Double Entry Journal #9

 Why should programming be part of school curriculum?

According to this article "Youth report a wide range of connections to traditional subject areas such as math, reading, science, and foreign language learning in addition to strong connections to the arts" (Peppler & Kafai, 2007). This seems to support the idea that programming should be part of the school curriculum, because it is strongly connected to traditional subject matter, at least (and maybe, most importantly), in the student's mind. Programming also supports 21st century learning such as Critical thinking, Problem Solving and Media Literacy (Partnership for 21st Century Skills, 2011). 

What are the barriers to implementing programming in schools? 

I think barriers to implementing programming in schools are similar to the barriers of implementing other technology: lack of sustained teacher training with unfamiliar technology; lack of time and ongoing support for the teacher to build their skills and develop lesson plans; lack of computer access in the classroom; and a lack of emphasis on creative exploration as a means of building depth of knowledge skills. I am not a teacher in the public school system, but when I teach my GED students I sometimes don't do as much creative exploration as I would like because I am teaching for a test, therefore I wonder if an emphasis on standardized testing is also a barrier.

 

How can barriers to implementing programming in schools be overcome?

It's not enough to simply provide access to technology; extensive, prolonged and supportive teacher training in technology tools and implementation is equally important. In another class I have been studying how Professional Learning Communities and teacher leadership is helping to address this barrier. I think this sustained support and sharing ideas and lesson plans between teachers of similar subjects is one way to overcome this barrier.  

Although teacher training is one solution to implementing programming in schools, an exciting alternative is presented in this article. One way the Computer Clubhouse found success was in the introduction of mentors that were learning alongside the student.  "Undergraduate mentors were not introduced to Clubhouse members as experts or teachers.... As a result, many Clubhouse members emerged as resident experts of Scratch, thereby challenging the notion that programming is strictly for adults" (Peppler & Kafai, 2007). This learning process allowed the student to feel empowered and presented a dynamic that could prove successful in schools. Seeking partnerships with colleges and/or community based organizations to provide sustained and meaningful mentorships within the schools could present a new interaction that could prove beneficial to the student and help overcome a technology barrier. Sometimes this is not possible, but I think teachers could still learn from the experience of the Computer Clubhouse this study focused on. This study presents the idea that teachers don't need to know the ins and outs of programming, that they can learn beside the students.  Teachers could allow students who are more adept at programming take the lead in teaching other students. One of the best ways to learn is to teach, and this dynamic could present rewarding learning opportunities for students.

Sources:

Partnership for 21st Century Skills. (2011). Framework for 21st century learning. Retrieved from http://www.p21.org/overview/skills-framework  

Peppler, K. & Kafai, Y. B. (2007). Collaboration, Computation, and Creativity: Media Arts Practices in Urban Youth Culture. In C. Hmelo- Silver & A. O'Donnell (Eds.), Proceedings of the Conference on Computer Supported Collaborative Learning, New Brunswick, NJ.

Game Design Storyboard

Famer's Market Math

I changed my game quite a bit, because I was feeling uninspired by my previous idea. Additionally, I think this game, given more development, could include a customer service aspect. I could also envision different identities and jobs to allow the user to choose from at the beginning. I could easily develop the game to take place at an auto parts store, for example, and not have to change much of the programming.


Storyboard

Double Entry Journal 8

Quote:
"Brandy’s case illustrates that computation can be used as a way to tell stories or to create personally meaningful artwork in the case of the birthday card. Computation is also a learned skill that becomes useful as youth, even those like Brandy that are unable to read, can use for creative production." (Kafai & Peppler)

 Response:
I think I responded to this quote because I use digital media as a form of creative expression. Although I have never had problems with reading or writing, I have often found times when it is hard to express myself orally or in writing. I especially find this hard when I am trying to convey complex thoughts or feelings. I have also used digital media as a form of basic expression - for example, I am terrible at drawing (my stick figures are crooked!), but I have used computer applications to circumvent this handicap multiple times. 

I am particularly interested by the opportunity video game design presents for creative expression in boys. Two years ago I taught a media workshop at the local highschool, and although I had a pretty even mix of boys to girls, it occurred to me that boys were clamoring for ways to express creativity. I hypothesize that boys have a harder time finding acceptable mediums to express themselves creatively, although they have as much need for expression as any of us. I think certain cultures (including American and Appalachian culture), discourage boys to express creativity. Although I think general statements can be misleading, I do believe that digital media and video game design is, in general, a place boys have found more acceptance to express creativity.

Additonal Resource:
UNDERSTANDING THE POWER OF NEW LITERACIES THROUGH VIDEO GAME PLAY AND DESIGN 

This is a study based on an out of school workshop that taught video game design. The interesting thing about this particularly workshop was that the instructors were young people,  11-16 years old, who were too advanced to take the class. This study focuses a large part on the instructors learning, and most of the participants were male. Although it is rather lengthy, I found the segments called "Literacy learning and video games" followed by "Method" on pages 6-8 to be of particular interest.

Cited Sources:

Kafai, Y., & Peppler, K. (n.d.). Collaboration, computation, and creativity: Media arts practices in urban youth culture. Retrieved from http://download.scratch.mit.edu/CSCL07_peppler.pdf


 

Week 9 - game idea

This game idea came about because I have been developing a lesson plan around Customer Service Certification tests that my students need to pass. Right now, the current lesson is a series of somewhat dry videos and its been hard for some students to pay attention enough to get through, so I am hoping an interactive game might help supplement my lesson plan. I also wanted to add some Math practice, because some of my students might not find the game challenging enough, and need practical examples of when they would use Math concepts such as percentages....

What is the academic concept students will be involved in as they play the game?
Customer Service skills & Using estimation with percentages. It is particularly important to stress certain terms that the students need to know in order to answer questions on the certification test - including the 3 tenets of customer service: good service, anticipating questions and promptness.

What is the story line?
You are a waiter who must wait on a customers. A customer enters your restaurant, the hostess is busy on the phone talking to her boyfriend, their are others waiters milling about. The customer needs seated.... you step up to seat him (bonus: because you stepped up, he requests to sit at one of your tables!). The customer needs to know what the specials are and what you might recommend, based on your ability to “anticipate the questions”, your tip percentage increases. You must give congruent messages (voice, verbal & body messages), and a good answer in order to continually increase the tip percentage. After the food is served, the customer is unhappy with his sandwich and wants to send it back. You have a choice of reactions, which will again increase or decrease the tip. At the end of the meal, you are responsible for totaling the bill, and presenting the bill to the customer, who will then tell you what percent he is willing to tip and ask you to use estimation to figure it out for him.  (all options will be given as multiple choice that will reflect questions asked on the certification test).

Who is the main character?
A waiter at a as yet to-be-named restaurant
       
What does the main character do to win the game? 
 Get a 20% tip. This could also be incorporated into the storyline: pay his rent, be recommended for management training etc.

What challenges will the main character face to move up a level?
Serving the need of his customer by providing Prompt service (level 1 - sitting the customer), anticipating questions (Level 2 - presenting daily specials and recommendations), and providing Good Service (Level 3 - sending his order back to kitchen and providing a “bonus benefit” - free desert, meal comped.... or something to that effect...).


Scratch Example I liked:

 http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/Eminessa/1987548

I liked how this game gave options and wanted you to type in answers. I wonder how I could include that option in my game (at least some of the time).

Double Entry Journal #7

Quote:

"The researchers also suggested that game designing could serve as a method to motivate
reluctant writers through the process of creating a functional game." (Hsu & Wang, 2010)

I can really see this working. In a successful game the same types of things must be considered that need to be in a good writing piece. Theme, plot, mood, rich characters, context etc. all need to be considered in good game design and I can see how a project to design and refine a game can help a student develop those critical and higher order thinking skills. I'm excited to give this a try with some of my GED students who are reluctant to write an essay. I'm wondering if I could use this as an approach to help certain students practice their organizing and storytelling skills. I can also see it being more fun and engaging than just writing a short story. It makes me think about when I was learning how to make films. I always found it hard to write a screenplay first. I could see the basic story as a series of images and feelings in my head, so I always started that process with a stick-figure drawn storyboard before writing words. Even then, I went through a series of notes to accompany the drawings before writing the screenplay.

Additional Resources:

 Level UP

This first resource is a series of lesson plans of how teachers can incorporate game design into their curriculum. I took a  look at A Mythical Tale, which is a lesson plan that allows students to study and create their own mythical game. They use a game creation platform called gamestar mechanic, which I included a link for below. One really cool thing I found that I wanted to share was a game that taught teachers how gamestar operates, which was more interesting than just explaining how it worked (and makes more sense!).

Gamestar Mechanic for teachers

References:
Hsu, H., & Wang, S. (2010). Simulation & gaming 41(3) 400 –417 © the author(s) 2010 reprints and permission: http://www. sagepub.com/journalspermissions.nav doi. Simulation & Gaming, 41(3), 400 –417. doi: 10.1177/1046878109355361

Week 8 - Pacman game

Here's the link:

Pacman game

This was fun. I want to go in and see if I can add ghosts to the game sometime this week. I'll re-post if I get it worked out!

Week 7 - Catlibs project

This was a fun activity. It was hard to figure out what questions to ask in order to get the response I was wanting, but overall I think it'll work.

Catlibs project

Hope you enjoy it!

Double Entry Journal #6

Quote:

Routine experts are adept at solving every day routine problems; adaptive experts exhibit flexibility, which is highly valued in today’s workplace since knowledge and skill requirements change significantly over the course of a career. While routine experts may be efficient and technically skillful, they may not be able to flexibly adapt to solve new problems; adaptive experts are able to adapt to as well as seek out new learning situations (Hatano & Oura, 2003). Adaptive expertise is clearly a key feature of game environments. (Hiller, Lee & Lester, 2008)

Response:
I think I was attracted to this quote because of the type of education I do. I think this is also a key feature of why it is so important to teach 21st century skills that include problem solving and other adaptive skills, in schools. Part of the role of a teacher is to prepare students for success in their professional lives, and being flexible and adaptive to new situations is clearly an important part of being successful. In the case of an adult learner, who may not have been exposed to 21st century learning skills while in traditional k-12 schools, learning these skills becomes an immediate need to obtain and retain employment in today's workplace. I can see how the right kind of game environments could help my students learn these adaptive skills. 

Additional Resource:
http://mylifeismylab.wordpress.com/2008/01/29/webkinz-as-learning-tool/

This is a blog from a mother and e-learning developer about her daughter's experience with Webkinz. The author had some interesting points about the positive learning aspects of Webkinz.com, however I think there is one glaring aspect that Webkinz teaches that I would have liked to have seen addressed: consumerism. 

 I was inspired to look for something to do with webkinz because of this quote in this week's reading:

Students also expressed an understanding that gameplay was an act that started and stopped, but interestingly they did not monitor their gameplay or the related social aspects of the gameplay solely within the constructs of the gaming environment. For example, talk about gameplay permeated their expressions of how they interacted with friends in and out of the online environment. (Hiller, Lee & Lester, 2008)

The quote made me think of my son who talks incessantly about whatever TV show or game he is particularly interested in. Lately, he has been wavering between Mario & Pokemon.  I showed him my Scratch project, and he has lately been going into Scratch to search for Mario games to play. My favorite thing about Scratch is that you can download other people's projects and remix them to make them your own. I can see the power of this especially when it comes to kids becoming producers and not just consumers.

Sources:
Hiller, A. S., Lee, J. K., & Lester, J. (2008). The twenty-first century learner and game-based learning. Meridian: A Middle School Computer Technologies Journal , 11(1), Retrieved from http://www.ncsu.edu/meridian/win2008/21st/index.htm