Action Research Proposal

I have three ideas for an Action Research Proposal.
  1. Game Design Uses in the Classroom

• How is Game Design used in my school to enhance the learning experience
• How is Game Design used in Globaloria to enhance the student experience
• How has Game Design and Technology enhance student outlook on school in general

2. What Areas of Game Design Frighten and Intrigue the School Staff and Why?

• How can those fears be calmed
• What is the general consensus on the value of games in education among the staff
• What are the areas of technology that would have to be used in game design that could help make the staff as a whole more receptive to the idea of games int he classroom

3. Digital Classrooms through Game Design

• This topic would be interesting to just speculate what might become of the classroom as technology continues to expand
• What are some the pros and cons of a digital classroom according to the staff

For my sources I looked for general sources that I might be able to use with whatever topic I decide to move forward with.  I believe that as I choose a specific topic I will have to find other sources in order to complete the proposal.
Sources to come


http://users.soe.ucsc.edu/~ejw/papers/whitehead-gdcse2008.pdf

Double Entry 11

Learning to Play or Playing to Learn - A Critical Account of the Models of Communication Informing Educational Research on Computer Gameplay

by Hans Christian Arnseth

1. "The fact that children, adolescents and adults learn important lessons about themselves and their surroundings by engaging in game-like activities is uncontroversial. Throughout social and behavioural science discourse on social and cognitive development, gameplay is regarded as an important arena for the development and formation of thinking, identities, values and norms (Cole, 1996; Piaget, 1951; Rogoff, 1990). "

This quote surprises me because it seems the readings and other current ideas from outside of research and some in the educational community point towards a negative take on gameplay in an educational setting.  I remember from the many different psychology courses I have had over my educational career that play is an intregal part of the development process.  Yet it seems that after a certain age that idea is discarded as childish.  In my opinion, the idea of play is still relevant, even for an adult.  What changes is the types of games being played.

2. "The important point to make is that the order of words says something about focus and emphasis. Regarding playing to learn, the emphasis is on learning, which is to say that some content or skill should be the end result of game playing. As such, knowledge and skills are treated as effects or outcomes. In regard to learning to play, on the other hand, the emphasis is on the activity of playing. As such, learning might be regarded as an integrated part of mastering an activity, in this case, gameplay."

This quote makes me upset.  Like the author says, the wording makes the meaning different.  Thus Learning to play and Playing to learn are two different things.  I believe that is only true to the researcher.  If a student plays a game to learn, they will have learned something.  If a student plays a game to play, and in the process, learns how to play the game, then they will have learned something.  THe outcome is still something learned.  The only difference is how it can be twisted to sound like learning instead of playing.   The fact still remains that playing occured, and if the student enjoys playing while learning something, what matters if it was learning to play or playing to learn?  Same outcome, same goal.

3. "...according to Kirriemuir & McFarlane (2004) experience of gameplay seem to affect children’s expectations of learning, in the sense that they prefer tasks that are fast, active and exploratory with multiple and parallel channels of information. Traditional instructional methods might not meet such demands particularly well."

The student expects to learn something in school.  If they are given a math game that has nothing to learn but math, they expect to learn math, but are less likely to actually get anything out of the expereinece due to the fact that such games are often limited in gameplay, design and effectiveness.  A game where the student is free to explore a world in which they have options to control their expereince seem to interest students more than traditional teaching materials.  Surprise is not my thought when reading this, but a general, REALLY?  I would never have guessed this.  How can this be, students want to take control of their own experiences, when all they have ever heard in this life, in this country is freedom of the person to control their own destiny. It is engrained into every aspect of their lives.

Youtube video that speaks about the virtual school in Florida, which uses games to help students learn in an environment that feel most comfortable in.

Game Reflection

In a blog posing write a reflection about your project design process by answering the following questions.

1. What: What is your project? How does it work? How did you come up with the idea?

 

  My project is a game that uses the Classical and Romantic Era's of music.  When the player starts they are introduced to Mr. Pachebel and Noty.  Noty takes the player through three questions from each Era.  Each Era is a seperate level.  Since the Classical Era occured first, those questions are encountered first, thus that is level 1.  Level 2 is the Romantic questions.  The Romantic Era occured after the Classical, thus it is level 2.  I came up with this idea from looking around at the other games and projects we were introduced to through the class.  The one project from the Global 21 game winners was the science project where the player had to answer questions to continue.  I decided that this game would work well in a music history context.

2. So What: What was your process for developing the project? What was interesting, surprising, or challenging? Why? What did you learn?

 

   The process for developing this project was done in three steps.  The first step was creating a storyboard.  From thsi storyboard I was given the idea from a classmate to use the musical snippets as part of the questions, thus the player was required to use not only a knowledge base of facts, but a knowledge base of the music itself.  The second step was a rough draft.  IN this step I tested different styles of gameplay, finally coming up with what I used.  The final step was completing the project, filling the extra questions, finding the usable material and backgrounds, and putting it together.  The biggest challenge I had was the size that would be the project.  I had to cut out alot of the music and change it to be short excerpts.  THat was the longest process. I used Audacity, a free music editing tool, and had to decide what to cut and what was essential that the player would hear.  I learned that, although some activities may take longer than others, the biggest idea to keep in mind was ownership.  I also had to search for different excerpts and make sure that they were "free" and not copyrighted.

3. Now What: What are you the most proud of about your project? What would your change? What do you want to create next? Why?

 

I think I am most proud of the style of the project.  What started out as a music history game turned into a listening activity, where not only is the player introduced to information, but also to the aural and visual aspects of each musical era.  If I were to change anything it might be the style of gameplay.  One in which the player choose the composer, heard an excpert of that composer, and had to describe the music in their answer.  My next creation might be something that deals with creating music within the game. I think one of the hardest things that music teachers are expected to teach, even in the elementary level, is music creation.  Composing music is not an easy task.  It is not drawing a picture or writing a story.  It seems students have the hardest time putting their creative ideas into an aural template.  A game that is designed to help them along would be of great use.

Scratch Revisions

For revisions on my Scratch project I was given a great idea for level 1.  Instead of just general questions about the composers I would use their music as background for listening and for the questions. Thus the student would hear the sound, see the picture of the composers and have to match those with the sounds they hear.  Visual, oral cognition.  As well as knowledge being taught about the composers through their music.  I think that level 2 will continue in this process, though I might change how the music is presented.  Perhaps since it is on the Romantic period I could have questions about how the composers tried to match their musical stylings with that of visual and other performance arts of the time.

Storyboard

Jonathan Oates

Storyboard

Title:  Musical Journey

Visual Description:  
  The opening will have questions for the player given by a picture of a musical figure.  I was thinking of using the picture of Pachebel that I have.  I would then have the player assume the role of Pachebel by having them help Pachebel through the Musical time periods of the Classical and Romantic Eras.  This game will show different pictures and musical selections from each era and the players will have to identify them.  The different sprites will be the musical figures and music images.

What is Happening:  
  The gameplay will be question based, with the user assuming the role of Johann Pachebel.  The user will score points by answering questions and identifying different musical refrains.

What are the important elements:
 The important elements are 1. Choice of answers   2. Journey through history  3. Acquisition of knowledge.

How is the content being taught supported:
  It is supported through the repetition of questions, of small nudges being provided to guide the player through the game.

Principles:
 All three principles will be touched upon:
1. Assume an identity:  Pachebel
2. Two levels:  the first will be identifying composers, the second will be identifying the music that those composers created, by matching the composers to the music
3. Feedback: the player will be guided through the game when they make mistakes by clues given temporarily throughout, if a wrong answer is given.


Interaction:  If the user clicks on the correct answer then they will be shuttled to the next question.  IF they click the wrong answer then they will be given a different sprite that will give them clues as to the correct answer.

Double Entry 7

"High Tech Programmers in Low-Income Communities: Creating a Computer Culture in a

Community Technology Center"

Yasmin B. Kafai, Kylie A. Peppler, & Grace M. Chiu

University of California, Los Angeles

1. Why should programming be part of school curriculum?

" Through our observations

at the Computer Clubhouse, we found that youth have an interest in

videogames, music videos, cartoon animations, and interactive, designbased

art, which are a natural springboard into creating and programming."

This qoute sums up the culture that students are growing in.  If their interests are on videogames, music videos, cartoon animations and interactive art then it would stand to reason that programming would be a valuable tool for these students to obtain.  I know in my own classes, particularly my music appreciation classes, we discuss classical music from the Romantic period, I ask the students to compare the historical and musical facts from those periods with something that they encounter in their musical lives today.  It seems to work well because they can attach the knowledge and musical ideas that I want them to obtain with something they are familar with.  They can relate that just because this style of music was well before their time, it has had a big impact on what they like to listen to today.  If they enjoy music today they need to realize that it is in large part thanks to what was pioneered in earlier periods of music.  I believe that the students would benifit more strongly with some type of programming available to further the connection with the past. 

2. What are the barriers to implementing programming in schools? 

"Realizing that simply providing access to programming

software would be insufficient, we created opportunities for

Clubhouse members to interact with adult mentors who were learning to

program as well (Kafai et al., in press)."

This to me sums up the main barrier of implementing programming in schools.  It is not just enough to have the tools available to work on programming.  When introduced to new content the students often feel as abrehensive about it as teachers.  If teachers join in with students and show them that learning new material doesn't have to be frightening and that part of the learning process is discovering failures.  In today's society students, in my opinion, get the idea that failure is not an option and that everyone should succeed.  Everyone gets a trophy no matter the outcome.  Without failure we cannot learn from mistakes and thus students and teachers tend to repeat those failures.

3. How can barriers to implementing  programming in schools be overcome?

"For instance, normative and political structures in public schools are much

more institutionalized than in most CTCs."

The barriers to implementing anything in a school is the institution.  I myself have trouble accessing basic information on the internet because of the stringent blocks placed on the web.  If I find something that would be valuable I have to submit it to the county Technology director to get it approved before it can be unblocked.  Programs encounter the same problem, and are often more so turned down in large part due to monetary concerns.  If the monetary concerns are moot, such as with a free program, then you have to jump through hoops to show how and why the program would be valuable to your classroom.  Several teachers in my county just give up before starting the process because it can be time consuming.

Double Entry #6

Collaboration, Computation, and Creativity:

Media Arts Practices in Urban Youth Culture
by: Kylie A. Peppler, Yasmin B. Kafai

1. "Researchers interested in computer-supported collaborative learning have paid little attention to the field of arts and design education as the more prominent focus has been on science, mathematics and to a lesser degree, social studies and language arts."

   I completely agree with this assessment of the direction that most computer supported learning has been driven.  The main reason for this trend, in my opinion, has been standardized testing, and the amount of emphasis test results have been given.  My favorite line is one from Mr Holland's Opus where Richard Dreyfuss says if the arts are taken out of schools the students won't have anything to read or write about.  This article touches on that concept throughout, with the focus being on how, through creative endevours of a student whose reading level is low, could be helped by allowing the student to be creative through expression and art work.

2. "Commonly, this group of scholars posits that literacy is best understood as a set of social practices, which can be inferred from events and mediated by written, visual, and other types of texts (Barton & Hamilton, 2000)."

   I found this quote interesting in the fact that it is now being recognized that literacy is not just written word and printed word.  Literacy has evolved to include social practices that use other mediums of communication.  Any teacher who does not see at least one cell phone or other mobile device of some kind, where the students are either texting, twittering, facebooking, or some other form of social mediaing, has gone through the day with their eyes closed.  I witnessed students who could not write a coherent sentence if it bit them on the butt.  THose same students could take a cell phone and through shorthand texting, write those coherent sentences.  They understand that new medium of language better than standard English.

3. "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."

   This quote goes along with the previous one, in that even though Brandy's reading level had not improved, she was able to express herself through other mediums, and become quite successful at it.  Through her successes it might be found that the likelyhood for improvement in her other academic areas also improves.  I believe that once a student has found something in which they enjoy and are successful at, their other studies are generally positively affected.  For example, some students choose to stay in school for one reason or another.  IF they were not privey to that reason they would have dropped out and become nothing more than a statistic.