable players to be professional people. This definition of Epistemic Games is offered on his website:

Epistemic games are computer games that can help players learn to think like engineers, urban planners, journalists, lawyers, and other innovative professionals, giving them the tools they need for a changing world.

In epistemic games, players see what it is like to live in the world of adults. They learn ways of thinking that matter in the digital age, and have a chance to imagine the kind of person they might someday become.

In essence Epistemic games such as Nephrotex, Urban Science, Digital Zoo and Sodaconstructor are designed in such a way that to play successfully the player has to situate themselves within the real life context of the job of being an engineer, urban planner or animator thus learning about AND applying the skills directly related to these positions.

Prof. Shaffer established a thread through his presentation that questioned the effectiveness of schooling in respect of learning being detached from the context of application of newly found and developing skills, knowledge and understanding. School needed to change to help learners reach their full potential and the application of Epistemic Games should be central to that change.

Both our presentations plus an introduction to the session from Julien Llanas, who chaired the session, can be viewed here.

The discussion session at the end of our presentations was particularly lively with an emphasis on some of what we had touched on in relation to metacognition, development of self-esteem and enhanced attitudes to being a learner and learning. Professor Daniel Andler from the University of Paris-Sorbonne was tasked with summing up the seminar session.  As part of this summing up Professor Andler chose to focus on the different approaches that Prof. Shaffer and his team have taken. He compared us to the Mensheviks and the Bolsheviks with the Consolarium being observed to be the more moderate of the two in relation to trying to effect change from within established structures and attitudes but with Dr Shaffer looking for educational revolution on a much quicker scale!

Yet again it was a great delight to be able to share the vision and the innovative practice coming from  of Scottish schools with colleagues in another country. We look forward to hearing how people such as Julien Llanas and other interested parties that we met in Paris make progress in the domain of game based learning In French schools as well as learning more about the work of the team at Epistemic Games.

June 10th, 2011

The Land of Me in Dundee: Building dens in Templeton Woods

Derek Robertson

Comments: 3 Comments » Tags: Tags: early years, game based learning, games based learning, Land of Me, outdoor learning
 : Categories Dundee City, Early Years

Some months ago we began a pilot project in three local authorities using a resource called The Land of Me. At one of the early meetings in Dundee we met Bernadette Donald from Wallacetown Nursery and she talked about how she planned to use this resource to help support teaching and learning in her setting. Bernadette talked about the opportunities that can arise from the context of this resource, particularly in relation to taking the children outdoors. This aspiration to take learning outdoors resonates very loudly with the aims of Curriculum for Excellence. Part of the rationale that can be found in Curriculum for Excellence through Outdoor Learning states that:

Outdoor learning experiences are often remembered for a lifetime. Integrating learning and outdoor experiences, whether through play in the immediate grounds or adventures further afield, provides relevance and depth to the curriculum in ways that are difficult to achieve indoors…it signposts ways for teachers, educators and their partners to plan for and use the outdoor environment to provide imaginative learning and teaching which is relevant, lively and motivating.1 all staff at every level of involvement with the education of children and young people have a responsibility to make the most of the outdoor environment to support the delivery of the experiences and outcomes of Curriculum for Excellence……Well-constructed and well-planned outdoor learning helps develop the skills of enquiry, critical thinking and reflection necessary for our children and young people to meet the social, economic and environmental challenges of life in the 21st century. Outdoor learning connects children and young people with the natural world, with our built heritage and our culture and society, and encourages lifelong involvement and activity in Scotland’s outdoors.

Taking this rationale on board and considering the needs of her learners Berrnadette planned to take the learning away from the digital screen and to use the context of The Land of Me to allow her and her colleagues to take it out in to the woods (Templeton Woods) so that the children could build a den! She also thought this was a perfect opportunity to introduce this environment to many children who live quite close to it but who have never been to visit this forest on their doorstep. Have a look at this montage of photographs that shows what happened on their visit. Click on the picture to view the slideshow:

Bernadette and I managed to get some time to chat about the Land of Me and to find out why she was interested in taking learning outdoors and just what it was about this resource that enabled this to happen. Have a listen to what Bernadette had to say about this.

As a result of our conversation being interrupted by a youngster in her Royal Wedding dress the interview is in two parts: Here is the end of our discussion!

Bernadette points out a number of issues about this resource and her subsequent pedagogy when planning to use it. These include:

• Context of the world and subsequent discussions about it have led to lots of child-centered enquiry and active learning
• Children spending some time at the computer screen but resource acts as springboard for activity away from the screen
• Has encouraged an increased interest in story-telling
• Perfect opportunity to work in partnership with Countryside Rangers to plan the visit to the woods
• Forest setting allowed the children to explore the habitat where real forest creatures live and to have an adventurous day building their very own forest den
• Purposeful way to involve parents in children’s learning
• The game itself also had positive impact on young children who have English as a second language

The experience of taking learning outdoors is seen within CfE as one of the fundamental aspects of teaching and learning that will contribute to the development of the whole person. The aspiration to expose learners to an adventurous approach to learning is also at the core of outdoor pedagogy.

It is also argued that the outdoor environment encourages staff and pupils to see each other in a different light, building positive relationships and improving self-awareness and understanding of others. Building dens in the woods is a great place to start!

May 31st, 2011

4/4 Driving Learning with Mario Kart: Healthy Eating and Grannie changes her mind

Derek Robertson

Comments: none Tags: Tags: cfe, game based learning, games based learning, gaming, Mario Kart
 : Categories Early Years, Renfrewshire

“This is play but it’s educating them!”

Over the years we have worked with so many teachers and seen them use commercial off the shelf games in such a way that they are able to make purposeful, relevant and appealing links to traditional curriculum objectives. This has been the case in nursery, primary and secondary settings. We have found that handing over ownership of initial GBL ideas to teachers empowers them to bring their own idiosyncrasies to the table and to build experiences that can meet the needs of their learners. Here is another example of how teachers have done just that.

How would you use the context of Mario Kart to help P.2 and P.3 children develop a real interest in and understanding off the healthy eating plate? Well. I wonder if there is anything that we can learn from the children at Bargarran PS,  Mario and his gang in Mario Kart?!:

Changing a Gran’s point of view…

This example of how childrens’ learning can be situated within an appealing context sits nicely with the thoughts of one of the children’s grannies that I had the pleasure of chatting with at Bargarran PS’ Mario Kart Open Afternoon. I first met Mrs Fortescue, who has a grandson in P.2, in the corridor just as the afternoon kicked off. Her first words to me were, “It wasn’t like this at school in my day – this isn’t school, they’re just playing!” As a result of this chat I I asked if I could come back and speak to her after she’d seen what has been happening in the class… Have a listen to what Mrs Fortesuce had to say 30 minutes later:

As you can hear Mrs Fortescue was somewhat taken aback by what she saw, by what her grand-daughter had been doing and what she was able to tell her Grannie all about. Some of Mrs Fortescue’s main points about what she had seen include:

• you’d normally associate computer games with playing; I’d never seen them being used like this way in an educational way
• my granddaughter is so full of information, she’s been telling me all about everything in class as we’ve gone along. I can’t believe how much she knows
• I first thought what a waste of money, you’re there to be educated. That’s not education like how I was taught  but when you look at it they’re playing but it’s educating them.

A consensus from the grandparents on the day?

I also spoke with another Grannie to see if this was a lucky or pressured change of heart. Mrs Hall has a grandson at the school as well and her interview was equally as positive as Mrs Fortescue’s:

The main points raised about the positive aspect of what she had seen at the open afternoon included:

• I think it’s marvellous what I’ve seen in class, I didn’t realise they’d done as much
• my grandson is always telling me about what they’ve done with Mario Kart when he comes home from school
• coming in to class to see what’s been happening helps you make sense of the Mario Kart project

If schools can build purposeful learning experiences that can engender such buy in from the children, their parents and their grandparents then maybe we are doing something right? Let’s not lose sight of what some of the parents and grandparents have said – if the resource has appeal than why not put it to good use to help children learn?

Hopefully this series of posts has helped convey some of the industry, life and sense of excitement about learning that I witnessed in my time at Bargarran PS. Thank you to everyone involved with this project and a huge thank you to those who shared their thoughts with us. Do feel free to leave a comment, question or observation on any of these posts.

May 31st, 2011

3/4 Driving learning with Mario Kart: The parents’ perspective

Derek Robertson

Comments: 2 Comments » Tags: Tags: cfe, Consolarium, game based learning, games based learning, Mario Kart, Nintendo
 : Categories Early Years, Renfrewshire

In the early days of the Consolarium a big part of our work in promoting the practice of game based learning involved addressing many of the concerns that teachers had about using such resources and contexts in their schools. Informed reference, we hope, was made to the many folk devils and moral panics associated with games back then but one major concern that was invariably thrown up by schools was – what might parents say about children ‘playing computer games’ in school when they should be learning?! Our experience over the past 5 years of promoting this work has been that parents have been more than pleasantly surprised at how GBL contexts have worked for their child/children. This ‘evidence’ in the parents eyes of good learning experiences may also be complemented by the changing nature of how computer games are now placed in family life. When we first started out the games console was still seen as something that kids did in the shadowy solitude of their bedrooms but haven’t things changed now? How many families do you know that have a console in a main living area and who will use this as part of family play? How many dads out there are red hot at FIFA11, how many mums have a Wii Fit or Zumba game as part of their keep-fit regime and how many grannies have Scrabble on their DS? Times have changed have they not? Are computer games still the folk devil of a few years ago?

At the recent Mario Kart open afternoon at Bargarran PS I saw just how far the practice of game based learning has come in relation to how it is being perceived by children’s parents and guardians. At this event I witnessed a classroom packed with mums and dads, grannies and grandads all buzzing with excitement about what the children had been learning. Some of them were also more than keen to have a go at the game and get their name on the parents’ leaderboard!

I took the chance to chat with some mums and dads at the event to try to get their honest views of the use of a games console in classrooms and what impact the experience of the Mario Kart topic was having on their children.

Have a listen to my chat with Mrs Mavers who has a son is in P.2

The first parent that I interviewed was Mrs Mavers, a mum who was very keen to get the No.1 slot on the Mario Kart Parents’ leaderboard.

As you will have heard Mrs Mavers is of the opinion that this experience has been great for her son. Here are some of the points Mrs Mavers raised:

• my son has been learning about Italy and other cultures which is a good thing.
• my son is not the most enthusiastic about school normally but he has been really enthusiastic about this which is good
• the topic has led to good experience of homework that involved using Google Earth to look at Italian landmarks. This is something we wouldn’t normally have done
• anything that motivates children should be used as a tool for learning…why not pick up on things that children love and bring it into the school environment?

Have a listen to my chat with Mr & Mrs Brown who has son is in P.2

I took the opportunity to chat with the parents of a P.2 boy who were keen to let me know just how good an idea they felt the Mario Kart topic was and how it had had such a positive experience on their son. Have a listen:

As you will have heard Mr & Mrs Brown are also of the opinion that this experience has been great for their son. Here are some of the points Mr & Mrs Brown raised:

• since the school brought in the Mario Kart topic his (their son’s) behaviour has improved dramatically
• it’s had a positive impact at home because he’s doing stuff at home like building cars from junk models to bring in to school
• he can’t wait to get to school when he knows he has topic related work that day
• their son is very very keen to learn about things linked to the Mario Kart topic. He’s even learning Italian words!
• the school has monitored the learning and have managed to crack getting that fine balance between learning and playing the game

In my discussions with the class teachers it was clear that they see links between the school and the home as very important. They set out in the initial stages to ensure that good channels of communication were set-up and maintained and that the opportunity to celebrate and share the children’s learning with their parents was built in to the programme. All of this, coupled with the focused way that the Mario Kart resource has been used has again shown just how good teachers can use good resources to effect good teaching and learning. It’s great to see the parents supporting such practice.

May 27th, 2011

2/4 Driving Learning with Mario Kart: The buzz of learning

Derek Robertson

Comments: none Tags: Tags: game based learning, games based learning, gaming, GBL, Mario Kart, Nintendo
 : Categories Early Years, Parents, Renfrewshire

Parental involvement in the life and learning of a school can be an incredibly valuable asset. This is particularly true when parent/carers are active agents in understanding and supporting what is going in their child’s classroom. As we heard in the first of this series of posts the teachers involved had kept parents fully informed in relation to the rationale of the Mario Kart project. To further cement this relationship both classes planned a Mario Kart afternoon to share the learning that had been happening with their Mario Kart topic. Here is a short clip of parents coming in to the classroom.  Also look out for the examples of the children sharing their learning with adults. They are so keen to show off what they have been doing.  As you watch the clip do you get a sense that there is a real buzz about learning here? as the children excitedly share what they have been doing? A great thing to see in a classroom.

There was so much learning linked with this topic for the parent s to have a look a through. Literacy was something that was addressed quite heavily through this topic and one task that had the children creating their own Driving Licences was very eye-catching and had proved to be very popular with the children. (Unable to share due to children’s details included on their mock licences).  Another popular writing activity involved the children coming with a basic character bible for a new Mario Kart character. Have a look at some of their work:

Have a closer look at some of them:

New Mario Kart Character: Holly Zoom Zoom

New Mario Kart Character: Queen Niamh

New Mario Kart Character: Queen Lola

New Mario Kart Character: Transform

I’m sure that the parents who came along to the Mario Kart Open Afternoon were very impressed with the range and quality of work that had been going on. The wall displays around the classroom drew many admiring glances and inquisitive comments from the mums, dads, grannies & granddads.

May 26th, 2011

1/4 Driving Learning with Mario Kart: What’s in the box?

Derek Robertson

Comments: 2 Comments » Tags: Tags: cfe, Consolarium, game based learning, games based learning, gaming, GBL, Mario Kart
 : Categories Early Years, Nintendo, Renfrewshire, West Dunbartonshire

At the beginning of 2010 the Consolarium team, in their attempts to sow the seeds of innovative practice in schools,  announced a competition that was to be held at that year’s Scottish Learning Festival. Based around the game Mario Kart for the Nintendo Wii the challenge was to se how fast you pupils could complete a lap of one the Mario Kart tracks. Teacher verified times were then emailed to us to be added to our Scottish Schools Mario Kart leaderboard. We must have loaned out over 20 sets of Mario Karts to schools across Scotland with the expectation that the game play would lead to a range of ways in which curricular activity could grow from the contextual hub ofd this game.

Sometimes when you plant seeds unexpectedly beautiful things can grow…

I was contacted by Wilma Leaburn, a QIO from Renfrewshire, a few months back and invited to a Mario Kart CPD evening at a school in Paisley. Apparently a number of teachers had taken this practice forward and a CPD session to share their experiences had been organised and so oversubscribed that another two evenings were to be delivered. The evening itself was a fantastic example of how creative teachers can be and how, when give the chance, their own idiosyncrasies can lead to wonderful learning experiences that meet the needs of their learners. At this event I met a teacher called Julie Paterson who invited me to Mario Kart open afternoon for parents and carers at her school, Bargarran PS in Erskine. This series of posts will feature my observations at this event.

What’s in the box? Creating the context

The children I met at Bargarran PS were just superb. They welcomed me into their class and were so eager to share with me what had been happening and what they had been learning about. In the middle of our earlier conversations it became clear that the arrival of the Wii into their class had been a bit special. Apparently, a gold box arrived one day and the question being asked was ; What’s inside the box? Lets let the children carry on the story…

The writing activity that arose from this early context creation was featured on the wall. Have a look at some of the children’s writing:

The Teachers’ Perspective

Julie Paterson and Jill Day were the P.2 and P.3 teachers that led this project. I took the opportunity to interview them after the Mario Kart open afternoon had ended.

Some of the strong messages about their observations and experiences with the Mario Kart project are:

“The parents have been incredibly supportive.”

“Sharing information and plans with the parents at the beginning of the project helped build that trust with parents.”

“The initial attention-grabbing context creation captured the children’s imagination and interest.”

‘Some children, who maybe don’t engage as well as the teachers would like in class, showed increased levels of motivation and willingness to engage with learning.”

“The Mario Kart project had a particularly positive impact on boys attitudes to learning.”

“Fun, personalisation and choice should be at the heart of learning experiences within contexts for learning in Curriculum for Excellence.”

Thank you to the teachers, the pupils and parents at Bargarran PS for making us so welcome and for sharing the life of learning with in their classrooms with us,