Game playing changing learning

We had 100 students in the last week of term working face to face in teams with people they had never met until the day of collaboration.
They were playing a game called Viva piñata as part of a Microsoft innovative Schools Project. Below  is a wordle of what they added for plus into  a PMI (plus minus interesting) of the effect the project has had on learning. The other “etherpads” are available here. The oral communication, group work and interdependence were what impressed me most with the learning that took place. The project has exceeded our expectations in terms of engagement and the development of key competencies.

 

I was also hoping that the online publishing and purpose for writing would lead to self editing

and the audience of peers encourage a high standard of written work. I still believe this to be achievable.  Many

blog posts showed articulate well thought out ideas and adherence to language and genre conventions.

Some postings had a rushed compliance feeling. Perhaps some writers were content with their visual and oral collaborations and were reticent to put effort into constructing the web presence of blog posting.

Have a look here for the students’ writing or in the iframe below for a sample.