Game Play is Important for Learning

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This article is about a middle school in North Carolina who started a remedial math program called virtual math for 6th through 8th grade students. Students could volunteer for this course if they did not score very high on the state math proficiency test. This class uses a game called DimensionM, which is highly interactive. The player assumes the role of a college students who lands on an island and has to use math to get through all of the levels. The games uses both pre-algebra and algebra skills and concepts. After each mission the students take a quiz, which has been integrated into the story line of the game After taking a quiz they get mission scores and are rewarded with a gold, silver, or bronze medal. To asses the the results of the students,  before they started the practice mission they took a pretest on the concepts that were going to be in the first part of the game. After they completed the practice round they then took a posttest which shoed significant improvement. As the class went on the students began to make big improvements, some even passing the students in the normal math classes. It helped the lower performing math students feel more confident and upbeat about math.

As a future educator I think that this program could really help students who are struggling with math. I myself struggled with math and I think that if we did a program like this then it might have helped me learn the concepts easier. I think that if a program can help students catch up, or learn a different way, can really help students to feel more confident on the classroom and feel like they are achieving things instead of feeling helpless of dumb. Students need to be given the opportunity to learn things other ways since there are multiple different learning styles, teachers need to be able to work with each one and give everyone an equal opportunity to learn the different topics.

I looked through the ISTE standards and I am not sure which one fits with this topic. It might fit with standard number 3 for students. Standard 3 says evaluate and select information sources and digital tools based on the appropriateness to specific tasks.

Gillispie, L., Parker, M., & Martin, F. (2010). Game Play is Important for Learning. Learning & Leading with Technology. 38(1), 28-30

Global Collaboration for Elementary Students

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The article Global Collaboration for Elementary Students, talked about a technology teacher who lives in Hawaii, and has integrated many technology programs. Some of the programs she has used in her class are Skype, edmodo and making videos. To introduce Skype to the students she did a mystery session and the students had to ask the students in the video questions and try to figure out where they were from. This made the kids very excited and they learned geography as well. They eventually figured out that the students were from Maryland. They continued their geography lessons by using edmodo for groups of 8 students to continue to post things such as "all about me" power points. The teacher talked about how there was an immense amount of learning and it had a purpose. The students in Hawaii wanted to create the best work they could to share with the buddies in Maryland. It was successful because it started out as a choice for the students and what they could do.

As a future educator I hope to be able to incorporate and many different types of technology as possible. As I read in the article the kids was so excited to learn and they really strived to do their best. I want my future students to have the same excitement to learn as the kids in the article did. I think it would be really fun to do mystery Skype sessions and have the kids have fun learning about new places. As an educator it is my job to teach the children, and if I can get creative with technology I feel the students will really strive to learn and do their best.

This article is best represented by ISTE standard number 2 for students. This standard states that students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including at a distance, to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others. Students can learn a lot from other students at other schools around the world. Using new technology in classrooms like Skype can make the class more fun and interactive.

Richardson, C. (2012) Global Collaboration for Elementary Students. Learning & Leading with Technology, 40(1), 30-32