I Love Games!!!
What?
Welcome to I Love Games!
This is a unique Global Project Based Learning (GPBL) experience. This project is focused on harnessing
student’s innate love of games, all kinds of games. Students will be asked to share their
favorite games and discuss the Who, What, When, Where, Why and most importantly
the How of their games. They will do
this in two main ways. First they will
be required to participate in a blog that will expose them to students from
other areas of the world, (their locations depend on the participants at any
moment). This will be ongoing throughout
the experience, and the main experience will be the creation of a showcase of
their chosen game. This can be any
number of visual media such as PowerPoint, Keynote, Google Presentation,
SlideShare, Comic Book pages, Animoto video, traditional video, or even stop
motion animation, and several helpful tools have been suggested here.
Students will need access to a computer with Internet access,
the software or web apps to create the main project, and the ability to comment
on blogs. It might also be useful to
have a microphone and a camera or webcam depending on the project that is made.
Student Activities
Pre activity: As
your students begin this experience they need to take the Before survey. This is a simple survey that will ask them
about games they like to play, types of games they play, who they play their
games with, where they like to play them, and where they live. (The information gathered here will be
showcased on the site so they can see how their contribution made a difference,
and what the overall data says about games.)
Activity #1:
Students will decide what game they are going to choose as the one they will
present. Then they will research the
game that they chose so that they will have information to create their final
project with. They will complete a
research template.
Activity #2: Students will explore the different tools that
they may use for this project. They will
spend time exploring them and then choose which tool they are going to use for
the final product.
Activity #3: Students
will make a project showcasing their game.
They will bring together their research from Activity #1 and the tool
they chose in Activity #2. This will be
the main proof of success! This project will be showcased on the project
website. The site creator and each
student’s home teacher will jointly choose which projects will be displayed.
Activity #4: Students will comment on the site blog and
engage in a conversation about games with other participants. Because this project is suitable for students
of any age the blog spaces will be broken down into appropriate age groupings,
such as ages 5-7, 8-12, 13-15, and 16-18.
This will allow more educationally specific and appropriate interactions
between students. This activity will be
ongoing, and will require at least 5 posts per participant (or 5 per group
depending on age). The oversight of how many posts in a certain amount of time may
vary by age and will be managed by the home teacher. Students may also choose to participate in
Skype or Hangout sessions with each other if this is possible due to geography
and technological concerns. They may
also wish to post videos playing their game of choice if possible.
Exit Activity: Students and Instructors will take the exit
survey. This survey seeks to guide the
future development of this GPBL experience and provide useful and interesting
data to the exiting participants.
What are the learning objectives?
·
Students will communicate via blog
o
This will foster good digital citizenship.
·
Students will research their chosen game
o
This will create a knowledge base from which to
complete their project.
·
Students will create a multimedia presentation.
o
This will allow them to write and communicate
their personal identity.
o
If done with others it will foster
collaboration.
·
Students will develop a greater global awareness
of other students.
o
This will foster understanding of other
cultures.
What are the standards that are addressed?
- The Common Core standard that is the focus of this experience is:
- Writing Standard 6. This standard focuses on collaboration on different levels. Either face to face communication, or a wide focus, which this GPBL experience provides via learning to blog effectively.
- The ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education) NETS-S (National Education Technology Standards for Students) standards that are addressed in this experience are:
- Creativity and Innovation
- Communication and Collaboration
- Research and Information Fluency
- Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making
- Digital Citizenship
- Technology Operations and Concepts
Who?
Students are eligible from ages 5 to 19. Each home teacher will decide the appropriate
level of participation for his or her students.
You are their teacher, and you know your students best. If this is a group of 6 year olds you might
want to do this in a large group setting, discuss the topics, and then input
the information at another time and show the students what they created. If this is a group of 14 year olds, this
would be appropriate as a paired or even individual learning experience as
well.
The Project host is Dustin Ellis. Mr. Ellis is a 4th grade teacher
in Ventura County California, USA. I
love to play! During the year I like to
run, bike, play crazy games with my family, and video games with my
children. I like all sorts of games,
board games, puzzles, crosswords, Sudoku, and especially trivia games! My students are a happy bunch, that love to
play all sorts of games too, and even more than play them they love to share
their games with each other. It is
common for these students to have long talks about baseball, Pokemon,
Minecraft, different card games, you name it, they love to play and share.
When?
This GPBL experience has two sessions during the year. The first session will be from October to
December, and the next will be January to March. You need not begin in the beginning or end at
the ending. These are windows of time,
and you can complete the project at your desired pace. Some will progress and finish rapidly and
others will need more time.
Why?
In the world that we live in it is clear to see that there
is much to be concerned about, but there is also much to be joyful about. We all get a smile out of watching a young
person wrapped in the fun of a game.
Seeing them make connections with others as they play! Play is universal, and it is something that
we can all share. If you were to ask a
young person to talk about their favorite game the response would be lengthy
and very detailed no doubt. This GPBL
experience seeks to share that joy and create connections where there were none
before, not by connecting cricket players all around the world, but by
connecting people that love to play, and expose them to the joy of games they
may or may not know about.
This experience is an effective first step into the world of
Global Learning. It is a safe, easy and
fun way to make connections with others that you would otherwise have no reason
to connect with.
