Mobile Gaming and Learning OLTD508
Examining the underlying concepts driving the adoption of mobile and gaming technologies in education, this course will investigate potential devices/apps/games, issues (e.g. supporting infrastructure, management, digital divide), resource selection, integration in curriculum, and potential venues for creating mobile and/or gaming content for educational use.
Reflections on Learning
First Reflection
My first reflection is based on a Screencast that I created in the second week of the course reviewing an educational math game, Lure of the Labyrinth. This game was developed by MIT's Education Arcade for Pre-Algebra, middle school students.
My first reflection is based on a Screencast that I created in the second week of the course reviewing an educational math game, Lure of the Labyrinth. This game was developed by MIT's Education Arcade for Pre-Algebra, middle school students.
,This Screencast was created using Camtasia on a PC with a built in microphone for audio. It is about thirty minutes in length and includes comments from a number of reviews, my own perceptions and comments of a female, thirteen year old pre-algebra middle school student in British Columbia, Canada. She is representative of the intended user, although she does not describe herself as a "gamer", she has, and does, play games from time to time. In the Screencast, I also walk through various components, processes, and structures of the game, commenting on them in terms of usability and flow.
The learning outcomes I feel this article and associated learning addressed are:
One of my comments was that the developers did not make the various components as user friendly as they could have, and the languaging in the support documents was not appropriate for the audience. I believe, in part, that this was due to the familiarity of the developers with the product, and gaming in general. I believe the education level of the developers also contributed to a higher level of vocabulary inserted into the support documents which might not match the level of comprehension of the readers.
I found it interesting that although the Lure of the Labyrinth has story, there was no narrative tying the game components into, and connecting, the mathematics structure of the game. For example, although I knew this was a math game, I did the first three scenarios without getting the intended connection. I really wasn't doing or utilizing any math, just playing the game blindly. This was an important realization for me from an educational design perspective. It is so very important to keep sight of our intent end point or outcomes and to create components that support the overall flow, not only the component flow. The game or activity can be interesting, fun, even brilliant, and it still needs to support the narrative and flow of what we want our students to achieve.
The other awareness that was reinforced for me, was although course and game developers, and educators consistently advocate soliciting input and feedback from the user, students, this does not appear to happen consistently. I find this extremely concerning. What is the message that we as educators want students to get, as we continue to ignore, and not even solicit, their input into what works for them.
In terms of the learning outcomes, developing a basic competency and understanding of Game Based Learning (GBL) and it's principles will help me integrate them into my course design and daily teaching practice. For me it's not so much about converting to GBL, but rather to incorporate any principles seamlessly into the design or situation to support greater engagement, motivation, learning and fun.
The learning outcomes I feel this article and associated learning addressed are:
- Be familiar with common terms, definitions and elements related to mobile learning and gaming environments.
- Demonstrate basic competency with design and implementation within a variety of mobile learning and gaming environments.
- Critically assess and evaluate resources for best practice in mobile learning and gaming environments.
- Develop skills to optimize learning experiences through personalization based on characteristics, needs, stages of development, current personalized learning mandates, and misconceptions.
One of my comments was that the developers did not make the various components as user friendly as they could have, and the languaging in the support documents was not appropriate for the audience. I believe, in part, that this was due to the familiarity of the developers with the product, and gaming in general. I believe the education level of the developers also contributed to a higher level of vocabulary inserted into the support documents which might not match the level of comprehension of the readers.
I found it interesting that although the Lure of the Labyrinth has story, there was no narrative tying the game components into, and connecting, the mathematics structure of the game. For example, although I knew this was a math game, I did the first three scenarios without getting the intended connection. I really wasn't doing or utilizing any math, just playing the game blindly. This was an important realization for me from an educational design perspective. It is so very important to keep sight of our intent end point or outcomes and to create components that support the overall flow, not only the component flow. The game or activity can be interesting, fun, even brilliant, and it still needs to support the narrative and flow of what we want our students to achieve.
The other awareness that was reinforced for me, was although course and game developers, and educators consistently advocate soliciting input and feedback from the user, students, this does not appear to happen consistently. I find this extremely concerning. What is the message that we as educators want students to get, as we continue to ignore, and not even solicit, their input into what works for them.
In terms of the learning outcomes, developing a basic competency and understanding of Game Based Learning (GBL) and it's principles will help me integrate them into my course design and daily teaching practice. For me it's not so much about converting to GBL, but rather to incorporate any principles seamlessly into the design or situation to support greater engagement, motivation, learning and fun.
Second Reflection
My second reflection is based on a re-design of a learning activity to take advantage of mobile technology and "Here and Now Learning", as described by Ertzberger. The activity, devised originally for face-to-face, or synchronous online, was adapted to a more flipped or blended model to utilize the mobile technology more effectively.
My second reflection is based on a re-design of a learning activity to take advantage of mobile technology and "Here and Now Learning", as described by Ertzberger. The activity, devised originally for face-to-face, or synchronous online, was adapted to a more flipped or blended model to utilize the mobile technology more effectively.
The learning outcomes I feel this article and associated learning addressed are:
- Demonstrate basic competency with design and implementation within a variety of mobile learning and gaming environments.
- Plan learning opportunities most suitable to the strengths and challenges of a variety of mobile learning and gaming environments.
- Develop practical and technical skills in all phases of concept, development, design, implementation, etc. within mobile learning and
gaming environments.
In this re-design I incorporated the characteristics of mobile technology to augment the student experience, to build more interest, motivation, flexibility, choice and integration. I kept Quinn's 4C's of Mobile, Content, Capture, Communicate, Compute, in mind as I developed the new activities. I expanded the duration of the activity to support deeper learning and integration. This was done by creating a new pre-class activity (mobile or stationary technology), reducing the lecture component, and developing two new activities that could could use mobile technology.
- For the pre-class activity students were to view at least two digital presentations concerning the subject matter. These would be created by previous students in their native language, as this course is taught in multiple languages. The development of a student resource library would support a students as teacher/researcher concept also. All artifacts in the resource library would be optimized for mobile viewing so students would have more flexibility.
- The part A activity has students sourcing a digital image that for them represents the concept being taught and then sharing it with the other members of their small group. They would be able to do so through the use of mobile technology both for shooting the image and meeting with group members.
- The part B activity would then have each small group presenting their creative ideas of the concept to the rest of the class. This could be done live (being recorded) or online with a digital presentation. These presentations could then become part of the resource library for future students to view.
Re-designing this activity was for me, part of a progression of idea and concept that has been getting clearer and more succinct as I have progressed through the OLTD program. Interestingly enough, it has had just as much impact on my face-to-face teaching as it has on my online teaching. This is the concept of moving away from the "Content Expert" identity, the "Sage on the Stage". It's not about moving to a facilitators role or a "Guide on the Side" concept as is so popular right now in education. It's moving past that concept towards something closer to what Hattie coined "Teacher as Activator". My vision of "Teacher as Activator" is one where teachers actively seek out and incorporate students feedback. This is while encouraging, supporting, and challenging students to step up to become researchers, mentors, teachers, content experts so they can surpass the teachers knowledge and horizons. This shift in power will support students to stop passively turning to the teacher for answers and will allow them to better prepare for their tomorrows, whatever they may be.