1. Why games in a classroom <> revolution
Santeri Koivisto
ceo, TeacherGaming LLC
2. What I’m about to say
My three top things when combining proper
games with the classroom:
Situation / context,
Sandbox &
Purpose.
Where these take us
and not forgetting examples!
16. Let’s try to wrap
things together
through couple
notes and examples
17. So what do you need in order to use
your virtual classroom?
Basic understanding of the
game / environment mechanics.
The rest can be covered by students.
18. Time challenge
Can we compress a more complex
simulation / demonstration into 45
minutes with our virtual classroom?
19. An Example
Build a classroom
A block in the game is one
cubic meter. There are one
meter long sticks in the
classroom.
Create our classroom in the
game and report its volume.
20. What we learned?
Math
- volume stays inside
- choosing a tool / algorithm
- mathematical problem solving
Work skills
- planning (group)
- operations and organising
- evaluation and inspection
Social skills
- communication
- negotiation
- ‘teachable moments’
- group dynamics problem solving
(virtual environment)
Scaffolding
- from pairs to small groups
- one goal, set of goals, open goals
- dead ends (more planning)
Me santeri koivisto
why we don’t say revolution - alho we might do it
let’s reimagine games in a classroom
- away from fire and forget
- to a space that don’t necessarily teach everything by itself - you should be happy, when everything is digitalised, we think that there still room for a teacher
Just explain what you are about to say
starting from the classroom - to the world of classrooms
nowadays a businessman, kinda
Repurposing entertainment games for education
Product placement - but that’s the stuff i know the best
game as a second classroom
when we can’t demonstrate something in IRL, let’s do that in games
We can go on the roof of a school and drop a coin, but some physical phenomenons might be easier / more natural to demonstrate in a virtual world
We can create authentic situations where fex historical moment happened
pencil example - game as a more approachable medium for communication
now some of you might think - and by authenticity: not necessarily photorealism
first of all - school computer
simplified
Definition of a sandbox game - we work with sandbox games
it’s hard to keep up with what the students are doing - no 8/10 assessment
you have to come up with a alternative way to assess student performance
presentations, discussions…
put them in groups, put them to help each other, start from few moving parts (pairs to big groups and small sub tasks to massive tasks)
and slowly but steadily they create skills that they can use to complete massive undertakings in large groups
Let’s make our school! (how to start)
Most important teacher role in a sandbox: adult.
You need a safe physical, but also virtual learning environment for your stuff to work.
Teachable moments- the best one.
I think: teachers job is finished, when you student knows more than you can teach. Guess what? Your job is done in most cases when it comes to computer games.
So you don’t have to teacher that, but there are ton of things that connect with games that the students might not know.
Games helping schools - schools helping the game community
We don’t want to you to forget your students into the game.
our pedagogical approach
Stop griefing button
- we will not do it
- we wan’t you to have the conversation
Teachable moments for digital citizen
It’s just a game
monkey example
we can use games to create meaningful situations for students to use their knowledge and skills
Is there a game…
well, actually, we are kinda against gamification - why?
Your students need 45minutes in order to grasp games like minecraft
You just need to know what they are able to do in the game.. vaguely, rest you can put on your students shoulders
You pick the topic - students create the method / situation - you facilitate
Rule of thumb - most games students can grasp in 45minutes
To learn essentials skills to help them in the game: Problem solv. Group work, …
Longer - five times that with good structure integrated to what you teach
- how long it took to make a proper group presentation?
Our goals - remove noise / improve usability
in 45 minutes
-
We will go through the process how to scaffold tasks like this:
But with an experienced group you can do tasks like prove F=ma
Demonstrate forces
British teacher example
kids know they are learning, now they have a chance to tell what
they are also interested in sharing it and who knows, teacher might know something interesting too
And do we need these digital communication skills and do we need our kids to be more active online, not just a consumer
- minecraft art project example - why now do something for real?!**