Consolarium

September 26th, 2011: CPDConsolarium: GBL and Technologies loan service for Scottish schools; Derek Robertson; Comments: 2 Comments »Tags: Consolarium, CPDConsolarium, game based learning, games based learning, gaming

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!

Categories GTC

2 Responses to “CPDConsolarium: GBL and Technologies loan service for Scottish schools”

Michaelina MacLellan October 5th, 2011 at 8:56 pm
Is this only available for P1-4? If so, is there anything similar available for P5-7?

Thanks
Michaelina MacLellan October 5th, 2011 at 9:20 pm
Ignore that! I now realise that it means period 1-4! Sorry!!