Week Four

1. Which one do you like the best? The game that I liked best was Sally’s Energy Ride.

2. What content is being learned? Energy conservation and Math (order of operations)

3. Do you think it effectively teaches the content? Yes.

4. Does it involve higher order thinking? Yes. There are situations where you must compute math problems and creating the game in itself would be higher order thinking.

5. Does the game possess and principles of good games and learning:

• 1.They can create an embodied empathy for a complex system – Yes the game was short, but I think it could be extended to be something great.
• 2. They are action-and-goal-directed preparations for, and simulations of, embodied experience”

There was a small amount of action involved, but not much to give the embodied experience.

• 3. They involve distributed intelligence via the creation of smart tools

Yes

• 4. They create opportunities for cross-functional affiliation

Yes. I think this would have been a great game to integrate science questions into as well.

• 5. They allow meaning to be situated

I think a little, but there could have been more in depth questions.

• 6. They can be open-ended, allowing for goals and projects that meld the personal and the social

This was a simple game with a lot of possibilities. I hope that I will be able to create something that is just as good.

6. In your opinion do you think letting kids design games is productive activity for school based learning?

Yes, I think it is because not only are they being engaged with higher order thinking skills, but they are using content from whatever subject the game being created is based upon.