Reflecting on My Action Plan…

prezi-screenshot

Link to Action Plan Presentation:

http://prezi.com/nbz7a200-o4f/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy&rc=ex0share

Action Plan in 140 Characters:

@Cohort21 ActionPlan: I worked w Hist teachers @ UTS to develop & test student activities for history-related computer games

(see http://www.changegamer.ca/history.html)

Key Takeaways:

1. There are some fantastic games out there that can be used to teach History (and Science, and English, and Visual Art, and…).

2. The right games with the right student activities are relatively easy to use with classes, even for teachers who have never done so before.

3. The next logical step, based on teacher interest and game availability, is to work with the Science department.

Reflections on Cohort 21:

1. The Cohort 21 experience has renewed my love of using computer games in the classroom. After years of using games in the Geography curriculum, a whole new world has opened up with the successful implementation of two games into the UTS History curriculum (with many other possibilities in different subject areas on the horizon).

2. Social media, such as Twitter, shows a lot of potential for sharing the resources from the ChangeGamer.ca website. For example, tweets about ChangeGamer.ca by Joe Wilson (MaRS), Michael Furdyk (TakingITGobal), and the Wellcome Trust were sent out to over 30 000 followers. BUT, this didn’t necessarily translate into a huge bump in traffic. Scaling up the use of the ChangeGamer website will require MUCH more work and outreach.

3. And finally, working with such a great group of innovative and eager Cohort 21 teachers, led by the inspiring and irrepressible duo of Garth and Justin, created a very healthy ‘evolutionary tension’ for my own teaching. You couldn’t help but feel a positive pressure and excitement to develop as a teacher. Thank you!

9 thoughts on “Reflecting on My Action Plan…

  1. Mike,
    I know that I have been challenged by your work to rethink gaming in education. I’ve really enjoyed your work and insights. I’m looking forward to hearing and seeing more of this on Friday. Hopefully, we can test drive a game or two?

    garth.

    1. Hi Jennifer,

      thanks so much for this! I will keep my eyes open for French language learning games. Thanks so much for all of your support and leadership this year!

      1. Hi Jennifer,

        just had an idea…

        A number of the games on the ChangeGamer website can be played in French:

        – Stop Disasters! (http://www.stopdisastersgame.org/fr/home.html)
        – Enercities (http://www.enercities.eu/)
        – Clim Way (http://climcity.cap-sciences.net/)
        – Against All Odds (http://www.playagainstallodds.ca/)
        – Fort McMoney (http://www.fortmcmoney.com/)

        Check the ChangeGamer.ca website for my age recommendations and brief descriptions for each game (there is a ‘search’ function in the upper right of the site).

        All of these games are free and browser-based.

        Does this help? I’ll also keep searching!

        Take care.
        Mike

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