Enjoy Serious Games in an L2/FL class!

Following the casual games, I tried to play some serious games listed on the syllabus, but they took much more time than the casual ones. So, I did not try every game on the list unfortunately, but I did each of them at least three times on average. In addition, I finally found a good game for L2 learners to learn English in an exciting game setting, and it is The Curfew. I tried to play this game a total of three times, and one time for each episode.  

As the game profile of The Curfew says, "the Curfew is an online interactive drama" game that is designed to "challenge young people to examine the freedoms they currently enjoy and the potential consequences if they do not protect them." During the game, I could play through the flashbacks by exploring the interactive 3D environments in each episode. Also, between the scene changes I could play mini games and solve puzzles. Questioning the character on the action he or she has just experienced, I went through the process of completing the mission. 

Compared to the casual games, it was harder to solve because it is designed by the more complicated plot, background, and characters. Despite this complexity, this game gave me a lot more excitement and fun in that I could play feeling like I was in the real world situation. Also, it provides subtitles to every sing word the characters say as well as the narration for the game story.

In much the same way as I mentioned in the review of the Griswold The Goblin in the previous post, I could assess whether my learning objectives had been met. This time, I set my learning goal taking the definition of Serious Game into account as follows: 

Serious games are simulations of real-world events or processes designed for the purpose of solving a problem.Serious game will sometimes deliberately sacrifice fun and entertainment in order to achieve a desired progress by the player.

Given this, I focused on gaining problem-solving skills to achieve the desired progress of each episode and character on the basis of the given audio supported texts and subtitles. Surely, I made a lot of efforts to find hints or messages in a critical and creative way as I did in the casual game. The truth is, however, I felt more seriousness than I did in the casual game. In this regard, I think this kind of game would be a great help for over secondary school students as well as L2/FL learners.

To sump up, a serious game makes learners (or players) serious during the game as its name shows, but it also gives a good opportunity for them to be committed to a purpose-oriented task, and feel a sense of accomplishment when completing the task. Hence, I think the serious game would be beneficial to every learner, not only for language learners.       

   

Enjoy Casual Games in an L2 Class!

Gamification is "the application of game elements in nongaming situations, often to motivate or influence behavior" according to 7 Things You Should Know About Gamification. 

[http://www.epicwinblog.net]

I believe casual games would benefit language learners in an L2 learning setting because its interesting story and well-designed strategy encourage them to get into the game easily and try to solve the problem in a critical and creative way. During this process, the language learners can learn the language of the game, especially English, that they try to play. 

Actually, I tried to play all the games listed on the The Best "Fun" Online Video Games for English Language Development at least three times each on average. Those are "adventure" and "escape the room" online video games using workthroughs. 

Especially, I think Griswold The Goblin is quite useful for L2 learners to learn English because it provides a audio supported texts about game story and some tips to boost my motivation to complete the mission with an interesting background music. 

During the game, I could hear something the main character Goblin said to my try, and read tips or comments whenever I tried to control Goblin or use the objects I found as I wanted. The input spurred me to get more interested in English the game use and fueled my desire to understand what the game says or what the workthrough reads.

              [http://jayisgames.com]

If this game is used in an L2 classroom, students will actively get self-motivated, and try to clear the mission successfully of Goblin saving the world from the terrible evil. From this experience, the students can learn English with more fun and less seriousness as well as gain problem-solving skills using the given strategic tools.

Meanwhile,teachers would play a role in guiding students in using a walkthrough button if they are having trouble solving the problems, and helping them to understand the English text precisely if they have a new word or phrases in it. 

Also, I think it is a good idea to use images from the game in an L2 classroom. Teachers could show impressive or funny images of the characters or background setting to remind students of the game story text. They must arouse their interest of the English language learning as a good visual tool to boost their motivation for learning. 

 [http://jayisgames.com]

Moreover, I myself could assess whether my learning objectives had been met. Actually, my learning goals were to enjoy learning English with a fun game, and gain a problem-solving skill in a more critical and creative way because I believed critical and creative thinking is very important for language learning. As for the former, I think I did a great job in that I really enjoyed this game and tried to use both the language and game strategies reading the workthrough and menu during the game. In the latter, however, I would not say that I did quite well because I had difficulty finding a good and creative way to make Goblin get to the Goblin city getting obstacles out of the way, and also spent much time doing it.

All in all, I think I had a new experience to take advantage of various casual games I have never done before. I could also learn applying these games to an L2 classroom could be beneficial for students to learn major English skills focusing on reading and listening in an audio and visual online setting with more fun.       

A Synergy Effect of the Interconnection between Teaching and Tweeting

Today's ESL/EFL teachers are often asked to think about using various educational tools or technology in classroom for the purpose of the effectiveness and efficiency of teaching and learning. So, how they can use those tools in an actual classroom setting is a big concern many teachers have in their mind. I think encounter with the twitter world will open a gate for teachers to lessen this concern.

[Twitter: www.3dcart.com]

As mentioned in Teachers Guide to the Use of Twitter in Classroom,twitter can be a good "social networking platform in classroom." While tweeting or twitter chatting, teachers are more likely to get closer to other teacher groups whose interest areas are similar or the same as well as to their students struggling for successful language learning anytime anywhere. In other words, the sustainable interaction between teachers and teachers, and between teachers and students will keep both of them awake to language learning after class as well as during class. 

Given this, I will be able to get newer and more input from "the latest news, resources, links, researches, and mores (quoted from Using Twitter for Teachers' Professional Development" related to the target language learning which are updated around the clock from other teachers' or learners' tweets.  Considering the value of the input data, I will be able to retweet some important or interesting parts of them related to the lesson topics or objectives so that the students can read and reply with comments whenever they want. This whole process should be a valuable moment for me to develop myself as a teacher and keep students interested and engaged in their learning.

Also,I wish to "suggest people, organizations, or magazines to follow" in classroom as proposed in the subsection How To Connect With Students On Twitter in The Teacher's Guide to Twitter. Explaining why they are meaningful to follow, I may encourage the students to enhance their critical thinking, and build up relevant knowledge and skills for the current and future courses. Sometimes, I think I can assign the students a task like Mod 6 of attending a twitterchat in order for them to listen to others' voices and speak out in their own voices in real-time online chatting contexts.

[Guide to Tweitter: www.edudemic.com]

In short, I firmly believe that this interconnection between teaching and tweeting may create a synergy effect on teachers' own professional development as well as students' active engaging in language learning.  

Let's Chat! Twitterchat!

Today, I joined a twitter chat #connectedpd whose topic is a new community-sourced professional development in teaching and learning. I could find current professional development-related sources and information online.

 

[Twitter Chats: pjsandcoffee.net]

Unfortunately, however, today is Friday, so just few people joined and shared their information and thoughts. Despite this fact, everything I experienced there was totally new to me, and it made me desire to be more involved in this twitter world continually.

Every new step takes a lot of pains, but I am so happy to step into the new Twitter world because I can get much more input from others' thinking and suggestion on a certain topic related to educational technology and ESL/EFL learning. In this sense, I believe the virtual online space of the Twitterchat gives me a good chance to share people's ideas and thoughts, develop my own opinions, and sometimes ask and answer some questions. It would serve as a great foundation for me to grow as a good professional educator.

Next time, I wish to join other twitterchats where I can see more participants and find interesting topics. Anyway, twitterchatting was a great experience! 

Flipped Learning Network

Flipped Learning Network is "a professional learning community for teachers using screencasting in education." 

 
According to the introduction to this site on the main page, "the not-for-profit Flipped Learning Network™ is the source of information for emerging and established educators at all grade levels and subjects who are employing the flip in a single unit, an individual class, an entire department, or the whole school."

This social networking site provides simple but useful sections consisting of Forums, Groups, and Videos. First, in the Forums section many people join discussions whose topics are Learning Management Systems, Storing Videos and Online Assessment, Making and Producing Vodcasts, and others. Next, in the Groups section the members of this site can join a wide range of featured groups including First Time Flippers, Middle School,Moodle, etc. Last, in the Videos section, informative and diverse videos related to education and classrooms are uploaded. As for the featured videos,What NOT to do Screencast and Preparing Students for a Flipped Classroom are the most-watched videos with more than 2000 views.
 
Given this, the members of this social networking site seem to lively and passionately participate in the forums and discussions, and deliver video messages. So, I think I can share good information and much knowledge with them.

A Learner is like a Jigsaw Puzzle

A learner is like a jigsaw puzzle remaining to fit together in a state of flux of the digital age. 

Learners try to learn and externalize a piece of their knowledge to the world and put it together with other sources of information through network in much the same way as they put the pieces of a puzzle together. It is because "as human beings we desire or crave the ability to externalize what's in our hands (quoted from The Conflict of Learning Theories with Human Nature)" and "our ability to express ourselves and our knowing increase as we express ourselves and externalize our knowledge(quoted from The Impact of Social Software on Learning)." 

For the sake of this, learners use a diversity of information and technology as tools to take in something new as knowledge basis for tomorrow. They usually use digital technology and social network systems as shown in the following image. 
  

The whole picture will certainly vary depending on the pieces of a puzzle used by learners. Probably, learners eager to design their own learning process and select multimedia learning tools now that they are likely to be never satisfied with what they know today. Rather, they may consider what they need for tomorrow more important as Siemens, G. (2005, January) mentioned in Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age as below: 
   
The starting point of connectivism is the individual. Personal knowledge is comprised of a network, which feeds into organizations and institutions, which in turn feed back into the network, and then continue to provide learning to individual. This cycle of knowledge development (personal to network to organization) allows learners to remain current in their field through the connections they have formed...Our ability to learn what we need for tomorrow is more important than what we know today. 

In the video The Network is the Learning, he also asserts that "what we know today is not as important as our ability to continue to stay current, so if what I know today is going to be changed because the knowledge is changed rapidly, if I am not continually learning I'm obsolete in my particular field or in a particular knowledge space...None really are as effective or adaptive as network. Because network continually evolves and continually reforms itself. So, I talk about the network is the learning I am essentially referring to that's constructed we as individuals make and enable us to continue to stay current and continue to learn."  

In light of his emphasis on network, I also believe that learners should make a ceaseless effort to expose themselves to the networked world and develop their knowledge for the future in stead of being satisfied with the current state of learning until they complete a decent whole picture they want.   

Social Bookmarking: Diigo vs. Curating: Scoop.it.

I had a great experience to use social bookmarking multi-tool Diigo and curating tool Scoop.it. Both tools have practical and useful features. 

First, Diigo helps users to collect a wide range of information easily from the web browsers, iPads, iPhones, etc. 

As the logo of two people facing each other hand in hand shows above, it provides an easy-to-use social bookmarking function and readily interconnects people with each other in the digital world. 

 

Users can take notes on the webpage while reading online using a sticky note and retain the webpage using a digital highlight tool for reading later or future reference. Also, they can easily find bookmarked articles or pages later using multiple tags from the archives of cloud-based information managing space My library. Besides, Diigo users can follow others whose interest areas are similar, or be followed by them. For more information, users can watch the Diigo video tutorial as follows:  

Next, Scoop.it.provides users with a good tool to create their own topics and curate social media contents under each topic using Scoop.it. Bookmarklet. As for various Scoop.it. features, I can post my insights about the articles or webpages and comments copying and pasting from the original article with multiple tags. Also, other users visiting my website can post their comments on my scooped or rescooped webpages. Similar to Diigo users, Scoop.it. users can follow others and vice versa. What's more, suggestions are offered for related articles or webpages under the curated topics. As you can see from the image of the Scoop.it. website below, this convenient and time-saving suggestions button directly links users to the relevant websites or webpages without efforts to search for pertinent information. 

 

To sum up, both Diigo and Scoop.it. have their own unique functions and advantages. I think it is a wise way to use each tool depending on the situation and purpose. If I am asked to choose only one of the two, however,I will say that Diigo is more convenient and comes in handy for me because I prefer taking the whole in one view neatly to being distracted by the different-sized columns full of too many images and letters. Also, I love a sticky-note and digital highlight tool for reading later in a short time.