Learning games has again been highlighted in another news article TrainingZONE.co.uk. An article by Terry Hurley, managing director of ITI Techmedia, looks at the growth of games-based learning.
In his article entitled "Games-Based Learning – Tomorrow’s Training Today?", he says
"Games-based learning isn’t a new concept. For years, the military and aerospace industries have used video game style simulations to train soldiers and pilots, where real-world environments or locations may be unavailable or dangerous. While there are differences between military simulations and games-based learning, the concept and rationale are essentially the same.
Games-based learning motivates and engages learners in a more creative manner than traditional classroom-based learning. Games can even be personalised to ensure the user is taught the relevant learning skills suited to them.
Today, approximately 70% of European companies now use some form of multimedia in their training, and researchers expect that to increase to 80% in the next couple of years."
Instead of one style suiting all and all following the same time frame, it is quite clear that learning games are more effective.
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Open Source Software for Online Learning
When checking out on online learning games, found a software called Moodle. Had never heard of it. There are a lot of things I am getting to know ever since I started on finding out more on learning and having fun.
Moodle is apparently a course management system (CMS). It's a free, Open Source software package to help educators create effective online learning communities. It can be downloaded for use. Apparently it can scale from a single-teacher site to a 50,000-student University.
Moodle has a large and diverse user community with over 200,000 registered users on this site alone, speaking over 70 languages in 195 countries.
Moodle is apparently a course management system (CMS). It's a free, Open Source software package to help educators create effective online learning communities. It can be downloaded for use. Apparently it can scale from a single-teacher site to a 50,000-student University.
Moodle has a large and diverse user community with over 200,000 registered users on this site alone, speaking over 70 languages in 195 countries.
A Parent's Sharing on Online Learning Games
For parents who are keen on and work with online learning games with their children, Jenny Mannion has been teaching computer games to children of different ages and now has 2 children of her own. Her kids give her an excuse to still play and seek out the newest most fun kids computer games!
Found some information by her and was particularly interested as she prefers non-violent and mostly games with some educational value.
Think that Jenny has as much fun as her children doing this. Click here if you would like to read more on Jenny's thoughts and recommendations.
Found some information by her and was particularly interested as she prefers non-violent and mostly games with some educational value.
Think that Jenny has as much fun as her children doing this. Click here if you would like to read more on Jenny's thoughts and recommendations.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Online Learning Games For The Little Ones
Came across a nice option for parents looking for online learning games for their little ones.
An extract from their site reads:
"myNoggin is brought to you by the creators of Nick Jr. and Noggin, people who really know kids. Designed for preschoolers through first graders, myNoggin is an educational service that provides the same high quality, Noggin learning experience that children love and parents trust, with an extra bonus: it's totally personalized!
Guided by national standards in preschool education, myNoggin makes the most of the time children spend playing online with a "connected learning" approach. We start with topics and tales that grab children's interest, mix in favorite characters then use these ingredients to present concepts and skills that help kids learn. Why is this approach so effective? Because combining play with learning encourages children to dig deeper and develop a richer understanding."
One of the things that worries parents is if the sites that they get into are appropriate for their children as often you find all kind of rubbish that people link through. This site, however, shows promise that not only is it clean but also involves people who understand children through their other programs and are bringing that same fun to an online learning environment where the child can interact.
An extract from their site reads:
"myNoggin is brought to you by the creators of Nick Jr. and Noggin, people who really know kids. Designed for preschoolers through first graders, myNoggin is an educational service that provides the same high quality, Noggin learning experience that children love and parents trust, with an extra bonus: it's totally personalized!
Guided by national standards in preschool education, myNoggin makes the most of the time children spend playing online with a "connected learning" approach. We start with topics and tales that grab children's interest, mix in favorite characters then use these ingredients to present concepts and skills that help kids learn. Why is this approach so effective? Because combining play with learning encourages children to dig deeper and develop a richer understanding."
One of the things that worries parents is if the sites that they get into are appropriate for their children as often you find all kind of rubbish that people link through. This site, however, shows promise that not only is it clean but also involves people who understand children through their other programs and are bringing that same fun to an online learning environment where the child can interact.
Book on "How Computer Games Help Children Learn"
I just picked up this topic on online learning games as an interesting topic, and am now finding out how well extensively this concept is being worked on and serious work being done.
While lots of schools use computers, question is are they using it to teach the age old stuff or exposing the kids to new ideas still via games. You can use "boring games" to teach math or "more worldly games". Instead of deciding what we want to teach them and then build these online learning games based on that, which typically will be "teachie", is it possible to develop fun games into which the learning points are included?
And this book entitled "How Computer Games Help Children Learn" by David Williamson Shaffer was one that attracted my attention to check out what it is about. I checked out reviews of How Computer Games Help Children Learn
on Amazon and found that it had a 4.5 star rating and comments that were well worth reading on what people expect from online learning games.
While lots of schools use computers, question is are they using it to teach the age old stuff or exposing the kids to new ideas still via games. You can use "boring games" to teach math or "more worldly games". Instead of deciding what we want to teach them and then build these online learning games based on that, which typically will be "teachie", is it possible to develop fun games into which the learning points are included?
And this book entitled "How Computer Games Help Children Learn" by David Williamson Shaffer was one that attracted my attention to check out what it is about. I checked out reviews of How Computer Games Help Children Learn
on Amazon and found that it had a 4.5 star rating and comments that were well worth reading on what people expect from online learning games.
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Kudos to yet another Teacher who makes learning fun
Pamela Schehl reports in the 19 Oct 2007 issue of Mount Vernon News that teacher Julie Davis obtained an Ecolab grant that allows fifth-graders at Newton Elementary to go online to supplement their classroom instruction.
Selected extracts from the report:
[With the grant money, Davis purchased Study Island software related to math, science, social studies and reading. She said the multimedia teaching tool makes it easier to reach all different types of learners and help them succeed. Students can work at their own pace and on their specific competency level....
Davis said the lessons are timed and the teacher can set the number of questions. A game mode gives the students immediate reinforcement. If they answer the problem correctly, they can make a ski run or "play" at the virtual skate park.
"As a teacher," Davis said, "I can go in and pull up all records and see what they’re doing. I can see who’s gotten on, when and how much time they are spending on the lessons. I can see the speed that they’re going. I can see if they’re actually trying to work out the problem or just making a guess."
A summary feature also allows the teacher to compare a child’s progress with others in the class and with other students across the state.
Because the lessons are Internet-based, the students can access them in the classroom as well as the computer lab. They can also log on from anywhere there is Internet access, so they can work on it at home, or at the public library.]
AWESOME! Kudos to teachers like Julie Davis. They recognize what technology can do to reinforce learning and take the initiative to find out ways of getting things to happen.
Selected extracts from the report:
[With the grant money, Davis purchased Study Island software related to math, science, social studies and reading. She said the multimedia teaching tool makes it easier to reach all different types of learners and help them succeed. Students can work at their own pace and on their specific competency level....
Davis said the lessons are timed and the teacher can set the number of questions. A game mode gives the students immediate reinforcement. If they answer the problem correctly, they can make a ski run or "play" at the virtual skate park.
"As a teacher," Davis said, "I can go in and pull up all records and see what they’re doing. I can see who’s gotten on, when and how much time they are spending on the lessons. I can see the speed that they’re going. I can see if they’re actually trying to work out the problem or just making a guess."
A summary feature also allows the teacher to compare a child’s progress with others in the class and with other students across the state.
Because the lessons are Internet-based, the students can access them in the classroom as well as the computer lab. They can also log on from anywhere there is Internet access, so they can work on it at home, or at the public library.]
AWESOME! Kudos to teachers like Julie Davis. They recognize what technology can do to reinforce learning and take the initiative to find out ways of getting things to happen.
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Learning French Online
Even learning French online is now possible. Lewis Waller reports in the American Chronicle dated October 18 2007:
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Are you looking to learn French? If so then using the internet to learn is definitely the best way to go about it. Learning the French language online is becoming more and more popular for a variety of reasons. It’s cheap, easy to access and there’s no need for a schedule or planning to have a lesson once a week – you can learn entirely at your own pace.
But what’s the best way to go about learning French online? There so much information on the net that it’s easy to get lost and confused. Some courses cost ridiculous amounts of money whilst other free courses are useless. Is there a cheap, decent option?
Rocket French is a course from the popular ‘Rocket’ Range and has had nothing but praise from its users. Instantly downloadable to your PC, Rocket French has everything you need to learn French fluently at your own pace. The course boasts that at a dedicated speed, you could learn to speak French completely fluently in 3 months!
*********************************************************************************
The internet has contributed significantly to online learning and you can now learn languages from the convenient of your own home. Besides learning French online, the 'Rocket' Range in fact provides both German and Spanish courses besides French.
*********************************************************************************
Are you looking to learn French? If so then using the internet to learn is definitely the best way to go about it. Learning the French language online is becoming more and more popular for a variety of reasons. It’s cheap, easy to access and there’s no need for a schedule or planning to have a lesson once a week – you can learn entirely at your own pace.
But what’s the best way to go about learning French online? There so much information on the net that it’s easy to get lost and confused. Some courses cost ridiculous amounts of money whilst other free courses are useless. Is there a cheap, decent option?
Rocket French is a course from the popular ‘Rocket’ Range and has had nothing but praise from its users. Instantly downloadable to your PC, Rocket French has everything you need to learn French fluently at your own pace. The course boasts that at a dedicated speed, you could learn to speak French completely fluently in 3 months!
*********************************************************************************
The internet has contributed significantly to online learning and you can now learn languages from the convenient of your own home. Besides learning French online, the 'Rocket' Range in fact provides both German and Spanish courses besides French.
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