Listening in: Hacking Chess in the Classroom

hack chess collage 2013
This is a podcast/radio program that I worked on with other folks in the DS106 Headless Course, and my piece about my students “hacking” the game of chess in the classroom ties in nicely to our work in the Making Learning Connected MOOC right now. The piece is more of a “sound story” than a traditional radio piece.

Listen to my students remix the rules of Chess

And if you are interested, here is the entire program of our group: The Merry Hacksters.

Peace (in the hack),
Kevin

 

 

Variations on a Game: Tic Tac KaBoom

I created this version of Tic Tac Toe for a digital writing camp for high school students, where game design dovetailed with digital literacy. We played Tic Tac KaBoom on the interactive whiteboard, which was interesting, and then students made their own variations of Tic Tac Toe. The “lesson” was around making rules in clear, concise writing (another focus of the camp program) while having fun.

Tic Tac KaBoom by KevinHodgson

You can see my youngest son listed as a “game advisor” — he was my playtester.

Peace (in the game),
Kevin

 

The #CLMOOC Video Game (and How to Make Your Own)

clmooc game

(Click on image to play the video game)

I did a variation of this last year, but have tinkered with the Making Learning Connected video game for this year, and this week, as we move into the theme of games and stories, it seemed very appropriate to share it out.

Play the game!

But don’t just play the game. Make your own video game.

Here’s how you do it:

First, create an account in Gamestar Mechanic. It’s free for the basic level. I could write a lot about Gamestar but let me just say that it is a video game design site built for students, and they earn experience i game design elements while playing “Quests” and building their own games. You don’t need to do the Quests to build a game, however (You just can’t publish it to the world until you finish the first Quest).

When you are in Gamestar, go to your “workshop” area (you will see the link along the banner) and click on “Build New Game.”
Gamestar Tutorial

This will bring you to the game construction area, where you can begin to make your video game.

Gamestar Tutorial

You can add text and the “story narrative” to the game.
Gamestar Mechanic

Here’s an example of a simple start to a maze game.
Gamestar Tutorial

Have fun. Build games. Learn about design. Think of your students.

Peace (in the screen),

Kevin