Category Archives: Gaming in the Classroom

My students handed in an assignment to write a review of a favorite video game, as a form of persuasive writing and as another writing connection to our Video Game Design Unit. There are plenty of great ones, and we were using our iPod touches to podcast their reviews as well. A few of the students turned their attention to Gamestar Mechanic, to review the site itself or a game on the site. I had not quite expected that to happen, but it was fine.

Here, then, are a few student voices about Gamestar Mechanic, which we have been immersed in for the past few weeks.

First, Brittney reviewed Gamestar Mechanic itself:

Second, Jake reviewed his own game on Gamestar Mechanic (not quite what I had in mind with the assignment but still …)

Then, Erika reviewed her friend’s game on Gamestar, Chloe reviewed a satirical spoof on Justin Bieber, Abbe reviewed a friend’s game on volcanoes, and Amanda reviewed a game that she found in the Game Alley.

Peace (in the reviews),
Kevin

We headed off into the holidays with style yesterday as all of my sixth graders showcased their video games with peers from other classes in a an effort to gather more peer review responses and … well … play video games before our holiday break. First, we set up tables in our cafeteria, and created “gaming stations” (ie, laptops), and while a game developer looked on, users came and played. Then, the player moved on to other games. Finally, they all switched roles, so that developers became players, etc.

Meanwhile, in another room, students were podcasting their Video Game Review projects with our iPod Touches. I’ve just started looking at the persuasive writing assignment and they seem pretty well done. I’m excited because not only do they get to demonstrate expertise in a video game, but we are doing this in conjunction with two other classes. We’re going to find a way to share the reviews out together. And the owner of a game review website — Gametrender — has generously offered to publish some of my students’ reviews on his space, giving them an authentic publishing experience.

Our principal and vice-principal both wandered into the Game Showcase, and both noticed just how incredibly engaged every single student was in the event. My principal, who is very supportive of technology as a tool for learning experiences, and I chatted about the writing components that were embedded in the game design project, and then he wandered off to watch some podcasting on the iPods in action. (I realized: I should have interviewed him with my video camera!)

Peace (in the world),
Kevin

As we move towards the end(?) of our game design unit with a Game Showcase today (which will mix up classes to play their games and do some podcasting activities), we continue to have our young designers reflect on the experience. They took an online reflective survey the other day as a way for us to gauge where they are with their project, and their impressions of using game design in the classroom. We also asked them to write out some advice for other teachers who might be considering the concept of gaming in the classroom. They were quite thoughtful, and most were supportive of the idea. A few said that time would be better spent outside in the fresh air than on a computer, and another asked if we could get back to creative writing (we will!!).

Check it out:


 

Peace (in the reflective stance),
Kevin

We spent part of our time yesterday allowing classmates an opportunity to play each other’s games, and then offering up a critique of the gameplay and game design for the developer. I provided a graphic organizer to keep their attention focused on the elements we have been discussing: story, science themes, gameplay, design, etc. As I wandered the room, I took a few notes of the conversations taking place. Most were very positive, and supportive.

Here is a bit of what I heard (as a former reporter, I often jot down notes when my class is doing something interesting):

“Who wants to try to my game? Anyone?”
“I do.”
“Me, too.”
“Me!”
—–

“Arrrrr.”
“What?”
“This is so hard. Why did you make it so hard?”
“It’s not hard. I can do it.”
“You made the game. Of course, you can do it.”
“Here, let me show you ..”
—–

“I like that. How did you do that?”
“Do what?”
“Find that color for the background. It’s perfect for inside the volcano. I want that background, too.”
“It’s in the Quest. You need to earn it. It’s in the xxx level.”
“I’m not that far. Darn.”
“How far are you? I can help you get there. Come on.”
—–

“That was … easy.”
“Too easy?”
“Yeah.”
“I thought it would a challenge. Why was it easy?”
“You just had to run fast. I ran fast.”
“Oh. Yeah.”
—–

“I wonder if anyone on Gamestar will play my game.”
“Probably. Did you publish it yet?”
“No. But I will.”
“You should. You definitely should.”
“Thanks.”

In some ways, the casual conversations as the developer looked over the shoulder of the player was more valuable than the written feedback, but I am determined to keep writing at the center of this project. Here are two samples of student feedback forms, which pretty much capture the essence of many of the peer review ideas of the day.


Peace (in the feedback loop),
Kevin

I continue to train my video on a few of my students as we move through the Science-based Game Design Unit. I am curious about what they think and what they are experiencing. The other day day, one student asked “Why are we making video games anyway?” and so I launched again into the rationale: the information and visual literacy, the connections to the writing process, the engagement with technology in a way that connects to what they often do outside of school, etc. I think they wanted a simpler answer (it’s cool!) but I was ready for it, mainly because if my principal or superintendent or a parent asks, I want to be ready for them, too.

In that regard, this reflective space on the blog has been helpful to me. And I appreciate the comments that some of you have been leaving. I am sure some of you are scratching you heads over this entire unit but it does have many solid connections to the science and language arts curriculum, particularly if you consider it in light of the Common Core (which our state has adopted). I am going to try to connect it more solidly to our state curriculum one of these days.

Anyway, here are two of my students, talking about the development of their video game project, their early prototypes of games, and their impressions of Gamestar Mechanic. (And should you think this is just cheerleading for Gamestar, I’ve had  a few students tell that they wish Gamestar were more advanced, and had more options, and they suggested we move into some programming language for, as one put it, “real game design.” Sorry, kid, that’s beyond me right now.)

Peace (in the games),
Kevin

I wandered around the other day, capturing some video of my students working on storyboards and creating video games.  This is part of a larger documentary project about using video game design in the classroom. They love to work in the dark and they love to use the Interactive Board to show off their games, and to build them with the pen on the large screen. (You can’t play it on the big screen because Gamestar Mechanic games are played with the keyboard arrows, not the mouse)

Peace (in the sharing),
Kevin

As we consider ways to connect the writing process to the game design process, I keep reminding my sixth graders of the iterative design of video game development (which my science colleague is also tying in nicely to the scientific engineering design process) and one of those phases is using “testers” to try to “break the game,” as I put it. This means having a third-party player sit down and play the game, and find its strengths and weaknesses from an objective position.

There is no doubt that they are building games for their peers with this project. If I had a dollar for every “come here, I want to show you this level of my game” that I hear during our classtime, I would have a nice bundle of cash. I wish I could sit and play more of their games under development, too, but I am often wandering the room, helping individuals with their work or finding some workarounds for any technology glitches that occur (and they do occur, but we mostly refuse to get ruffled by it).

Tomorrow, we’re going to work this into our class, and the model will be the peer review of writing model. I’ve come up with a graphic organizer to make it easier for the players to leave constructive feedback for the game developers, and we will be rotating around the room, playing and offering feedback. From there, the developers will need to consider the input and make revisions to strengthen the game.

The reviewers are look at the game through the multiple lenses of:

• Overall Rating
• Overall Difficulty
• Gameplay
• Story Narrative
• Visuals
• and notes for the developer

Here is my basic template (which I adapted from the way users can provide input on Gamestar Mechanic):
Peer Review of Video Games
Here is one that I did as an exemplar to show as a sample:
Peer Review of Video Games Exemplar
Peace (in the peer review process),
Kevin

We’re working in as much writing as we can during this two-week Science-based Game Design Unit — from posting reflections on our class blog, to storyboarding, to … writing up a review of a video game. I stole this idea from a new Twitter friend, Julie, who was doing it with her seventh grade class and I thought: that’s perfect! Luckily, Julie was willing to share out her graphic organizer with me, and I adapted it for our own needs, and now they are working on writing up a review. Our hope is to publish as many of them as possible, and now Julie and I, and another sixth grade teacher friend Kent (whose students are now working on their own reviews), are thinking of ways to connect our three groups of reviews together.

Here is what my version of Julie’s graphic organizer looks like:
Game Review Organizer

And here is my own sample, in which I reviewed a game called Samorost (and then, we played it for a bit on the Interactive Board):
Samorost 2 Review
I also recorded my review of Samorost as a podcast, which I may have my students do, too, if we have time.

Peace (in the writing),
Kevin

I co-teach one of my four classes with an amazing Special Education teacher, Bob, who is also become a friend. Over the last three years of working together as co-teachers, I have learned a lot from him about strategies that reach all levels of our writers and readers in the classroom. I hope he has learned some things from me, too.

As part of the reflective elements of our ongoing Geological Video Game Design unit, Bob and I sat down to chat about what we are seeing, particularly when it comes to the reluctant writers in our group. He notes the sense of engagement we are noticing, the use of writing on a  topic of high interest, and the way the project is helping to solidify pretty tricky scientific concepts for them.

This video segment is part of a larger documentary I am working on as we move through our video game design unit that connects writing, technology and science with Gamestar Mechanic. Our aim is to help some of our students submit their game designs for the National STEM Video Challenge in March.

Peace (in the sharing),
Kevin