Storify

I was just reading recently about a new software called “Storify”, which allows you to create stories and based on tweets, photos, and videos. It allows you to search multiple social networks and just drag and drop them into your story. I really love the idea of this…especially given that I think digital storytelling is becoming a new craze! I am so interested in the idea of digital storytelling because I think it’s something fun and creative for students to do, and now being able to create your own story easily from your own personal pictures and videos, I see it as having great potential. I also think it sounds like a great way to collaborate and reflect on our classroom and have it accessible to parents. What a great way to include the parents by telling them a story!

Has anyone ever used this before? Is it as easy as I have read? I’m going to start playing around with it but I wanted to get suggestions on what others might be doing with it!

“Good Video Games and Good Learning” – James Paul Gee

I love the way this article lists the number of learning principles involved in “good” video games. As the Gee points out, “Good video games incorporate good learning principles…challenge and learning are a large part of what makes good video games motivating and entertaining. Humans actually enjoy learning, though sometimes in school you would not know it”.  I completely agree with this last sentence. Growing up I can remember feeling a sense of accomplishment and probably pride when I learned something. It’s a good feeling to have and I think other students like to feel this way too.  But, sometimes in the school classroom learning becomes so regimented and monotonous that we lose this feeling.

As I mentioned in my previous post I am in agreement that video games are a great source for challenging and complex thinking and problem solving that is also engaging and enticing. But I thought this article was a great resource for teachers and academic administration to see the complex learning principles that can be encountered through a wide variety of video games that students are currently playing. One of the 16 learning principles that really stood out to me was #11 “Pleasantly Frustrating”. This is the idea that students feel the games are “doable”, but challenging, which is highly motivating for learners. As I’m sure anyone who has read any of my blog posts would know, I put a high price on engaging students, motivating students, and getting them excited to learn.  Love the idea that video games impose a challenge that they are motivated to take on.

Gee leaves us with a very important question at the end of the article: “How can we make learning in and out of school, with or without using games, more game-like in the sense of using the sorts of learning principles that young people see in good games every day, when and if they are playing these games reflectively and strategically?” And to be quite honest, I don’t know the answer but believe it’s a highly important topic to delve into and begin to find the answers. Using reflection and strategies are the types of learning skills and techniques that students can really begin to apply in all facets or their life and should thus be a major focus in the classroom. I’m open to any suggestions of how to begin to do this more in the classroom?

“Welcome to Our Virtual Worlds” – James Paul Gee & Michael H. Levine

I really enjoyed this article because it’s actually something I have been saying for a while. Every time I see my younger cousins or friends kids playing these video games I seem to complement them on the complexity of it all. As I watch, I always seem to be in amazement that they know exactly what to do, and where to go, and how to solve the task at hand. There is a large amount of thinking and problem solving involved in these games, and it’s great to hear that this is an issue coming to life.  I know for me, I’m always most interested in hearing about the things in the classroom that are of actual interest to the students and that can really get them excited and engaged. I tend to think that the most learning occurs when students are excited about something. It’s like going on a field trip; students always tend to remember what they learned because they were excited and interested in doing it. The same seems to go with video games. Let’s face it…most children spend a lot of their time playing these games, so why not really embrace this, cultivate it, and begin to incorporate it into our everyday classroom.

It’s funny because the article actually makes specific reference to an older game, “Oregon Trail”, which I can remember playing in my computer class which we had once a week during elementary school. I can remember not only me, but the class being so excited when it came time to move downstairs to the computer classroom and play. We were actually excited to learn! What did we need to make it to Oregon? Were we going to get sick? How do we budget our Funds? If we are having students learn while enjoying themselves, then I think we’ve done something special.

Another part of the article that I thought was interesting and feel the need to address is the idea that in order, “To leverage the potential of digital media to transform classrooms and motivate students, teachers must become tech savvy”. This is so true! We need teachers to be comfortable and open to new technologies so we can have things such as more educational “video games” in the classroom. We are in an age where students are so tech friendly, and we need to begin to get the teachers on the same page. I firmly believe that more teach professional development sessions in the schools should be focused on technology and beginning to make the teachers more acquainted with it so they aren’t scared by it. We need them to begin to embrace it little by little so that things such as video games for classroom learning will become more prominent. There is such complex thinking and problem solving necessary for these games and I see them as a very essential part of our students’ educational futures.