I'm working on several new game-based projects. I'll sketch out two of them here and keep you updated as things progress. The next few months are going to be extremely exciting.
Summer Camp
I am organizing a game-based summer camp for 8-12-year-olds. It's looking like it will be held in West LA. We're going to do Minecraft, Portal, basic computer programming, and numerous fun/nerdy outdoor activities. This is in the very early stages, but I have a fair amount of the curriculum planned out already. It will be educational, challenging, and hopefully by the end of two weeks kids will leave as better digital citizens, budding computer programmers, and all around more awesome and educated human beings.
A lot of details will be sorted out by the end of this weekend. Many more details to follow next week.
Game Theory
We've started up a new round of after school programs, and this time I'm teaching a class called Game Theory. No, not that game theory. We study video games.
I'm approaching this the same way I approach a media analysis class -- if you don't analyze the media you consume, it will mislead and misuse you. Going into the first class, I expected discussions to be a fight, since the kids would want to play games the whole time. I underestimated them. These kids genuinely want to learn more about how video games work and affect them.
Throughout the course, we're going to play like game designers. Videos from the fine folks at ExtraCreditz will be our guide (though with caution, since some include profanity). I'm extremely excited to get this rolling and start analyzing games, so I'll start including Game Theory updates on this blog as well. I think the students are going to make some powerful connections and observations.
Showing posts with label videogames. Show all posts
Showing posts with label videogames. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Got GRAPES?
Worksheets: Character sketch, GRAPES
The kids have finished their exploration and settlement in Eric's World of Humanities map (screenshots of houses will be posted once I get around to taking them), and have spent the last two weeks focusing in-depth on the civilization they chose to live in. With much protesting, we've turned off creative mode and gone back to straight-forward exploring, information collecting, and writing.
I'm slowly scaffolding toward two main projects:
1. Create a narrative in Minecraft. I've been having the students develop different aspects of a story centered around the house they built (setting, character, etc). Ultimately, they'll be writing a story starring the protagonist who lives in their house, but I want to push it one level further. A MinecraftEDU update is coming out soon that will let us use mods, including NPCs. These mods, combined with some clever red stone use, should allow us to actually create part of their story within the game. I'm thinking a straight-forward quest involving secrets hidden in, around, and under their house. Dungeons will abound.
2. Create their own civilizations. In groups, students will create their own civilizations and then interact with the other civilizations their classmates created. To this end, students have spent the last two days in class focusing on GRAPES (Geography, Religion, Achievements, Politics, Economics, Social Structures) for the civilization within which they live. This will provide them with a reference for the different elements that need to be present within a civilization, and which they will need to create.
The exploration has gone pretty well. I'm also experimenting with some different structures, so I've had them work two to a computer rather than individually. I've actually had to do less redirecting since partnering them up.
Things overheard: After we'd wrapped up class, the students had a few minutes to talk among themselves. While walking past a group of girls, I overheard them talking about life in the Fairy Tale Forest (Medieval Europe). These are not normally girls who talk about school work in their spare time, being much more concerned with boys, makeup, and making loud noises, but they weren't just talking about their houses -- they were genuinely discussing life in the Middle Ages. In the three minutes I eavesdropped, they talked about the pros/cons of living close to the town walls, waste disposal, threats of invasion by other kingdoms, and the different uses of the town commons. Awesome connections. Eric, I cannot thank you enough for making this map.
Character Sketch:
GRAPES:
The kids have finished their exploration and settlement in Eric's World of Humanities map (screenshots of houses will be posted once I get around to taking them), and have spent the last two weeks focusing in-depth on the civilization they chose to live in. With much protesting, we've turned off creative mode and gone back to straight-forward exploring, information collecting, and writing.
I'm slowly scaffolding toward two main projects:
1. Create a narrative in Minecraft. I've been having the students develop different aspects of a story centered around the house they built (setting, character, etc). Ultimately, they'll be writing a story starring the protagonist who lives in their house, but I want to push it one level further. A MinecraftEDU update is coming out soon that will let us use mods, including NPCs. These mods, combined with some clever red stone use, should allow us to actually create part of their story within the game. I'm thinking a straight-forward quest involving secrets hidden in, around, and under their house. Dungeons will abound.
2. Create their own civilizations. In groups, students will create their own civilizations and then interact with the other civilizations their classmates created. To this end, students have spent the last two days in class focusing on GRAPES (Geography, Religion, Achievements, Politics, Economics, Social Structures) for the civilization within which they live. This will provide them with a reference for the different elements that need to be present within a civilization, and which they will need to create.
The exploration has gone pretty well. I'm also experimenting with some different structures, so I've had them work two to a computer rather than individually. I've actually had to do less redirecting since partnering them up.
Things overheard: After we'd wrapped up class, the students had a few minutes to talk among themselves. While walking past a group of girls, I overheard them talking about life in the Fairy Tale Forest (Medieval Europe). These are not normally girls who talk about school work in their spare time, being much more concerned with boys, makeup, and making loud noises, but they weren't just talking about their houses -- they were genuinely discussing life in the Middle Ages. In the three minutes I eavesdropped, they talked about the pros/cons of living close to the town walls, waste disposal, threats of invasion by other kingdoms, and the different uses of the town commons. Awesome connections. Eric, I cannot thank you enough for making this map.
Character Sketch:
GRAPES:
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Class, three weeks in.
I'm now about three weeks into using Minecraft in class, and I'm extremely happy with how things are progressing. The end of every class is filled with groans and shouts of dismay as I shut down the server, which I think is a good sign. And they might even be learning something.
I'm basically splitting out Minecraft usage into three units: A humanities unit using Eric's World of Humanities map, a redstone unit, and a society-building unit tying all of the previous lessons together.
For the World of Humanities map, I put together a handout that requires the students to explore multiple civilizations, taking notes along the way, before deciding which civilization they want to settle in. It's primarily a way to keep them focused while they explore the world and get used to the game. The final task is building a house in the style of the civilization's architecture and writing a 'book' about what life in that society would be like. I'll copy the handout at the end of this post.
Things I've learned:
It's okay for girls to be gamers. This project was probably the most poorly received amongst the girls in my classes (a little more than half of my students are girls), but after a day or two of just exploring the world and getting used to the game, many of these girls have become avid fans. More than one parent has approached me saying, "You cost me 25 bucks," because their daughter went home and asked for a personal copy of the game. More girls have also started attending my after school Minecraft club and playing during my open session on Fridays after school. This might be what I'm proudest of so far.
It's okay to be a gamer. Last week, one of my more video game-obsessed students looked at the 'popular' group in class and said, "You used to make fun of me for playing this, and now you ask me questions about it all the time!" They laughed and agreed.
In all of my classes, the kids who are Minecraft pros have taken the initiative and help out students who hadn't played before. Social groups that normally don't interact are mixing freely and discovering that they all have something to offer. I'm paying close attention to this, as I hope its effects continue to trickle outside of just my classroom.
It's hard to quantify learning. The parts of this unit I'm happiest with so far have nothing to do with content -- it's all either social or general problem solving skills. That's the stuff I blog about the most, and it's the stuff I care about the most. I believe those are the two most important areas to focus on with middle school students, so I'm okay with the inherent ambiguity, but having concrete evidence of skill and standard comprehension is, for better or worse, still a necessity. The students started building their houses and writing their books this week and, so far, it looks like they are genuinely absorbing information about the civilizations they've explored and decided to live in. I'll post screenshots next week and you can decide for yourself.
I need to model better. I should have made my own house and written my own book at the beginning of this unit so the students had a constant example to return to. I didn't, and I think it has led to some unnecessary inconsistency and confusion in their work.
Handout:
I'm basically splitting out Minecraft usage into three units: A humanities unit using Eric's World of Humanities map, a redstone unit, and a society-building unit tying all of the previous lessons together.
For the World of Humanities map, I put together a handout that requires the students to explore multiple civilizations, taking notes along the way, before deciding which civilization they want to settle in. It's primarily a way to keep them focused while they explore the world and get used to the game. The final task is building a house in the style of the civilization's architecture and writing a 'book' about what life in that society would be like. I'll copy the handout at the end of this post.
Things I've learned:
It's okay for girls to be gamers. This project was probably the most poorly received amongst the girls in my classes (a little more than half of my students are girls), but after a day or two of just exploring the world and getting used to the game, many of these girls have become avid fans. More than one parent has approached me saying, "You cost me 25 bucks," because their daughter went home and asked for a personal copy of the game. More girls have also started attending my after school Minecraft club and playing during my open session on Fridays after school. This might be what I'm proudest of so far.
It's okay to be a gamer. Last week, one of my more video game-obsessed students looked at the 'popular' group in class and said, "You used to make fun of me for playing this, and now you ask me questions about it all the time!" They laughed and agreed.
In all of my classes, the kids who are Minecraft pros have taken the initiative and help out students who hadn't played before. Social groups that normally don't interact are mixing freely and discovering that they all have something to offer. I'm paying close attention to this, as I hope its effects continue to trickle outside of just my classroom.
It's hard to quantify learning. The parts of this unit I'm happiest with so far have nothing to do with content -- it's all either social or general problem solving skills. That's the stuff I blog about the most, and it's the stuff I care about the most. I believe those are the two most important areas to focus on with middle school students, so I'm okay with the inherent ambiguity, but having concrete evidence of skill and standard comprehension is, for better or worse, still a necessity. The students started building their houses and writing their books this week and, so far, it looks like they are genuinely absorbing information about the civilizations they've explored and decided to live in. I'll post screenshots next week and you can decide for yourself.
I need to model better. I should have made my own house and written my own book at the beginning of this unit so the students had a constant example to return to. I didn't, and I think it has led to some unnecessary inconsistency and confusion in their work.
Handout:
_________________’s World of
Humanities Travel Log
Greetings,
traveler! You are about to undertake a journey into a world unlike any place you
have ever been. As you travel through past, present, and future, you will explore
the civilizations of Ancient Rome, Mesopotamia, Japan, and Mesoamerica, to name
but a few. You will train with Spartans, explore long-lost sea caves, scale Big
Ben, and visit a towering city of the future.
Like
any young Marco Polo, you must write down your adventures for the sake of
posterity. This document will serve as your travel log. In it, you will
document the civilizations you visit
(at least 5), a monument from each civilization, and at least three facts about
each culture.
Eventually,
you will weary of your travels and decide to settle in one of these fascinating
lands. After much deliberation and reviewing of your travel log, you will decide and document where you want to live and why you chose
that civilization. Hoping for successful integration with the land’s
people, you will then build a house in
the style of your chosen civilization’s architecture.
Enjoy
the many wonders of the world, brave traveler. And good luck.
Exploratory Phase
Civilization:
Monument:
Observations:
1.
2.
3.
Civilization:
Monument:
Observations:
1.
2.
3.
Settlement Phase
Congratulations,
intrepid traveler! You have explored and documented at least five civilizations
in this vast World of Humanities, and now the time has come to choose where you
will make your home. This is not a decision to be made lightly, and so you must
consider the following: which culture do you find
most appealing and why?
Your three-paragraph
response should include at least three
facts about the civilization, a paragraph comparing/contrasting your chosen
civilization with another culture represented, and a paragraph explaining what
you think life in your chosen land will be like.
You will also need to build
your home in a culturally sensitive fashion, so your materials and design
should match the local aesthetics. Below, please
list the materials you will need to build your home and sketch a blueprint of
your design.
Civilization:
Materials:
Sketch:
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Teamwork works.
My Minecraft Club started the new year off on a great note. We jumped right into team-based survival mode, something I was both extremely excited and extremely nervous for. Based on the vandalism and inconsistent gamesmanship before the break, I wasn't really sure if the kids could pull it off. I was wrong.
Groups organically discussed who the team leader would be, they assigned roles and responsibilities, they shared resources and the more experienced players took the novices under their wings, helping with anything from how to use blocks to distracting Creepers so their teammates could reach safety. It was beautiful.
I split the class into five random groups with five students each. Using a world spawned from the Artomix seed, I placed a teleport block at the spawn site to act as the main hub. I then placed five teleportation blocks around the world and assigned one to each group. As soon as they spawned, the students went to the block and teleported to their home base. The five homebase blocks are blind -- student's can't use them to teleport anywhere -- so, as soon as they leave the spawn site, they can only get around by walking.
For the next few weeks, teams will be competing against each other to complete a series of objectives. The first day's objective was simply to survive the night; if the entire team survived, they got a point. Only one team didn't make it.
On the second day I gave four objectives: Make a suit of armor, a bow, a working minecart track, and a diamond. If anyone on the team dies, one point is automatically deducted. The plan is to build up to objectives that will involve teams working together and, of course, end it all with a massive PvP battle.
Two teams realized that I didn't forbid groups from working together, and so they have joined forces to complete the objectives faster. I didn't expect groups to combine this early, and I'm very curious what will happen as the competition grows increasingly fierce.
I don't think the students are even all that aware of what I'm finding most fascinating about this project -- the social aspect. Sixth, seventh, and eighth graders are all working together to reach a common objective, and they're doing it peacefully and even, dare I say it, like equals. It is cool.
A few tech warnings for anyone else considering doing something similar: On the second day, someone's settings were on 'Peaceful' mode. This prevented monsters from spawning, since Minecraft runs it on the lowest common denominator. If an individual has different settings on his/her account, it will affect everyone on the server. Also, now that all of the students are actively building, mining, and exploring, my server is experiencing periods of major lag. I now have my computer solely run as the server, and I log into it using an extra school computer. This helps a little, but some students still get dropped periodically. All in all, though, things are running remarkable smoothly.
Groups organically discussed who the team leader would be, they assigned roles and responsibilities, they shared resources and the more experienced players took the novices under their wings, helping with anything from how to use blocks to distracting Creepers so their teammates could reach safety. It was beautiful.
I split the class into five random groups with five students each. Using a world spawned from the Artomix seed, I placed a teleport block at the spawn site to act as the main hub. I then placed five teleportation blocks around the world and assigned one to each group. As soon as they spawned, the students went to the block and teleported to their home base. The five homebase blocks are blind -- student's can't use them to teleport anywhere -- so, as soon as they leave the spawn site, they can only get around by walking.
For the next few weeks, teams will be competing against each other to complete a series of objectives. The first day's objective was simply to survive the night; if the entire team survived, they got a point. Only one team didn't make it.
On the second day I gave four objectives: Make a suit of armor, a bow, a working minecart track, and a diamond. If anyone on the team dies, one point is automatically deducted. The plan is to build up to objectives that will involve teams working together and, of course, end it all with a massive PvP battle.
Two teams realized that I didn't forbid groups from working together, and so they have joined forces to complete the objectives faster. I didn't expect groups to combine this early, and I'm very curious what will happen as the competition grows increasingly fierce.
I don't think the students are even all that aware of what I'm finding most fascinating about this project -- the social aspect. Sixth, seventh, and eighth graders are all working together to reach a common objective, and they're doing it peacefully and even, dare I say it, like equals. It is cool.
A few tech warnings for anyone else considering doing something similar: On the second day, someone's settings were on 'Peaceful' mode. This prevented monsters from spawning, since Minecraft runs it on the lowest common denominator. If an individual has different settings on his/her account, it will affect everyone on the server. Also, now that all of the students are actively building, mining, and exploring, my server is experiencing periods of major lag. I now have my computer solely run as the server, and I log into it using an extra school computer. This helps a little, but some students still get dropped periodically. All in all, though, things are running remarkable smoothly.
 | |
| Jail, constructed with border blocks and build disallow blocks. It's on one of the highest points in the map, so jailed students must watch their classmates having fun. |
 |
| Group Two's shelter. Nothing but the basics. |
 |
| Group Four's shelter. The inside is a large underground bunker. |
Monday, October 22, 2012
It's not a house, it's a home
It took us at least five minutes to pose for this picture. I told the boys I wanted a group photo and they then ran, swam, and flew around until finding the perfect location. Then, somehow, they convinced me to let them have swords. Gotta look tough.
The problem with the after school club is that kids leave at different times -- we started with seven boys but, by the time we got around to the group photo, were down to just three.
The current project is very straightforward and open-ended: Build a house. They're working in creative mode and can use any materials they want. As you can see in the background, everyone decided to use something different and go for a different style. One house is underground, another has a glass roof, one is straight-up TNT, and two students are building extensive hidden tunnels to connect their houses.
The coolest moment so far happened after the student building the TNT house went home (in real life). Another boy decided to start destroying his building. The other kids noticed and told him to stop, that he was being rude. He apologized, rebuilt what he'd destroyed, and went back to constructing his house.
The whole incident lasted less than 30 seconds and I doubt any of them gave it a second thought, but I was extremely impressed. They self-regulated to enforce good citizenship and the vandalizing student responded positively. If they only acted that way during lunch!
We finish this activity today, and Wednesday we move into cooperative survival mode.
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Fundraising
I'm still waiting for the game licenses from MinecraftEdu, so things haven't moved forward much as of yet. My plan is to teach a Minecraft after-school class starting in five weeks. That class, part of the after-school program at my school, will serve as a sounding board before I launch the actual class itself. There are two main issues I hope to resolve through the after-school class: How to differentiate for the 'experts' and novice gamers, and any and all technical issues that may arise. Particularly since many of my after-school students are experience Minecraft players, it will be a good venue to run smaller modules and experiments.
In the meantime, let's talk money.
Minecraft isn't cheap. Even excluding hardware, if you go through MinecraftEdu, 25 game licenses and their custom mod come to $376. I was able to raise around $100 more than I requested. The surplus will either go toward more licenses or a wifi router dedicated solely to running a Minecraft LAN. I'm going to keep it in my back pocket until we start running it and see whether the router is necessary.
I fundraised by working through Paypal. Some other options are Donor's Choose or Kickstarter. Below I've outlined the pros and cons of each.
Paypal
A 'Donate' button from Paypal is probably the easiest and most straight-forward method. It's also the one that requires the most trust from your donors. As far as I know, there's no way to display a tracker for how much money has been donated. I updated my blog with the current total once a day but, again, this relies upon the trust of my donors. You can learn how to use Paypal for donations here.
DonorsChoose
DonorsChoose is probably the go-to site for educational fundraising. The only problem -- Minecraft isn't on its list of trusted suppliers. If you want to raise money for Minecraft through DonorsChoose, you have to have already completed at least three other projects through the site.
Kickstarter
Kickstarter is probably the other well-known fundraising platform. Kickstarter focuses on creative projects with a specific output -- documentaries, murals, computer games -- as such, you'll need to get creative and thorough with your Minecraft project proposal to have it approved. Here is an example of an educational Minecraft project that was approved and successfully funded.
I'm sure there are many other ways to go about fundraising, but those are the three options I explored. I'd love to hear other ideas.
Hopefully my post next week has good news about moving our project forward!
In the meantime, let's talk money.
Minecraft isn't cheap. Even excluding hardware, if you go through MinecraftEdu, 25 game licenses and their custom mod come to $376. I was able to raise around $100 more than I requested. The surplus will either go toward more licenses or a wifi router dedicated solely to running a Minecraft LAN. I'm going to keep it in my back pocket until we start running it and see whether the router is necessary.
I fundraised by working through Paypal. Some other options are Donor's Choose or Kickstarter. Below I've outlined the pros and cons of each.
Paypal
A 'Donate' button from Paypal is probably the easiest and most straight-forward method. It's also the one that requires the most trust from your donors. As far as I know, there's no way to display a tracker for how much money has been donated. I updated my blog with the current total once a day but, again, this relies upon the trust of my donors. You can learn how to use Paypal for donations here.
DonorsChoose
DonorsChoose is probably the go-to site for educational fundraising. The only problem -- Minecraft isn't on its list of trusted suppliers. If you want to raise money for Minecraft through DonorsChoose, you have to have already completed at least three other projects through the site.
Kickstarter
Kickstarter is probably the other well-known fundraising platform. Kickstarter focuses on creative projects with a specific output -- documentaries, murals, computer games -- as such, you'll need to get creative and thorough with your Minecraft project proposal to have it approved. Here is an example of an educational Minecraft project that was approved and successfully funded.
I'm sure there are many other ways to go about fundraising, but those are the three options I explored. I'd love to hear other ideas.
Hopefully my post next week has good news about moving our project forward!
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