Gamification- I am Pac-Man

I recently went on a trip to Grand Rapids for the MACUL (Michigan Association for Computer Users in Learning) conference that had a theme of "Ignite Learning".  It was an afternoon filled with countless speakers who wanted to offer some different techniques and insights into various aspects of utilizing technology in the classroom.  Choosing which of the sessions and speakers to visit was difficult to say the least.  I ended up catching a session from Liz Kolb about Gamification, another about why to use BYOD in the classroom, and finally a session that discussed the different ways to provide digital feedback.  In between these sessions we had the chance to check out the exhibit hall and explore the beautiful city of GR.  The Exhibit Hall, frankly, did not excite me all that much.  I was overwhelmed with the scale of the event to begin with and this was a carnival of huge players in the tech world.  It seemed as though most of the people were there to market to principals and bigger fish than a measly teaching intern, but it was interesting to see some of the different things that schools are trying out these days.  While the overall experience was fun and engaging, there was one session about which I'd like to talk a little more.

We have been exploring the idea of integrating the foundation of gaming into the classroom for quite some time now.  However, before this session with Liz Kolb, I was still unsure of how it would be practically applied to a classroom.  For instance, I wondered things like how grading would work, if competition would isolate students, and how you incorporate standards into the system of gamification.  Well, Lix answered most of these questions during her hour session called "I Am Pac-Man".  

  Some of the session covered material that, as I said, we were already introduced to during our technology course.  For example, changing grades into experience points, was a concept that Liz talked about as a way to deviate from the negative drawbacks of grades and how they are typically perceived by kids.  Under this concept, earning experience points will allow you to level up and master certain topics or skills being taught in the class.  Once you have earned enough points, you can show the instructor and move onto the next level. This idea emphasizes incremental rewards and consistent boosts of confidence.  The points can only go up, which is a nice idea to remove the negative image of a bad grade. Even when a student does poorly, he/she is still gaining points.  This is a concept I like.

 How this shows up in grade books, at conferences, and in IEPs and such is something that I am still unsure about.  However, with some further research and closer inspection, it seems doable.  However, I still foresee some of the same cons of grades surfacing with experience points.  Comparing class points for example, may deter some students from engaging because they know they are so far behind that they will never be able to 'catch up'.

Monitoring progress and tracking student performance is an aspect of gamification that sounds like it would really benefit student learning.  Especially in an environment that thrives on setting and achieving personal goals.  This could allow for a combination of extrinsic and intrinsic motivation, depending on the types of learners in the classroom.

Overall, like anything else, I think you have to know your students and what best serves them before choosing a style of teaching that appears to be as rigid and structured as this.  It's a gamble that seems to pay dividends when used by a seasoned veteran, but it's a risk I don't see myself taking for quite some time.

I really want to play Pac-Man now, though.  Any arcades around here?

Am I a Dinosaur?

Lately I have been more acutely aware of the general behavior and actions of the younger generation.  Being the potential students that will fill our classrooms, I suppose this spy like behavior is due to the desire to get to know the clientele a little more closely.  A city such as Ann Arbor, however, has a diverse, yet highly affluent population.  While the demographic makeup may reflect a diverse array of ethnicities and cultures, the opportunities that most people in this city have are greater than most other cities.  Therefore, most of my conclusions must be met with a veil, but I cannot help but notice the sharp drop in personal interaction among peer groups.  Another caveat that I must mention before continuing is that I realize that, inevitably, each generation looks upon the next one with a certain amount of judgement and criticism.  The "back in my day" mantra seems to hold true throughout time.  I am not sure if it is a self-reassuring idea of "we had it so much tougher" or "things were more simple back then" or what it is, but I am starting to feel those sentiments creeping inside me.

    I see ipods, iphones, itabs, ibooks, i carumba!  Bart Simpson

    Is it our job, as teachers, to find ways to cater to their interests in phones and technology?  I don't think you'd find a teacher who would respond yes to that question without some attached explanation.  I do think it is important that we find out what our students our interested in, but what if we're unknowingly sacrificing key life skills by choosing to find ways to use cell phones and other tech devices in the classroom?  I think there's a medium that can be found where compromise is not at the expense of learning or the teaching profession.

I think the bottom line of this post is that I am worried about the reliance on technology by the younger people in the world.  It seems that cell phones are in the hands of younger and younger kids each year.  My desire as a teacher is to help better the autonomy and future life skills of my students as much as it is to teach them french.  For that reason, I worry that I will want to spend too much time developing communication skills while neglecting other aspects of learning.  I am aware of the benefits of technology and I have used it several times with much success, but I fear the trend will continue and eventually become so dependent upon technology that we experience a Matrix like revolution. Ok, that may be somewhat extreme, but I hope that there are still some teachers out there who are dedicated to teaching children and not teaching technology to children.

Waste not, Want not

          Growing up, I was fortunate enough to have the counsel of my grandparents in addition to my parents.  My grandpa was full of idiomatic expressions and really insightful advice. However, when I was young most of these expressions went way over my head. This "waste not, want not" idea was no exception.  It was not until I grew up that I appreciated the consequences of wasting and what affect it had on how much I wanted and needed.  I chose to write to an edublogger who discussed this topic and how it could be used in schools.

 Sans Problemes! (Marie-France Perkins—French) http://mmeperkins.typepad.com/

           Her name is Mme Perkins.  In the summer, I wrote about the creativity and unique technology use she incorporated into her teaching.  While her posts have become few and far between since her retirement from teaching, each post is well developed and thought out.  The post to which I gave a response she titled her lesson (translated) "Stop Wasting!" She had a short article that described some statistics about the amount of waste being done in France and some proposed ways to help prevent waste and help the environment.  All I could think of when reading this was the guest speaker that came into our class and talked about sustainability being a central focus of schooling.  She followed the short article with a short list of questions that assessed students' comprehension of the reading and gave them an opportunity to provide some insight of their own.  It was a pretty simple activity, but the content was relevant and could be applied to their lives after school.  I shared my thoughts (below), but I have not yet heard back.  Honestly, I might steal this idea verbatim for my lessons in January. Is that illegal? 

Bonjour Madame! I have followed your blog for a few months now and I really like the ideas you have posted. I am studying to become a French teacher and I am constantly looking for ideas for ways to deliver content in interesting and fun ways. I really like the slideshare feature that you have on your site. Perhaps I should look more into that, but what I really wanted to know was where you drew the inspiration for the creation of your assignments and lessons when you were teaching. As a student, we are told to make the material we teach sustainable, relevant information. This topic of waste certainly meets these requirements. Additionally, it is something I am conscious of and could see myself teaching one day. Thank you for your creative ideas and your effort to share them with francophiles around the world. Merci!

I wanted to let her know that I appreciated her ideas and that I intended to utilize the information in my future teaching.  I was hoping to get some of her ideas on where she gets her material and where she draws her inspiration.  I am always curious as to how teachers come up with ideas and the process they go through in reaching that conclusion. I believe collaboration to be a huge component of successful teaching.  Edubloggers such as Marie make this possible.  

Tech in the field

    

     Being in Ann Arbor, I wasn't shocked to see technology being used in the classrooms at Clague Middle School.  During the first few weeks of observing classrooms and walking around the school, I noticed a variety of different modes of technology in action.  I began to inquire more about the various forms of technology that are available for students and teachers.  I was shocked by the plethora of items to which the teachers have access.  While some of the materials were slightly out of date (videocameras), some of the tools were fairly new and in great condition (3 computer labs complete with Macs from the last year or two).  In addition to some of these materials, the usage of technology I found to be the most abundant was the carts of macbooks that can be checked out for any class.  There are 3 carts full of 30 laptops that are available to check out online with the school's librarian.  The other forms of technology that exist at this school include recording devices (with a tripod), LED projector screens in every classroom, and an abundance of computers and laptops.  Additionally, at the latest PD meeting I heard discussions about ordering new tech resources for interactive whiteboards.  Meemo I think it was. 

     While having all of this technology at a school is great, how you use the technology is far more important.   I have noticed a pretty significant difference in the attitude and engagement in the students when the computers/projector/other forms of technology are being used with the lesson in class.  While it makes sense that they are more interested in using these tools, it is somewhat less obvious to me that the amount of learning seems to be improved by these methods.  While my sample size is not big enough to make a substantial claim, it does seem that kids' motivation and learning improves when the technology is being used effectively in the class.  My cooperating teacher uses technology really well in the class.  I think the key to this success has been the various ways that the technology is integrated and putting the responsibility more on the students.  When students take ownership of the work and he/she knows that it will be displayed in front of his/her peers, the performance and effort tends to increase.  Because social status and emotional security are so important at this developmental stage, it makes sense that using technology to wrap social and emotional learning into instruction would pay dividends.  

      However, I have also realized that my mentor teacher's personality meshes really well with the activities and tech use in the class.  This may not always be the case with every teacher.  Personally, I see myself using less technology than what I have seen at Clague, but that does not mean that I value it any less.  I admire those teachers who have found a way to incorporate tech into the classroom and keep the intimate relationships and authentic teaching atmosphere intact.  

Please leave your name, number, and homework after the tone...

   My first contact with podcasts was brief, accidental, and uninformative.  It was basically a group of guys arguing opinions on the details of a football game that had recently ended.  It seemed as though there was no legitimacy to the conversation and any credentials that these men had were not made apparent through their words.  However, I recently became more knowledgeable of podcasts and other similar programs.  While the random guys bickering about the football game is an example of a podcast, it is not indicative of the entire scope of what a podcast is, nor does it reflect the true utility in the classroom.  

    Being a foreign language teacher, I am sure that I will be using some form of podcast or a sister program in my classroom at some point.  Auditory learning usually takes a back seat to visual learning, which is somewhat warranted, but using the visual stimuli in addition to the auditory feedback is extremely useful and effective.  I have found that listening comprehension is a very difficult aspect of learning a foreign language.  Podcasts and other programs such as google voice allow students to practice their auditory skills as well as their oral affluence. 

    For instance, I am currently in a college course where our homework is to call into a google voice number a couple times a week and speak in a foreign language.  It is very little work for the teacher and it allows the student to complete the task on his/her time. Podcasts could be used much in the same way.  Students could record a conversation in a foreign language that is taking place in a virtual cafe.  Allowing students to get creative with means such as podcasts and google voice to complete assignments is an effective way to reach the interests of increasingly tech savvy students.  It is also a great way to gauge comprehension and assess the skill level of your students.  This can be done as a take home assignment or something that the students complete outside of school and bring it in to share with the class.  It seems as though the options are wider than one would think.  Especially one who thought podcasts were exclusive to terrible sports talk.  I got schooled. Hopefully I can school some students with this material.

    

My Badges > Your Badges

     Thursdays are long. We're all getting a pretty good sense of what it's going to be like to leave the house in the morning and get home at night without ever seeing the sun. Good times. Towards the end of last Thursday night, however, we were treated with a presentation by a Mr. Pete Pasque.  There was one element of his presentation that really struck me and got me thinking about the future of education and where this idea of BADGES falls in line.  

This photo was taken from a google images search of badges.

     The idea behind badges intensely intrigues me; especially in a foreign language.  I am imagining a certain badge for mastering the verb Aller, for example.  I can also see awarding badges to a student who masters a certain tense or area of vocabulary.  The possibilities, it seems, are endless with implementing badges to award student performance in a specific trade or concept.  Soon after brainstorming all of these possibilities, it seemed that the badge was too 'undefinable' to be of any use.  If anyone can create a badge, then why would it mean anything to a college or any institution that is trying to gauge academic performance, etc.  It seems to me that the key to badges is in the process of listing the credentials that the badge is representative of.  

     While he was presenting, I began to think of how well badges would work in my placement.  I have recently noticed a very competitive atmosphere between a number of students at the school.  It seems that competition drives their motivation to perform and increase their skill.  There's nothing wrong with a little friendly competition, right?  Being someone who embraced this idea as a middle and high schooler, I was ready to jump on board as soon as Pete mentioned this idea.  However, I wavered slightly because of something a friend told me reflecting back on a high school experience.  This person did not enjoy the competition, the recognition, or to be given any accolades that would put (z)er on display.  Strange for some of us to imagine, and maybe not so strange for others.  I realize that striving for medals can inspire hard work and increase productivity, but I am not certain that it would have the same effect across the board with all students.  I know it entices me, but I am not a reflection of the vast, diverse student population that is changing constantly and evolving each and every day.  Nevertheless, I left Mr. Pasque's presentation curious about the idea of badges and if they really could replace the rigid standards that make up most of school's forms of assessments.  

The Battle on the Mediterranean

French Battleships

         The theme of gaming in the classroom has sparked an incredible amount of thinking and excitement.  In the midst of the elation and thoughtful pondering (redundant<?), I realized that I am experiencing exactly the type of reaction that we are hoping to generate in our students. I would be ecstatic if even one my my students felt inspired to think of different ways that my lesson could be utilized in his or her future life. Cultivating an exciting atmosphere where students are engaged and motivated to participate is something to which I am committed. I also feel that this can be achieved by implementing activities much like the one we experienced in our class today.  Here is one idea I have for integrating a gaming approach to my french lesson:

Anyone remember playing this? Well get ready. Because Mr. Wilson is about to tell you how the game of Battleship and the French language meet in open waters.

     The idea I have for the lesson is to utilize the existing basic strategies used in the game battleship. In case you are unaware of the game, here is a link to the basic rules and objectives: 

http://boardgames.about.com/od/battleship/a/Rules-of-Battleship.htm

    The twist for my french lesson is to use subjects in place of the rows and verbs in place of the columns. In order for a successful guess or "missile launch", students will need to correctly conjugate the verb according to the specific subject. The game will then be played out much like the regular version.  Of course, this is also an opportunity to teach the students about nautical vocabulary and perhaps a history lesson on the usage of naval vessels in World War II. I am not aware of any program that is capable of performing this task online, but I have learned anything in this education with technology course, it is that the possibilities are endless with what we, as teachers, have at our disposal to enhance our classroom instruction. This transition period, as it has been labeled, offers us a chance to take risks and tap into resources that would be otherwise impossible without the use of technology and games.