One of our aims for the development of What2Learn this year is to begin to provide more of the resources needed for a complete lesson. The interactive learning games and assessments have always been a powerful tool for part of a lesson, but we are now seeking to provide you with quality worksheets, presentations, delivery guidance and more to make it easier for you to plan and deliver outstanding ICT lessons.

Please check out our first substantial unit for ICT teachers – Functional Skills ICT. The resources presented within this will be of use for Functional Skills ICT at Levels 1 and 2, but will also be of use in many KS3 and GCSE / KS4 schemes of work.

I have used a number of these resources in my own teaching and can confirm their effectiveness.

Comments and contributions about these or other ICT resources would be greatly appreciated.

Happy teaching, John

EDU-GAMES TO FIGHT SUMMER BRAIN SLIDE

This summer, schools of clownfish will become shark bait, hordes of zombies will die (again!) and a man will be repeatedly shot from a cannon – all in an attempt to prevent “summer brain slide”.

For the last couple of years education technology teacher John Rutherford has used an award-winning games-based learning system he co-developed to tackle this well-documented problem. The success of the project has been remarkable and proven to benefit a huge range of students. In the pilot year the most successful student was one who was classed as having special educational needs due to literacy problems. Last year that claim went to a student who had completed (not merely played but actually completed) over 200 interactive learning games across a wide range of subject areas. With this in mind and, encouraged by some schools districts, lots more schools are getting on board and looking forward to more literate, better-educated students arriving back after the long summer vacation.

The project does not try to fight against the young generation’s love of gaming (a common stance exemplified by President Obama’s recent comments on the damaging impact of games consoles on education). Instead it embraces such interests and uses a wide range of fun and effective game engines as the conduit to developing literacy and subject-specific knowledge.

The system used is an online resource called What2Learn (www.what2learn.com) which provides free accounts for students and teachers to access thousands of learning games, the number of which is increasing all the time. Although originally developed for use in the classroom, being online with no need to download additional software makes it perfect for learning during vacations as it can be accessed any time anywhere. It taps in to many of the features youngsters love about web 2.0, for example they get to design their own character from scratch which they get to enhance over time. e.g. with soccer shirts, backgrounds, pets and much more. These extras require them to spend credits that are earned through the completion of learning games. They are also able to link themselves to their friends so they can compete in a league to see who can complete the most games. Instant feedback and guidance within the games ensures they are able to improve and develop.

From the perspective of parents and teachers, providing access to a huge bank of resources such as this would not be enough to make the project successful. It is essential that the progress students make is recorded and rewarded. Automated reports on student activity and progress from within teacher accounts make this easy. It is even possible for parents and teachers to quickly add their own questions and answers to the game engines and see scores attained in these new games, making it easy to tailor the content to the personal requirements of a student or class.

To ensure maximum engagement it was recognized that parents needed to be well-informed about the problems of ‘summer brain slide’, the benefits of the project and how to use the resource. This was carried out through presentations and through the school newsletter. The vast majority of parents were more than delighted to have something of educational value they could get their children to do for half an hour at various times throughout the vacation. Students also need to understand that the school will be monitoring student progress and will reward those who achieve the most upon their return.

Along with co-developer Nick Romney, John has been eagerly pushing the boundaries of how effective such a resource can be. Most recently this has been exemplified by the addition of a further in-built reward and underlying game within What2Learn. Drawing on the amazing global popularity of games such as Farmville, all What2Learn students are now given a farm to care for and develop. Of course, to do so requires them to spend credits that can only be earned through the completion of learning games. The farm develops over time, providing children with a strong draw to encourage them to return regularly.

Having recently picked up a Microsoft-sponsored award recognising the “impact and improvement” in learning it has enabled, the resource is rapidly gaining momentum as a tool for enabling learning outside the classroom. For example, in the UK it is used across southern England and London for students who are unable to attend school for medical reasons. An independent review of its use for this found just one major complaint – one child was unhappy as his mother had thought it was so good that she had forced her son to use it for hours each day. Poor soul.

Award-winning games-based learning site What2Learn has just released the addictive strategy / simulation game ‘Farmer Karma’. This fantastic resouce brings a while new dimension to independent e-learning.

Children get a blank farm to manage and care for. The farm consists of five areas: Chicken yard Arable field for crops Pastoral field for cows Camp site Farm house The game requires them to come back little and often to harvest crops, see their chicks grow into hens, treat their cows, build a range of features, etc.

Where does the learning come in? The beauty of this system is that doing things on the farm requires credits to be spent. These credits can only be earned by completing interactive learning games. With literally thousands of fun interactive learning games covering most subject areas to choose from, there is plenty of real academic value for all children to do.

From Spanish vocabulary, to simple addition, to the structure of the human eye, the learning opportunities are endless and growing daily. The range of game engines keeps young learners engaged and helps them to learn in a range of proven ways.

What2Learn was already proven to raise exam performance through it’s innovative use of interactive learning technologies. With the addition of this new game which taps into the popularity of online games such as FarmVille, young learners have more motivation than ever to keep returning and completing more and more learning games.

Sign up for a FREE account at What2Learn today and start farming!

Teachers – get your school on board with this incredible free resource. Not only is it FREE and a great way to raise student engagement and performance, but you can see a range of easy to use automated reports so that you can track student performance through the learning games. This makes it a great assessment and home learning tool. You can even add your own quiz questions to the game engines and make the completed activities available to your students – they will earn credits to spend on their farm by completing your games! See our teacher guide for full details of the powerful tools teacher accounts at What2Learn give you.

Screenshots from Farma Karma

Sign up for an account at What2Learn today.

The FIFA World Cup is here again, causing great enjoyment for millions and a huge distraction for students who should really be revising for their exams. I have created the following activities to work the World Cup into my ICT lessons, with each giving an opportunity for students to develop and demonstrate their skills to present information accurately and carefully.

Of course to support this unit I have also made a new topic in What2Learn – Topic code 869723 – the FIFA World Cup. The games within this topic will both develop student knowledge of how to use a range of computer applications, but also increase their general knowledge of some of the countries taking part in this summer’s tournament.

Remember, as a teacher you can see all of the scores your students get in What2Learn learning games. See our teacher guide for help with this.

Activity One: Ticket Design

In this activity students will use DTP software (or a graphics package) to design the tickets for matches at the World Cup.

Learning aims:

• To learn how to alter page orientation and page size
• To consider writing for audience
• To develop understanding of how to position graphics and text to create an effective layout.

Lesson outline:

There is a single resource needed to deliver this activity – the PowerPoint presentation ‘Ticket.ppt’ (below). The first slide introduces the task and requires students to decide in pairs what the ticket should look like and what is should contain. This should lead to a class discussion on this topic. The second slide provides the main task and clarifies the features the ticket needs to include. About halfway through their working time, students should be stopped and shown the final slide – a copy of an actual ticket for a match at the tournament. Following a class discussion on this students should return to and improve their own ticket designs.

Resource:

Ticket.ppt – click to open, right click to save.

Interactive games / assessments:

Game one: world cup ticket

Game two: world cup ticket

Remember, the best way to play these games is to log in and unlock topic code 869723.

Activity Two: World Cup Planner

In this exercise students will edit a template and a table structure. They will then use research skills and a range of presentation techniques to create an attractive planner.

Learning aims:

• To understand the power and value of templates
• To learn how to edit the structure of a table
• To develop understanding of how to position graphics and text to create an effective layout.

Lesson outline:

There is a single resource needed to deliver this activity – the worksheet ‘World Cup Planner’ (below). The worksheet provides full instructions. Students should be given time to print their completed work towards the end of the lesson.

Resource:

World Cup Planner – click to open, right click to save.

Interactive games / assessments:

World Cup planner game

The Publisher toolbar

Remember, the best way to play these games is to log in and unlock topic code 869723.

Activity Three: Word Processing

In this exercise students will create an accurate document suitable for publication.

Learning aims:

• To recognize the problems in being over-reliant on spellcheckers
• To learn how to present text in columns
• To develop understanding of how to position graphics and text to create an effective layout.

Lesson outline:

To help students understand that spellcheckers cannot be trusted begin by showing the presentation ‘ode to the spellchecker’ (below). After discussion of the presentation students should be given a copy of the ‘word processing instructions’ sheet and directed to open an electronic copy of the document ‘Ronaldinho fails to make the cut’. They should begin by trying to find the fifteen mistakes in the document – by highlighting the errors (none of which will be highlighted by spellchecker) they will be able to keep count of the number they have found. A whole-class focus on what the mistakes are should follow. Students should then follow all instructions on the rest of the worksheet.

Resources:

Ode to the Spell Checker – click to open, right click to save.

Word processing instructions – click to open, right click to save.

Ronaldinho fails to make the cut – click to open, right click to save.

Interactive games / assessments:

Spellchecker Game 1

Spellchecker Game 2

Remember, the best way to play these games is to log in and unlock topic code 869723.

It is rapidly becoming evident that the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is likely to become one of the biggest man-made ecological disasters of recent times. This post has been developed to help educate children about the causes and consequences of this event, and of the actions being taken to try to reduce the impact it is having.
We have selected our favourite five games contributed by What2Learn users as well as providing an up to date photo slideshows on the topic.

Interactive learning games

These are our top five interactive learning games to help students to learn some key information about the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

See the scores your students get in these games using free What2Learn teacher and student accounts. You will need to log in and unlock topic code 868778. For guidance on this please click here.

Images of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill

The following slideshow can be used as a basis for discussion and developing further understanding. Press the play button to begin.

Please take the time to watch our presentation about the impact, creation and use of interactive educational games.

The following links will take you to some games about the UK General Election. A great resource for tutor time and PSHE lessons in the runup to the election.

General Election Game 1
General Election – Party Leaders Game 1
General Election – Party Leaders Game 2

Celebrity Death Match is a fun and effective game to play with whole classes and can be used in any subject area. This can be played on an interactive whiteboard, though it can be played in any classroom with a digital projector. Be prepared for a noisy time as your students battle it out to see who will win, but by the end your students will probably all know the correct answers to all of the questions in your game.

Setting up your game

To download this fantastic learning resource for free click here.
This game is quick and easy to edit – simply change the questions and answers in the text file ‘questiondata.txt’. Separate each question and answer with two stars, but make sure you do not add more stars at the end of the text file otherwise the game will think another question is coming and at some point there will be a blank question in the game.
If you would like to make multiple sets of games to cover different topics, the easiest way to do this is to duplicate the game folder and have a folder, appropriately named, for each game.

Use in the classroom

Preparation
Divide your class into four teams – allow the students to move chairs so they are in groups. Each team will need a spokesperson who will provide the team’s answer to a question. It is a good idea to select a quieter student for this role to encourage them to play a full part in the activity.
Before the game starts each team will need to select a celebrity from the available options. I will add more people to the choices when time permits.


Playing the game
When the game starts one of the teams will be randomly selected to answer the first question. From that point teams will be asked questions in order (e.g. team 2, then team 3, then team 4 and then back to team 1). Questions also come up in random order. Once the game has used up all of the questions in the text file it will then notify the players that questions are now being repeated. It is quite normal for the students to get many questions wrong the first time the questions are asked but almost all correct once questions are being repeated. Make the point to students that it is important that they pay attention to the questions other teams receive as they may be asked the same quesiton later on. Teams have a limited time to answer each question and a sense of urgency is created by the sounds of the seconds ticking away.
Once a question has been answered (or time runs out) the correct response is displayed. You will need to indicate to the game whether the team got the answer right or wrong. If they were wrong the game will move on to the next team and question. If they were right then the fun really begins – the team will get to decide on another team who will have a body part removed to screams of agony (and much laughter in the classroom). The last team standing is the winner.


After the game
At the end of the game there is the option to display all of the answers that were in the game. This provides a great means of summarising the learning and giving the students the opportunity to show what they have learned. If students are expected to use what they have learned to improve a piece of written work then this screen can be left on the board to help students.

Make more learning games

At What2Learn we have a fantastic, free learning game generator. This lets you create a wide range of game types and has the following added benefits:

• A webpage is instantly created with your game allowing it to be played online anwhere.
• Use automated monitoring of the scores your students get.
• Embed your completed game into a blog, VLE or PowerPoint presentation.

Pass this on to other educators

What2Learn is free to use, free of adverts and non-commercial. As such we rely purely on word of mouth to help educators find our resources. Please tell your colleagues, email this link or use the tweet button below if you are on Twitter.

Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull volcano erupted on 20th March 2010 after a period of growing seismic activity. The resultant ash cloud caused the stoppage of flights across the Atlantic Ocean and all around Europe.

The following resources have been developed to help ICT teachers take advantage of this huge news event and will develop student knowledge of how ICT is much more than the use of desktop computers in classrooms. They will understand how technology is being used to help people to monitor the eruption and the ash cloud, and to enable people to cope with the ban on flights. The resources provided should last students in Years 7-8 two lessons.

Links

The following links to webcams looking at the Eyjafjallajokull volcano. Students can take a screenshot every few minutes and add them to PowerPoint slides to produce a time-lapse representation of how things are changing over time.
Volcano webcam 1
Volcano webcam 2
Volcano webcam 3
Discussion point: Get students to discuss the advantage of using webcams to monitor volcanic activity in this way.

Activity

The worksheet below was created to develop student knowledge of how ICT is being used to monitor volcanic activity and to help people cope with the problems being caused by the eruption of Eyjafjallajokull.
Worksheet
This worksheet should be seen as the starting point for the work produced. Students should supplement this by playing the learning games below and adding information about what they have learned to their presentation. They could also go on to do more open research on the topic.

Interactive learning games

The following learning games will develop student knowledge of how ICT can be used to monitor and cope with volcanic activity. The best way to play them is to unlock the new topic ‘The Icelandic Volcano’ by logging in to your free What2Learn account and entering share code 860932. This will mean that student attainment is recorded and rewarded in our award-winning system.
Alternatively, click the links to play the game without recording and rewarding scores.
ICT and the Icelandic Earthquake
Volcano Webcams
Satellite monitoring

We have created this widget to help us to keep you informed of user generated games that we would like to recommend to our users. This widget will soon be added to the dashboard for teachers and students when you log in to What2Learn. Each entry provides two links to make it easy to play the game on the ‘outside’ of the website or within the main system (when you are logged in) so that scores are recorded and micon points earned.

If you have made a game that you would like to be featured in this widget please let us know through our contact form.