MOOC: Games in Schools 3rd round - updated course

“Computer games are the most powerful learning tool of our age.”

~ Professor Henry James, MIT

 

The first question we will explore is, why use computer games in schools? We will then look at a range of games which do not necessarily have an educational purpose but can be used nicely for thematic learning on topics such as gravity, planets, construction, and many others. However, we will also explore games that have an explicit pedagogical focus and are designed to help students learn anything from Maths to Languages. Game mechanisms can be powerful motivators to succeed at a task, so we also ask the question, what can we learn from games for our teaching. And rather than just have students using games we will introduce a range of tools that you can use to get your students to design games, learning important skills such as coding, design, and creativity along the way. Finally, we address why it is important to teach about games, highlighting issues such as privacy, safety but also the cultural impact of games. ~ part of the course description on  European Schoolnet Academy.

This MOOC has a duration of six weeks, from 18th April to 5th June 2016, and, according to the organization, it requires "around 3 hours of work per week".
Here's its list of modules:

European Schoolnet is a network of 30 European Ministries of Education, based in Brussels. "As a not-for-profit organisation, we aim to bring innovation in teaching and learning to our key stakeholders: Ministries of Education, schools, teachers, researchers, and industry partners."

Five Amazing Games That Add a Third Dimension to Learning

"Four years ago I went from being a school teacher, to a position in distributed learning. The environment was “cutting edge” but many courses were still in paper format, and the online ones were largely electronic text. The cost of materials and course development translated into huge classes, and marking loads.

Student feedback was both inadequate and not at all timely. Worst of all, my students were not engaged and had little meaningful contact with their teacher.

After a year of feeling like a total failure I told the principal that I was dissatisfied with my teaching practice and needed to find a better way to engage the students in their learning. With her blessing, I began my search."
- Gord Holden from Vancouver, B.C.


Here is a list of five games Gord Holden has used in his classes:

1. BUILD A CIVILIZATION: CAESAR III

2. MEET MEDIEVAL CITIZENS, EXPLORE HISTORIC CITIES: CASPIAN LEARNING

3. LIVE WITH INDIGENOUS CULTURES: QUEST ATLANTIS

4. SURVIVE IN THE WILD: WOLFQUEST

5. REDESIGN LEARNING: CYBERNETWORLDS

To find out more about using these games as learning tools, please click here.

Learning Online with Games, Simulations, and Virtual Worlds - Strategies for Online Instruction