April 25th, 2011

Gavinburn PS – The REAL School of Rock

Derek Robertson

Comments: 7 Comments » Tags: Tags: cfe, game based learning, games based learning, gaming, Guitar Hero
 : Categories Curriculum for Excellence, West Dunbartonshire

The movie School of Rock starring Jack Black is a fun movie. Although it has the very best of Hollywood’s cinematic licence to hook you in it also contains  a truth about education in that there really is the need to ensure that relevance, purpose and appeal should be at the heart of learning for learners. Make school like this and who knows what our children can do?! It also makes a great point about the appeal of rock music and how it has great potential as a context that could excite and create scenarios that would have cultural resonance with learners in schools. This post showcases Scotland’s very own School of Rock, Gavinburn PS in Old KIlpatrick, West Dunbartonshire and shows how effective leadership can create that feel good factor with impact on learning in a real setting…

Guitar Hero in schools: How did it begin?

Back in 2006 when Guitar Hero was first released we bought it for the Consolarium. I remember playing against the LTS technician that afternoon when Laurie O’Donnell (Head of Future Learning at LTS at that time) peeked his head in to see what we were doing. “How on earth are you going to use that in schools?!” he enquired. “Just wait Laurie, I have a a plan!” was my reply. Since then the initial use of Guitar Hero in Aberdeenshire schools has led to its mainstream use in a huge number of classrooms across Scotland and further afield, two National Scottish Schools Guitar Hero competitions and has even seen an award winning use of it in East Lothian Council!

As a teacher I always believed in the benefits of contextualising learning and how a collaborative story could create the framework, or a contextual hub as I referred to it, about which learning could flourish. I firmly believe that using this approach appropriately and imaginatively can create the space in which learners will ‘suspend their disbelief’ and willingly go with the teachers on their journey through this evolving collaborative story. Having seen primary and secondary kids wearing Ramones, Thin Lizzy, Kiss, Guns N’ Roses etc. t-shirts I thought that the time was right to use Guitar Hero to suspend disbelief and impact on learning…

Move over Jack Black – Gavinburn PS is the REAL School of Rock

Over three years ago the Headteacher of Gavinburn PS, Gillian Penny, saw a Consolarium presentation about Guitar Hero at a Leadership event and she asked if she could try it out in her school. What she, her staff and the pupils at Gavinburn PS have done with Guitar Hero since then really is one of the finest examples of effective, sustainable and aspirational examples of game based learning that I have been involved with or seen. The Guitar Hero, or Band in a Box project as Mrs Penny has now christened it is firmly established in the school calendar. The children now expect to do this and await it with relish. The project comes to a crescendo with the Gavin Awards where parents and dignitaries are invited to a wonderful evening that celebrates learning. At this event the children’s creative energies are shared and the music and videos that they create as part of the project are premiered to an audience that I have always seen amazed at the quality of learning.

This year we have set up a series of posts to showcase the incredible learning that has been happening at Gavinburn PS. Please do take time to look at the work the children have done and feel free to leave comments for them to read.

1. School of Rock 1/10: Epic with Immortal Love
2. School of Rock 2/10: Papercut with Just be Yourself
3. School of Rock 3/10: Peas on Earth with Timeout
4. School of Rock 4/10: Red Hot Ice with Burning Love
5. School of Rock 5/10: Skulls and Rockbones with Fear
6. School of Rock 6/10: Explosion with Poison
7. School of Rock 7/10: Starstruck with High School Boy
8. School of Rock 8/10: Kcor with Party on our Own
9. School of Rock 9/10: Riot with The Start of the Beginning
10. School of Rock 10/10: Sting with VIP in NYC

These posts show how we can make learning relevant, purposeful and appealing but most of all, they show just what our children can do when the bar of expectation and aspiration is raised!

June 16th, 2010

Falkirk Guitar Heroes

bmclaren

Comments: 2 Comments » Tags: Tags: cfe, concert, Falkirk, Guitar Hero, maddiston, shieldhill, whitecross
 : Categories Added Value, Consolarium, Falkirk, Games we have, Parents, animation, cross-curricular, game based learning

I had a most enjoyable and very interesting day touring 4 schools in Falkirk who are all undertaking a transition project with Guitar Hero.  The teacher leading this within Falkirk, Stacey Collier-West, had planned a full timetable and we set off from Maddiston Primary where she is based and travelled to see Avonbridge Primary, Whitecross Primary and Shieldhill Primary as well as stopping off back at Maddiston to see the pupils working on this topic.

The first thing that was absolutely apparent from all the schools I visited was the engagement shown from all teachers and pupils involved, but what I found more interesting was the range of approaches across the schools but all within the same context.  Every teacher involved had been part of the inital planning and were in regular contact with each other but each one was very firmly focussed on what the children in their schools needed.  Seeing this so clearly reinforced with me the fact that this fact should remain at the forefront of the mind of any school undertaking a GBL topic.

Have  a look and a listen to some of the work we saw on our quick journey around Falkirk starting with writing in Whitecross Primary. Click on Mr Horne below to hear him chat about writing in his class.

mr horne whitecross

In the video clip below we can see how the classes are building towards their concert.  We can see them making stop frame animations with a simple digital camera and windows moviemaker software, which is a free part of most, if not all, winows pc s.  I love seeing everyday things used in an imaginative way like this, we then have a chat with a couple of groups of children who talk about what kinds of learning they are undertaking in order to get themselves ready for the show including writing lyrics, choreography and animation.  Next we meet another band getting their moves ready for the concert and chatting about how they have undertaken the work and finally we meet two of the teachers who have been running the theme in their class and hear them discuss the impact on the children.

As mentioned previously, all the schools were working toward a final showcase event where they would perform the songs they had written, show their choreographed moves and have their animations playing in the background.  As you could probably see from the slideshow above all the bands had also designed their own tshirts which they then sold and each school made a cd of the tracks they had produce and offered them for sale at the concert also. Brian Clark, Ollie Bray and myself got ourselves invited to the final concert and we had a wonderful time watching as all the children performed in front of their peers, parents and friends. Every child successful, confident, responsible and effective. Watch highlights of the show below.

August 21st, 2009

Guitar Hero Challenge SLF’09 Leaderboard

Derek Robertson

Comments: 1 Comment Tags: Tags: Consolarium, Guitar Hero, SLF09
 : Categories SLF09

Get the guitars and the drums of Guitar Hero World Tour at the ready and get those scores in for this year’s Guitar Hero Challenge SLF’09! Full details of the competition can be accessed from this blog post from the summer term and as you can see we now have our leaderboard ready and waiting to be filled with the highest scores possible.

There is a choice of songs this year and each song has its own icon to identify it:

• Far left: Bushy haired and handsome Bon Jovi with ‘Livin’ on a Prayer’
• Second from left: Beret wearing 80′s rockers Survivor with ‘Eye of the Tiger’
• Second from right: Fully loaded Mancunian sideburns of Oasis with ‘Some Might Say’
• Far right: Raven haired and goatee bearded Lenny Kravitz with ‘Are you Gonna Go My Way?’

Teacher validated scores should be sent to the consolarium@ltscotland.org.uk and these scores will be added to the leaderboard as soon as they come in.

Make sure your band name is something to behold and good luck. Your GH band might make it to the stage in Glasgow for the final showdown.

There are still a couple of kits available for any schools that may want to participate. Again, drop a line to consolarium@ltscotland.org.uk if you think your pupils have what it takes…

Please remember that the closing date for the competition is Friday 11th September.

June 8th, 2009

SLF’09: Guitar Hero World Tour Competition

Derek Robertson

Comments: 2 Comments » Tags: Tags: , Consolarium, Guitar Hero, SLF09
 : Categories SLF09

Rock and Roll is returning to the Scottish Learning Festival this year so be prepared to turn those speakers up to eleven once again with the return of the Scottish Schools Guitar Hero Challenge! The standard of competition last year was extremely high with David Whyte from Baldragon Academy in Dundee outperforming all comers to take the title. If you think that your pupils have the potential to win this then get involved in this year’s Game Zone Challenge at SLF’09. All you need is one of the following: a PS3, XBox360 or Nintendo Wii along with a copy of Guitar Hero World Tour (with an extra guitar).

This year’s competition is different in the sense that we are not looking for individual entrants but groups of players who will form a band to play the instruments in Guitar Hero World Tour. This would mean a drummer, guitarist, bassist and vocalist!

This year we are offering a choice of songs as opposed to just one. The songs that you can choose from are as follows:

• Eye of the Tiger by Survivor
• Some Might Say by Oasis
• Livin’ on a Prayer by Bon Jovi
• Are you Gonna’ go my Way? by Lenny Kravitz

You can open all the songs in the game by going in to the Cheats option and keying in the following combination Blue, Blue, Red, Green(2), Blue(2), Yellow

Scores that are achieved by bands should be validated by validated by their teacher and emailed to consolarium@ltscotland.org.uk and we will then upload these to the leaderboard. Schools can enter as many bands as they like. The closing date for submissions to the competition is Friday 11th September with the successful contestants being notified by Monday 14th September. Travel costs will be covered by LTS. This event will take place at the SLF’09 on Wednesday 23 September, 4:00pm.

Last year’s event was a great success and we hope that this year’s event will at least match if not better it. Who knows, we might even see this year’s finalists really going for it and coming ‘dressed for the event’. We’ll leave that idea up to you…

We have established a Guitar Hero Glow Group for schools to share the associated curricular work that can go on around a game such as a Guitar Hero but if your school is not yet in Glow don’t worry you can still participate by sending your high scores to the earlier stated email address and we’ll ensure that they are added to the leaderboard.

We have a small number of kits that we can loan to those who don’t have access to the game and the console so please contact us if you have are interested in this or if you have any other questions related to the competition

September 25th, 2008

Scottish Schools Guitar Hero ’08 Champion

Derek Robertson

Comments: 2 Comments » Tags: Tags: Consolarium, Guitar Hero, LTS, SLF08, SLF2008
 : Categories SLF08

Congratulations to David Whyte from Baldragon Academy in Dundee who yesterday swept all challengers aside to become the Scottish Schools Guitar Hero for 2008. Congratulations also to Craig Davidson, Shaun Caldwell and Lewis Bayne for making it to the semi-finals and for giving such a spirited and skilled performance at the Gamezone Challenge.

David thoroughly impressed the viewing delegates at the conference with his expertise at the game. Whilst playing the song: When We Were Young by The Killers he managed to hit a 500 note streak on expert level. Superb!!!

Thanks to all who supported this event by either participating over the course of the last month or by coming along to the venue to support the boys and to support the unusual addition of something like the Gamezone Challenge at an educational conference.

Thanks also to Microsoft and Nintendo for the donation of prizes for the competitions that we are running in the Gamezone Challenge.

August 15th, 2008

Turn it up to eleven at SLF ’08 with the Guitar Hero Challenge!

Derek Robertson

Comments: 4 Comments » Tags: Tags: Consolarium, games based learning, Glow, Guitar Hero, LTS, SLF2008
 : Categories Consolarium, SLF08

Rock and Roll is helping the Scottish Learning Festival ’08 turn it up to eleven this year in the form of the Scottish Schools Guitar Hero Challenge! If you think that your pupils have the potential to win this then get involved in this year’s Game Zone Challenge at SLF’08. All you need is one of the following: a PS2, PS3, XBox360 or Nintendo Wii along with a copy of Guitar Hero III (with a guitar).

Over the next few weeks we are asking you to let your children play When We Were Young by The Killers. Pupils validated scores should be emailed by their teacher to consolarium@ltscotland.org.uk and we will then upload this to the leaderboard The competition heats will end on Friday 12 September when the top four on the leaderboard will be identified and invited to Glasgow to compete in the Game Zone Challenge. Travel costs will be covered by LTS. This event will take place at the SLF’08 on Wednesday 24 September, 4:00pm.

It promises to be quite an event what with the finals being held on a stage with a PA, large screens, lights AND a dry ice machine…eat your heart out Spinal Tap! Oh, and the champion can win computer games goodies for their school.

We have established a Guitar Hero Glow Group for schools to share the associated curricular work that can go on around a game such as a Guitar Hero but if your school is not yet in Glow don’t worry you can still participate…send your high scores to me and I’ll add it to the leaderboard. If you like you can send me any other material your class may have done in relation to Guitar Hero and I’ll post it in Glow.

The song that we want you to play does not immediately appear in the game so you have two ways of accessing it.

1. Play the game until it opens the song
2. Use a cheat. If you don’t know how to do this then follow these instructions:
   1. To enter cheats, from the main menu in Guitar Hero III go to Options -> Cheats -> Enter New Cheat. For each code, you have to strum while you press the given buttons. Notes in parenthesis are held together while you strum .i.e. (RY) denotes Red and Yellow buttons held at the same time and strummed once.
   1. The cheat code is as follows: GRBO, GRYB, GRYO, GBYO, GRYB, RYBO, GRYB, GYBO, GRYB, GRYO, GRYO, GRYB, GRYO

Please contact us if you have any difficulties with this. Good luck and maybe we’ll see you and your pupils at SLF’08!