BP14_2009123_PeerReviewMcCurdy

MICHAEL MCCURDY - EMDT

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2009

BP12_2009123_Tool#4(GameClassroom.com)

http://www.gameclassroom.com/


For this blog entry, I am researching the Web 2.0 tool, GameClassroom.com. “Game Classroom is a one-stop web destination for accessing high-quality educational games, and homework help for K-6 students” (GameClassroom.com)


I have taught music at the elementary school level for 10 years as of this post. Because my initial undergraduate major was electric engineering, I have always stressed the importance of learning core subjects to my students. There would be many times where I would integrate my music curriculum with the subject material being taught in the homerooms. So GameClassroom.com seemed like a resource I would like to research in order to share with the core subject teachers.


GameClassroom.com is not directly collaborative as many other Web 2.0 tools, such as Flickr, Blogger, Wikia, etc. It is, however, very INTERACTIVE. Students who go to GameClassroom.com are not passive participants in their learning. Because the content is based on educational games, GameClassroom.com students are active participants in their learning.


GameClassroom.com allows students to select from two main categories: Language Arts and Math (as of this posting there is not a section for Science. Each category is separate skills for each grade. And each skill has a specific topic. Suggested games in the GameClassroom.com can be found in each skill level. The games give instantaneous feedback to the student. Games for lower grades have excellent demonstrations and are designed for the beginner learner. Games for older students have visual instructions and are designed for the older learner. The game engines do not frustrate the learner, so he or she is able to focus on answering the questions by whatever means the games use. Interestingly enough, I found it rather insightful to practice my skills on games for all ages. I realized that my teaching skills would benefit from occasionally playing these games. I found it interesting to compare how I present content to how the games found on GameClassroom.com present content.

There is so much good content on GameClassroom.com (except for the lack of a science section) that this is a highly recommended Web 2.0 tool for all elementary school teachers.

References:
GameClassroom.com (2009) Retrieved December 13, 2009, from http://www.gameclassroom.com/

Images:

All images are user-generated screenshots from http://www.gameclassroom.com/

POSTED BY MICHAEL MCCURDY-EMDT AT 5:21 PM
LABELS: EDUCATIONAL GAMES, ELEMENTARY, GAMECLASSROOM.COM, K-6, LANGUAGE ARTS, SCIENCE
2 COMMENTS:

Vandy said...
Games - you got my attention right away. I love games and especially in the classroom. Your bright images relay the light that games can bring to the classroom. Kids love 'em - even adult kids like me. I am bookmarking this site and might be 'flying the coop' of graduate studies to explore more games. Thanks Michael.

A fan of games galore,
Vandy

DECEMBER 13, 2009 6:29 PM
Joan Marie Western said...
I too like games! I love this site even if it does not much for art classes, but I know I can use them for fillers when we have half days or when the other elementary teachers need me to help out with math or reading. I checked out the kindergarten level and I think it would a blast to share with the teachers and their student to play with them. I too book marked this site. Thank you Michael.

Ti Play the game of life

BP11_2009122_OneMinuteMessage1

BP9_2009122FlickrLesson

Flickr is a great collaboration and community online tool that has the capability to connect and share a variety of resources for the art classroom. Flickr enables members to apply a variety of Creative Commons licensing to photographs they upload. As teachers we can help our students understand and apply the concept of intellectual property rights. Photos from Flickr’s various pools can be reproduced by students in a variety of ways and enhance their creativity and motivation in any art lesson.

One way we use Flickr in the art classroom is by establishing a class group from which each student is a member and posting their art pieces up for discussion. We can implement healthy art critiques as well as great peer feedback at the speed of light. A written art critique, and self-evaluation can be implemented at the same time through Flickr’s group discussion board. This helps students complete projects to their best ability, as well as develop motivational and higher thinking skills about the visual art. Student will establish a sense of accomplishment, as well as become members of an artist community.

Flickr can be used anywhere visual images are required, like in a PhotoShop Movie Poster Lesson, where the students research images using third party Flickr’s creative commons photo pools by typing in selected movie titles, approved by the teacher to create a movie trailer or poster developing their own approach to marketing that particular movie to the public.

Another Art lesson using Flickr, can be designing a magazine cover about artist careers, Creating motivational theme posters in visual arts advertising the art education. Developing their own portfolios and sideshow of the work to be presented to colleges or used as a summative assessment. On I particularly like it single image writing prompts called “Flicktion”, which can be used at the beginning of class to hook or enhance creativity in the art classroom.

BP8_2009122_Tool#3( Xtranormal)

Xtranormal can be shared, motivational and creative tool for the visual art classroom. I use this communicative tool to enhance student’s motivational skills and creativity in priming them for upcoming unit. It is a wonderful tool because it is free and can be shared for the class to critique, as well as instant feedback.

I also use this tool for beginning visual arts classes as a storyboard lesson final project. We take the drawn out storyboards or mockups and then try to emulate their original concepts with a twist of technology to create an additional visual communicative project using Xtranormal.

We share our movies on a classroom blog and VoiceThread to develop higher critical thinking skills as we discuss and critique the movies. This was an excellent idea because it freed me up with grading and allowed the students to grade one another with peer evaluation. This was fun and inspirational from an artist point of view. Xtranormal is a great starter tool for larger animation software programs for my visual arts classroom.

BP7_2009122_Tool#2 (VoiceThread)

VoiceThreadEd. is a web-based communications network for K-12 students and educators for creating and collaborating on digital stories and documentaries, practicing and documenting language skills, exploring geography and culture, exploring art exhibits and developing peer evaluations and critiques in the K-12 art classroom. Students can find and honor one another’s points of view. Students participate in Ed.VoiceThread only after being added by an educator or administrator with an Ed.VoiceThread class or school subscription. I would use this as a tool of communication as well as assessment, by setting up a VoiceThread class account and downloading students work for a class critiques and discussions.

Students are added via the online Administration Tool, one-by-one or by importing contact files. For each student, a first and last name is collected, along with any teacher, school and district information. Student email addresses are not required for participation. By default, a student identity/avatar only shows the pupil's first name. All other information is available only to the administrator. Educators are free to override this restriction if parental permission is received.

BP6_2009121_AntiTeaching

The connections of the intertwined relationships between vast majority of learners and course management systems the answer to our education system of today depends upon the facilitator and the learner’s life experiences.

Setting up a personal learning environment might be the key answer to the CMS or PLE’s and web 2.0 tools technology establishing a groundbreaking start into our 21^st century educational systems. The Course Management Systems makes the instructors life easier to post information on the web and allows relatively easy creation of on-line course content and subsequently teaching and management of that course which include interaction with students taking the course. The learner might just loose their significant in regards to learning.

Teachers still need to implement researched based theories with real life situations to establish lifetime learners, as well as, motivation signifying their learners’ purpose in life. Student’s today are not all able to grasp the new instructional design platforms, but it is up to the teacher to guide their learners to a higher levels of thinking at any age level to build significance in learning. Teachers still need some guidelines and a well executed managed personal learning environment; where designed knowledge is established, like Eric Jensen’s brain-based theories and Gardner’s multiple intelligences, as well as, Bloom’s taxonomy to develop strong state and national standards for accountability purposes f for this new 21^st century new educational system.

As a learner content in a rote manner had no significance to me. It was only when applied my own knowledgeable life experiences and research then motivation became the answer. This developed a sense of self worth and purpose for my life long learning. The result where in my grades, most of my lower courses in college where low and when challenged with higher thinking and interesting content my grades where higher. I feel that when the students of the 21^st century learner need to be able to connect with the world around them to create and build upon communities to establish their life’s goals in education.

It is up to the teacher and the new schools to develop the right personal learning environment that will enhance our learners motivation and desire to learn through the CMS and global resources to establish life time learner for the 21^st new educational systems for the future of our students.

BP5_2009121_SocialBookmarking

I now have a social bookmarking platform at http://del.ic.ious/joanmariewestern. This made me think of marking up or highlighting a book of insightful details that was interesting to my world in art, as well as, sharing research with my friends. This was not the case when adding del.icio.ous to my iGoogle platform and sending RSS feeds and bookmarking my research topic for my action research project. The information started flowing at a rapid pace. Anxiety, overwhelmed, and chaos pop into my art mind. I soon discovered that I could tag my newly found links for others to read and share. Oh, a new way of looking at research. I could go to my iGoogle tag my bookmarks and receive my friends and colleagues combined resources. What a wonderful new technique of research. This excited me and made me want to discover more about social bookmarking.

What I found was many blogs site discussing the top 100 social bookmarkings, I tryout a few social bookmarking sites beside delicious, and found that Stumble upon is not user friendly, magnolia social book marking crashed last week and most of users bookmarks were not recovered. I also tried Diigo, which I am still working with as an art educator and complying research for my art curriculum. Works for me! Diigo, has sticky note and I can collaborate with other colleagues. I can highlight important notations, and share my research findings with other art educator. Check it out! It is easy and fun to collaborate, tag and bookmark with friends at http://www.diigo.com.