Digital Bytes - 12th December, 2016 - Holiday Edition

Santa Tracker Santa Tracker is a fantastic site by Google. In advent calendar style, each day a new activity gets uncovered. Present Bounce is a neat game, but there are also opportunities to learn about traditions and translations from other countries. Younger children will enjoy Santa Selfie, a Toca Boca style game where you give Santa a haircut. Santa Tracker will work on laptops or iPads, so give it a go!

2016 Holiday Gift Guide for Awesome Young (and old) Makers @DianaLRedina has put together a great roundup of holiday gifts for all budgets on her blog Renovated Learning. She has suggestions for the robot obsessed, future engineers, crafty ones, and a helpful list of Maker-inspired books to read too. Our personal favourite: Austin Kleon’s Steal Like an Artist.

Escape the Room - Christmas Edition This is a great problem solving challenge similar to BreakoutEDU, but in Digital form. In Christmas Fix, you have to explore a number of rooms and look for clues and items that you can collect to help you solve the mystery, fix the clock and save Christmas. This game runs on flash, so won’t work on an iPad. Game will start after the advertisement runs.

First Drones and Spheros Activity - What We Learned

(Written by Keri-Lee Beasley and Dave Caleb)

As Digital Literacy Coaches at UWCSEA, we have always taken the opportunity to get our students coding whenever we can, given that it is not currently in our written curriculum. The Week of Code has been very successful in the past and we wanted to find a way to get our students coding in other ways.

In August, we attended the Asia Pacific ADE Institute in Singapore. One of the activities at the institute involved using the Tickle app which uses simple drag-and-drop code to control Spheros and Rolling Spider mini-drones. An idea was born.

We decided that we could offer an activity at school involving these great tools to our primary students. We purchased 10 Spheros and 10 Rolling Spider Drones and offered the activity to 20 students.

We hope that in sharing some of the things we have learned, we will save other people some time when setting up their own Coding activity!

Pair Your Spheros

Spheros have a 3-colour code which flashes when they are turned on, e.g. BBY (blue, blue, yellow). We used a sticker to label each sphero with a number, then paired one Sphero to one iPad and labelled the iPad with the same sticker. This proved to make our time with the Spheros considerably more efficient. Students arrived, found their Sphero and iPad easily and were able to get to work right away, without having to figure out which of the 10 Spheros was theirs, and to pair it accordingly.

Start off by letting them play

The first time the students touched the Spheros, we showed them how to connect to the iPads and then we let them play. We wanted them to inquire into what they could do with the sphero and see what was possible. We decided to use the free Tickle app as it uses drag and drop block code programing to control the Spheros.

Embrace incidental learning and don’t over plan

Originally, we thought that we had to have a lot of different activities for the students to do each time we had the activity. We learned that allowing a lot of time for the students to experiment and learn from their mistakes was very important.

The second time we met, we challenged the students to code the Sphero to make some geographic shapes, including making a square and a triangle. This was more of a challenge than we thought it was going to be, e.g. for a Triangle, Code: move forward for 1 second, turn 60 degrees, move forward for 1 second, turn 60 degrees, move forward 1 second, then stop. Easy right?

Well, as we all quickly figured out, 60 degrees is the inside angle of a triangle, but we actually need the sphero to rotate 120 degrees (the supplementary angle of 60 degrees) to create the inside angle of a triangle. Students eagerly inquired into solving this problem.

Many of them also discovered that if they included a pause between each piece of code that involved movement, they would have more accuracy in the creation of their triangle. It was nice to share these student learnings with the rest of the group.

Students love a challenge

We printed mazes on paper using the large format printer. The challenge for the students was to get their sphero through the maze without running over the lines. They loved this challenge and enjoyed fine tuning their code on Tickle to get their Sphero through the maze. Even though the sphero was on a paper map, the material under the paper (carpet or linoleum) affected their results. The students also realized that the light on one part of the sphero was the back and they could point the sphero in the direction they wanted in the app.

Collaborative Learning

We know that students learn best with others and this activity really helped prove that. Our students enjoyed having someone else to bounce ideas off of and explore different possibilities for their code. The students didn’t argue over who got to enter the lines of code as they were able to try different ideas quickly and see the results. Each student could easily try their own idea and they were working together to solve a problem.

Drone Dramas

The students were enjoying the Spheros but we decided we would try to use the mini-drones. There were a few differences which presented us with challenges when compared to the Spheros. The drones couldn’t be paired as easily with just one iPad like we had done with the Spheros. So when the students turned on the drone, it would appear on every iPad. So we had to clearly label the drones to make sure that the students only connected to their drone.

Keep them Charged

We made sure that the Spheros were always charged and we didn’t have any problems with them running out of batteries as long as we had remembered to charge them beforehand. We had been warned that the mini-drones have a very short battery life so we bought 5 extra batteries. Flying the drones constantly runs the battery down really quickly. You can actually see the battery percentage slowly counting down. So instead of flying the drones constantly, the students tried to run short flight programs.

A Different Purpose

Once again, when the students first started using the drones, we got them the explore on their own what they could do. There were a number of crashes and a few bent rotors but it was all ok.

At first, the students were getting frustrated with the drones because they are not as precise as the Spheros. The students could run the code twice and get two different results. Sometimes the drones would take off and mysteriously drift backwards.

The solution was to use the drones in a different way than we had been using the spheros. Instead of trying to get them to follow a program and follow a precise course, we found that the students could use more real time commands to control the drones.

The students use the tilt and shake features to control the drone. For example, if they tilt the iPad to the right the drone would turn right, tilt to the left and it would go to the left. This allowed them to take better control of the drones and we had fewer crashes. A useful command that the students used was if the iPad was shaken, then the drone would land. Sometimes the drone was flying too close to someone and the person controlling the iPad just had to shake the iPad and the drone would land.

One of our worries is that if one of the students uses the iPad to control the drone in this fashion, it becomes less of a team effort than entering code and seeing if their program works. When students enter a set of commands as a team, it doesn’t matter who presses the button and starts the program running, the device is going to do what the program says. When the program is designed to respond to how the iPad is moved, it becomes more of a one person activity. There is, of course, value in both forms of coding and that is the point. It is great to have a balance and learn how to use both types of coding experience.

Never Assume you are right

When we originally started out, we thought that the drones would be so popular that once we got to them, the students wouldn’t want to go back to the spheros. We were wrong. A number of the students wanted to go back to the spheros. And, to be honest, if we had to choose between the drones and the spheros, we would choose the spheros for the accuracy and especially for their battery life. But we are so excited that we have both because they both offer something a bit different and the students love learning to make these machines work but dragging and dropping code into a box on an iPad.

More Minecraft Musings

Want to know what our kids are capable of achieving in just over a week? Here are some photos to show you some parts of our world! 

An aerial view of our world

I believe this is a Spleef Arena (but will need to clarify!)

Rain on our plane

A flotilla of boats

Our Minecraft ECA met on Monday, and it was great to check in with what happened over the week. Top on my agenda was to get a list of all the students together with their usernames - I found it hard to remember who was who!

We refined some of our guidelines based on student feedback, including: 

- If you've built something, put a sign with your name on it, so we know who made it. 

- Ask if you're not sure about how/where to build something - someone will help.

A group of students worked on developing a training area, so newbies like me would have a place to learn without accidentally smashing things (yeah, sorry about that Rogan). I look forward to learning the ropes soon!

One of the younger students asked if it was ok to copy something that someone had built. The general consensus among players was that it was fine. Then Liam added, "As long as you acknowledge it," and Mohit said, "You've got to modify it a little bit though - remix is ok." I then gave an example of the hot air balloons (in the first photo). Rogan made the first one (with the colours of the Union Jack on it), and Kenneth made his own one, changing the colours to those of the Irish Flag.

I'm not sure if they realised it, but they now have firsthand experience with Creative Commons - they know what it feels like to be a creator and have your work used. Tacit permission has been given to the group to adapt and remix, as long as attribution occurs.

I check in to the server every night to see what's being built, who is on, how the conversation is going etc. The students have been super impressive. I'm really proud of their efforts.

So where to next? I plan to contact Redstone Host to see if we can get a second server, which we will run in Survival mode. The G7 Moderators are already planning to go in early to prepare a training area for Survival, as it's quite a different style of game play.

I wonder what the kids will have created when I next log into the server...

(cross-posted at Tip of the Iceberg)

Massively Misunderstood Minecraft

Overheard in the lab: "My Mum says she can't believe UWC is offering a Minecraft activity. She says it's a waste of time."


Me: <breathe>

DM from @jplaman:

 

Me: <breathe>

I guess it's time!

This blog post is proving hard to write. I have rewritten this paragraph about 14 times, mostly because I am trying not to sound embittered! I am saddened that the educational potential in games has once again been overlooked. 

As Katie Salen, professor of design and technology at Parsons The New School for Design so eloquently put is:

There is a long history of understanding games as sort of leisure activities, as a kind of waste of time. And that when we see kids playing games that maybe our first reaction is to say, "Oh well they're just playing, they're just kind of wasting time." There isn't a sense of even sitting down with the child and asking them... "What's going on in your head right now?" Because if you sit down and talk to a game player about what they're doing, an incredible narrative will come out of their mouth about the complex problem they're working on.  [see the full video here]

I was lucky enough to spend time with Rob Newberry and members of his Minecraft activity who visited our school to show our Techxperts activity the basics of Minecraft. It was very clear to me that Rob was onto something pretty spectacular, and we had to get involved! [Rob is a fantastic resource on setting up an ECA for Minecraft, and Minecraft in general. Without his help I wouldn't have been able to try!]

 Without further ado, I started a Minecraft activity at school which met for the first time on Monday. It was absolute chaos. We were setting up accounts and running around madly trying to get everyone into the school's Minecraft Server (thank you Redstone Host!). Thankfully I had some of our UWCSEA Techxperts there to help me out.

Anyway, at the end of the first session, I wasn't sure how things were going to work out. I'm convinced Minecraft has spectacular educational value, but this activity is my own qualitative research experiment.

I decided to log in to the server at home and see what - if anything - had happened since school finished.

   

As soon as I had logged in, I realised I had completely forgotten ALL commands, including, crucially, how to move and how to talk! By guessing that if I pressed 't' it might let me talk, I managed to chat to the few kids that were logged in and were already excitedly talking away (hopefully unaware of how utterly useless their teacher was at that moment). I asked them how to move - they told me to double-click the space bar, and up I flew.

 Flying high above our world, I saw that it was a hive of industry. Houses had been built. A mountain top swimming pool was constructed. People were creating.

 One of the students, Kenneth (G3) wanted to show me his house, so I began to follow him. Unfortunately, night was falling in our little world, so I could no longer see where he was going. I could still chat, so typed, "I can't see where I'm going! Where are you?"

[Advance notice: I think this is AWESOME!] Kenneth solved the problem by putting down a series of glow blocks, which emitted enough light so I could see where he was going - a modern day Hansel & Gretel breadcrumb trail. Genius!

Mohit, Liam, Victoria & Aguistin's Pirate Ship 

My next obstacle came when I wanted to take some screenshots of a pool built at the top of a mountain. Every time I pressed shift+command+4, I started to sink (as the command for going down is shift). 

I complained in the chat that I kept sinking when trying to take a screenshot, and once again, Kenneth came to my rescue. He suggested building a block beneath me, so I wouldn't fall. Makes a lot of sense eh?! The solution was there, but I certainly didn't see it. I love the creative thinking that Kenneth and other players have demonstrated in the short time I've been involved. 

Rogan's Soup Kitchen

Day 2 of our server being open showed remarkable progress. Evidence of collaboration was everywhere. One student suggested a walkway (which several of the students pitched in to help with, complete with glow blocks for night time use), signs with directions appeared, pirate ships emerged along with 5* hotels. A soup kitchen was built. Organisation was appearing amidst the chaos. 

So what learning have I seen to date? How long have you got? 

Collaboration & Team work - A culture of collaboration appears to have existed from the beginning. According so some of the players, some people log in and say, "Who needs some help?" and away they go. I have been particularly pleased to see that Grade 7 students have been working alongside Grade 2/3 students on particular projects. This isn't something I directed them to do (though I am certainly fostering it now), it's just something that happened. 

Now we're starting to get players come up with creative ideas which require a slew of people to assist them. Generally speaking it seems to be a very open culture where suggestions are more often than not accepted and enhanced by the involvement of each new member. A sense of pride in their accomplishments show they understand the value of hard work, and how it feels to have completed something they have put effort into achieving.

Rogan's Hot Air Balloon

Creativity & Innovation - James Paul Gee states in his video for Edutopia, "Kids want to produce, they don't just want to consume."  It's pretty clear that the students in our Minecraft activity are incredibly creative. Day 3 (today) brought the addition of a theme park, more boats, more hot air balloons and a castle. They have organised their world to make it more efficient and more aesthetically pleasing. It's quite literally a privilege to watch. 

Mathematical Understanding - spacial awareness, area, construction, volume... Interaction with Minecraft can only serve to enhance a student's comprehension of mathematical skills and concepts. Imagine if we teachers took Minecraft into the classroom to help students learn these concepts. Engagement would be through the roof, I'm sure. [Students, I'm working on it! Give me time!] 

Collaboratively Constructed Walkway by Mohit,
Rogan & Victoria

I could go on, to talk more about problem solving, communication & social skills (no doubt I will, in a later post!), however as usual, it's better for me to stop talking for the kids and let them explain their learning in their own words. Victoria says,

Minecraft is a combination of frustration, excitement, and pure adrenaline. It widens your mind and you can get inspired very easily from other people's creations. You can also learn various tips from more experienced players and most of all you just have fun.

What Victoria so eloquently described was a culture of remix and amplification. Taking someone's ideas and adding your own personal spin on it.. It's a new way of learning (think YouTube videos that go viral and spawn thousands of remixes) in which everyone has something to contribute, something to add, something with which to inspire others. Marius says,

Playing Minecraft makes us think about what we can do to build up a "city". Through this, we enhance our creativity and art skills. We also have to use our logic and physics skills, in a sense where we know where the water (or lava) will flow and where we need to build things to make our constructions work.

Leadership and peer-learning opportunities - Games level the playing field. Tom Chatfield notes that, "A virtual world is a tremendous leveller in terms of wealth, age, appearance, ethnicity and such like..." It means a child can be an expert, a student can be the most knowledgeable source of information. What a powerful concept for a young person  - I have something of value to offer my peers and teachers.

This, to me, is vertical interaction on a horizontal playing field. We are combining people of all ages to work together using the same resources to create something special.

Victoria sold Kenneth chickens from her Pet Shop

As Joseph Joubert, the French essayist famously said, "To teach is to learn twice." In the context of Minecraft, the students are a very supportive community, keen to help newcomers (such as myself) develop their understanding of the game. This fits in beautifully with  Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger's Communities of Practice theory of learning, where,

"It is through the process of sharing information and experiences with the group that the members learn from each other, and have an opportunity to develop themselves personally and professionally."

Face-to-face friendships develop through similar online  interests, and this is becoming evident as we continue to play. I have enjoyed the opportunity to reconnect with students I taught previously, as well as learn more about the ones I teach now.

James Paul Gee speaks of these communities of practice as "passion communities" constructed via social networking, where members are usually held to quite rigorous standards in their area of passion. To the novice, feedback is given, support is provided, but standards are not be lowered.

George's Lava

I hope every parent of a student playing Minecraft takes the time to sit next to their child and really ask them what they're doing, why it's important to them, how/why they create things, and what they're learning. I'm sure they'd be gobsmacked at the responses. How many actually take that time I wonder?

I'd like to thank the members of the inaugural UWCSEA Minecraft Activity for their supreme awesomeness, their willingness to help me learn and share their burgeoning world, which is the product of hard work and fun, all rolled into one.

I'm tired. I've been dipping in and out of this post for far too many days. There's so much more to say, but it's 9:24pm. The server closes in 6 minutes and I want to see how my kids are going. Goodnight!