Consolarium

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!

September 6th, 2011

Land of Me at Port Ellen PS: Encouraging Outdoor Adventure 5/5

Derek Robertson

Comments: 2 Comments » Tags: Tags: game based learning, Land of Me, outdoor learning
 : Categories Argyll & Bute, Dundee City, West Lothian

A few months back I featured the work of Bernadette Donald from Dundee who was involved in the Land of Me pilot project. She was inspired by the idea that a digital game such as Land of Me was designed to encourage enquiry and learning away from the digital screen, possibly more than actually from it. The context of creating an intrepid explorer mindset, inspired by Eric, Buddy Boo and Willow, in young learners is something that appears to have appealed to many teachers who have been involved with this pilot - including the team at Port Ellen PS.

Outdoor Explorer Logbooks

In order to exploit the children’s heightened levels of curiosity and willingness to explore the outdoor environment and in order to yet again involve parents in the children’s learning the class teacher devised an idea that involved the creation of an outdoor adventurer pack. This pack included:

• A pair of binoculars
• A magnifying glass
• Some bug collection boxes
• An Outdoor Adventurer Logbook

There were four of these packs available to the children to take home so that they could go out into their own environment and explore! The logbooks were packed full of photographs, drawings, stories and information about Islay and the various creatures that can be seen there. One boy even reported seeing an eagle on the roof of the Laphroaig Distillery! A whole host of artefacts were discovered and brought in by the ‘Little Explorers’ and the display table found itself festooned with antlers, shells, broken bird’s egg cases and even an empty wasps’ nest!

As with the earlier post about making outdoor dens in the forest from the school in Dundee the teachers at Port Ellen PS talked glowingly about the impact that this experience and what the overarching context was doing for the children involved. In particular the teachers commented on:

• how much more aware and knowledgeable about their own environment the children were becoming
• the fact that there was purpose and a focus for family time at the weekend was well received by many of the parents
• the fact that children were hugely keen to get hold of the adventurer pack so that they could explore outside, note what they see and then report back to their classmates.

Thank you

Now that we have come to the end of this pilot we would like to take the opportunity to thank the people at Land of Me for supporting our pilot projects and to all the staff, children and parents from Dundee, West Lothian and Argyll & Bute for making so much of what we have done such a positive experience.