Unit 5

11.127x Unit 5 is now live! In this unit, we’re exploring assessment and classroom integration. We’ll hear how several game developers created support materials to help teachers use their games in an educational environment. We’ll hear from an organization working to build a community of educators around game-based learning. We’ll discuss assessment and consider how games assess players and the potential for using games to measure student learning. You’ll develop an integration or assessment plan for your game and provide feedback. Don’t forget that you can still join a survey-based working group and/or affinity group. We’re also thrilled to see participants meeting in the forum and then collaborating on projects.

http://youtu.be/jtlKYjbi-r0

Welcome to Unit 5!

In this unit, we'll talk about integrating learning games into the classroom and also consider how games can be used as assessment tools. 

• Integrating Games: Case Studies: Scot Osterweil (with Prof. Eric Klopfer), Louisa Rosenheck, Susannah Gordon-Messer, and Joel Levin discuss their experiences developing support material and helping teachers to use their games in the classroom. Jennifer Groff and Peter Stidwill talk about their work creating a community of educators around game-based learning. 
• Asssessement & Games: Prof. Eric Klopfer talks with Prof. James Paul Gee about assessment and they explore how games provide feedback to learners.  
• Choice-Based Assessment: Prof. Dan Schwartz explains choice-based assessment to Prof. Eric Klopfer and considers how video games can be used as assessment tools to improve teaching and learning. 

We will be reading chapters from the Mind/Shift Guide to Digital Games + Learning. Those who wish to dive deeper can read excerpts from Stealth Assessment: Measuring and Supporting Learning in Video Games by Valerie Shute and Matthew Ventura. 

Appearances by: Scot Osterweil, Louisa Rosenheck, Susannah Gordon-Messer, Jennifer Groff, Peter Stidwill, Joel Levin, James Paul Gee, Dan Schwartz

http://youtu.be/jtlKYjbi-r0

Prof. Eric Klopfer and Scot Osterweil return to Lure of the Labyrinth. Scot explains the vision for integrating Lure of the Labyrinth into the classroom and also discusses challenges faced by the project team. How will a teacher learn how to play your game? Scot mentions that it would have been helpful to have a "game-like activity" for the teacher to get aquainted with the game. Consider engaging ways you could help teachers and facilitators learn how to play your game. 

http://youtu.be/R___bVy92c4

Louisa Rosenheck, a research manager at MIT's Education Arcade, and Susannah Gordon-Messer, an education content manager at MIT's Education Arcade, are back to talk about The Radix Endeavor, specifically about how the team supported teacher use of the game. They reflect on how they responded to teacher input and figured out what resources were needed. They mention the importance and prominence of state standards in the minds of teachers. You may want to consider standards/guidelines that are in place in the environment where your game will be used. In this video, we briefly show some teacher resources created by Louisa and Susannah. If you want to see more, go here. You'll have to click on a quest (at the bottom) to see examples of connecting questions.

https://www.radixendeavor.org/resources/market-market

http://youtu.be/R___bVy92c4

Jennifer Groff, Executive Producer, and Peter Stidwill, Senior Producer, of Playful Learning, discuss their efforts to create a community of teachers interested in and passionate about using games for learning. They reflect on the wrap-around support that teachers need in order to implement games, the feedback they hear most frequently from teachers, and its implications for game designers and developers. Take note of their advice for game designers towards the end of the video (at 15:11).

http://playfullearning.com

http://youtu.be/pSghaxzLTQc

Joel Levin of MinecraftEdu talks about his experience building in supports for teachers to facilitate classroom use of Minecraft. Are there game mechanisms that will help teachers use your game in a learning environment? While you may not be able to implement them all right now, it is worth considering.

http://youtu.be/l9qRrOSI1MM

Let's take a look at teacher support for learning games. Take a look at the examples below or find your own. What feature or aspect of these guides do you find to be especially helpful for teachers working to integrate a game in their class? Why? iCivics Teach Teach with Portals - Portal & Portal 2 were not explicitly designed to be educational. MinecraftEdu Resources Lure of the Labyrinth for Educators Share your thoughts in the forum so you learn from these practices for your project.

Prof. Eric Klopfer talks with Prof. James Paul Gee at Arizona State University about assessment in schools. They discuss what it is, what it could be, and give examples of how it is handled in games. Think about how your game measures progress and provides feedback. Are there improvements you could make that would allow learners and teachers to better track and understand accomplishments?

http://youtu.be/MZxIVHCE8LA

Eric and Prof. Gee continue their conversation about assessment, explaining why and how games can fit productively in the context of a learning environment. Prof. Gee asserts that we can learn so much about the core principles of learning and teaching from video games.

http://youtu.be/lmezIMTI5v0

Prof. Eric Klopfer talks with Prof. Dan Schwartz, Stanford University, about his work on choice-based assessment and its implications for how we teach, learn, and assess. Prof. Schwartz recognizes that video games are great at giving players compelling experiences and that this can be leveraged to prepare students to learn. He describes his reboot of Space Invaders, which was designed to help students learn statistics (9:09 in the video).

http://youtu.be/hwPuC5Ik5sM

Eric continues his conversation with Prof. Schwartz, focusing on how choice-based assessment can be used to understand students' thinking for the purpose of preparing them to make their own good decisions about their learning. One project he describes allows students to practice inquiry, creative thinking, and presentation skills, while making their decisions available to mentors.

http://youtu.be/OVN2ghNpK4o

http://youtu.be/OVN2ghNpK4o

Unit 5 Reading INTEGRATING GAMES Read the chapters "How to Choose a Digital Learning Game," "Overcoming Obstacles for Using Digital Games in the Classroom," and "How Teachers Are Using Games in the Classroom" (pgs. 19-40). We chose this reading to expand your understanding of factors teachers consider when selecting a digital game and of obstacles they may face. Shapiro, Jordan, et. al. 2014. Mind/Shift Guide to Digital Games + Learning. Joan Ganz Cooney Center/KQED.

http://www.kqed.org/assets/pdf/news/MindShift-GuidetoDigitalGamesandLearning.pdf

DIVE DEEPER Read "Digital Games, Assessment, and Learning" (pgs. 17-29). Shute, Valerie and Matthew Ventura. 2013. Stealth Assessment: Measuring and Supporting Learning in Video Games. The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Series on Digital Media and Learning. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.

http://myweb.fsu.edu/vshute/pdf/Stealth_Assessment.pdf

http://youtu.be/l7OCJjShOzU

In this unit, we talked about integrating games into the classroom, with a focus on assessment as a key opportunity to provide value to learners and educators. For this assignment then, focus on one of two options. You may either: Develop an integration plan - consider how you might integrate your game into your targeted environment? Are you going to create materials to accompany it? Would you conduct workshops to help train instructors on how to use your game? Maybe a series of videos? Explain (in any format you wish) how you'll integrate your game into the target learning environment you have chosen. Include accompanying materials and/or describe them. Develop an assessment plan for one or more of the learning objectives for your game. How might you help learners and mentors/teachers understand accomplishments in the game? How can you give the right just-in-time feedback to learners or their guides? In order to answer that question, really consider what your game is asking people to do, and whether you could say anything about their learning based on how they engage with the game. Explain to the course staff and students (in any format you wish) how you will help learners and teachers understand accomplishments/progress in the game. Of course, if you wish to do both, you may, but we would prefer that you focus on one and do a thorough job. We’re in the final weeks of the course and we understand it may be hard to address all of the questions we've asked here. Ultimately, this work is for your learning and development, so do what will serve you and your project best. Peer Feedback Guidelines Provide feedback to at least three participants whose posts appear below yours. If those participants have already received feedback, look for participants who have not received any. Follow the Peer Review Feedback guidelines and consider the following: In your opinion, does the participant's integration or assessment plan seem appropriate considering the targeted group and environment? Do you have any recommendations for improving the plan? How has the participant's plan influenced your own thinking?