A drive north, to the Aberdeenshire Council GLOW team offices at Inverurie Aademy last Monday was spectacular – clear skies, sunshine and remarkable scenery: ocean, rocky cliffs, hills, fields, forests and plains. Another beautiful part of a truly beautiful country!
We travelled north to meet up with Anna Rossvoll and Jonathon Cordiner and were treated to a couple of hours of insightful and passionate discussions around the use of COTS games in classrooms. The ideas and applications within Aberdeenshire were inspiring. We heard first hand from enthusiastic practitioners about the successes, the possiilities and the limitations of the many fantastic projects that Anna and Jonathon were involved with.
From the famous Nintendogs Project, and Crazy Talk, to Myst, to Guitar Hero, to Kororinpa, to Endless Oceans and wii Fit; these two GLOW mentors have done it all!
In trying to find a common thread through all of these different projects, and what made them so popular with students and teachers alike I think ……..
The games all provided a context for the learning that was taking place.
The GLOW mentors provided ideas – which were put into the hands of teachers to see what the individual teacher could come up with and put into their classrooms.
Control of the project was in the hands of the teacher and class – authentic and real-life tasks usually provided an end point or satisfying conclusion to each project.
Playfulness in the form of active, hands on challenges, activities and tasks, which were child centered, kept enthusiasm and engagement high.
Anna, Gail & Jonathon @ lunch!