Play and Learn: Teachers’ Perceptions About Classroom Video Games

The use of video games to support learning in the classroom became popular over the last two decades. Even though games have proved to be successful not only to improve the learning outcomes but also skills such as critical thinking and problem solving, it is still a challenge to adapt them to the classroom routine. Issues such as the lack of video games that cover the school curriculum, limited time to cover curriculum content and lack of technological resources are some of the barriers that influence teachers’ decisions not to adopt video games. In order to look for solutions that may facilitate the implementation of classroom video games, we collected information of what teachers think about these games. Data was collected through a survey answered by 714 primary and secondary school teachers, which gathered participants’ demographic information and their perceptions about learning through video games. Using Logistic Regression and Decision Tree models, we identified factors that influence or inhibit the adoption of video games by teachers. The results suggest that the adoption of video games is influenced by students’ primary language (English or non-English speaking), motivational features of the video games, how the game relates to the curriculum and the pedagogical underpinning of the game. A significant group of teachers thinks games that are targeted for use in the classroom are pedagogically poorly designed and do not fit for purpose. Other barriers teachers face to using games in class are lack of time and lack of technological resources. These results are important as they indicate which features should be present in an educational game and how these games are used in classroom nowadays. Furthermore, identifying teachers’ opinions and the challenges they face in the classroom video games implementation allow developers and researchers to look for solutions that may facilitate this process

SLurtles: Supporting constructionist learning in 'Second Life'

Constructionism places an emphasis on the process of constructing shareable artefacts. Many virtual worlds, such as Second Life, provide learners with tools for the construction of objects and hence may facilitate in-world constructionist learning experiences. However, the construction tools available present learners with a significant barrier (or ‘high-floor’) for the novice to first master. To address this problem, this paper presents the design concepts, first implementation and analysis of SLurtles (programmable turtles in Second Life), easy-to-use, programmable construction tools for use in Second Life. During a pilot study 24 postgraduate learners in pairs and working at distance from one another, programmed SLurtles to create interactive installations in Second Life over four weeks. Open interviews were conducted, chat logs recorded and learners artefacts and reflections were collected and analysed using qualitative methods. Findings show that SLurtles provide learners with a programmable, low-floor, high-ceiling and wide-wall construction tool, which supported their construction of a wide range of complex artefacts as part of a constructionist learning experience in Second Life

Extending experiential learning in teacher professional development

This paper introduces the use of experiential learning during the early stages of teacher professional development. Teachers observe student outcomes from the very beginning of the process and experience new pedagogical approaches as learners themselves before adapting and implementing them in their own classrooms. This research explores the implementation of this approach with teachers in Irish second level schools who are being asked to make significant pedagogic changes as part of a major curriculum reform. Teachers’ self-reflections, observations and interviews demonstrate how the process and outcomes influenced their beliefs, resulting in meaningful changes in classroom practice

An exploration into the adaption of the Bridge21 model for 21st century learning in Irish classrooms: Case Study Report for the NCCA

This report describes the experiences of teachers and pupils in 8 schools as they engaged with the research team, and authors of this report, in attempting to adapt the Bridge21 model of 21st century (21C) learning for use in the mainstream classroom to deliver core curriculum content. The work, and the report, is firmly situated within the context of the Junior Cycle reform process and the participating schools can be viewed as innovators in the emerging change process. The schools come from a diverse geographical and socioeconomic background and thus are a representative sample of the wider cohort of secondary schools in the country. A characteristic they share is strong school leadership, which is supportive of the process, and groups of teachers who are open to exploring changes in classroom practice

Kaleidoscope JEIRP on Learning Patterns for the Design and Deployment of Mathematical Games: Final Report

Project deliverable (D40.05.01-F)Over the last few years have witnessed a growing recognition of the educational potential of computer games. However, it is generally agreed that the process of designing and deploying TEL resources generally and games for mathematical learning specifically is a difficult task. The Kaleidoscope project, "Learning patterns for the design and deployment of mathematical games", aims to investigate this problem. We work from the premise that designing and deploying games for mathematical learning requires the assimilation and integration of deep knowledge from diverse domains of expertise including mathematics, games development, software engineering, learning and teaching. We promote the use of a design patterns approach to address this problem. This deliverable reports on the project by presenting both a connected account of the prior deliverables and also a detailed description of the methodology involved in producing those deliverables. In terms of conducting the future work which this report envisages, the setting out of our methodology is seen by us as very significant. The central deliverable includes reference to a large set of learning patterns for use by educators, researchers, practitioners, designers and software developers when designing and deploying TEL-based mathematical games. Our pattern language is suggested as an enabling tool for good practice, by facilitating pattern-specific communication and knowledge sharing between participants. We provide a set of trails as a "way-in" to using the learning pattern language. We report in this methodology how the project has enabled the synergistic collaboration of what started out as two distinct strands: design and deployment, even to the extent that it is now difficult to identify those strands within the processes and deliverables of the project. The tools and outcomes from the project can be found at: http://lp.noe-kaleidoscope.org

Reflecting back, looking forward: the challenges for location-based learning

This final section of the report has been reproduced from “D3.1 The STELLAR Rendez-Vous I report and white papers”, published in 2009 by the STELLAR Network of Excellence. It is included here for completeness; we, as co-authors, felt that it was important to look back at the main contributions to theworkshop and also where the challenges lie for the future. This chapter addresses two critical questions: - What has been learned from this workshop, especially in respect to the STELLAR Grand Challenges (“Connecting learners”, “Orchestration” and “Contextualisation”)? - What are the new research questions and issues for location-based learning, with respect to the Grand Challenges (“Connecting learners”, “Orchestration”and “Contextualisation”)