Wii Fit and smashing furniture, Week 7

I remember the time I was drooling over the Wii Fit when it first appeared on the market. I was even a regular window shopper of the Challenger store at Hougang Mall. Everytime I had a chance, I'll be looking at the Wii at any electronics store. It was my obession then; my Christmas present wish, my birthday gift hopeful; Wii console and Wii Fit.



Needless to say, getting a chance to play with it was simply a wonderful delight. The Wii Fit comes with some programmes that allows the user(s) to make use the platform. Loads AND loads of fun. Not to mention the fact that all breakable furniture must be moved out of the way of overzealous players' moving/swingin radius. Hahaha... Can you imagine the dents on the furniture and replacements needed for a day full of vigorous exercising? Even the furniture in the MxL didn't not escape the occasional smack or hit. :)

MindMeiser is a very good software for getting a large group of people to contribute to a mind map at the same time. It appears to update real-time. Very useful for a brainstorming session with co-workers or students working on a project.

Now for the KWLQs of this week:

K: What I already KNOW about this week's topic:
It was definitely a very interesting way of engaging all the students or in this case trainee teachers. Enjoy the laughter and group fun.

W: What I WANT to learnMore about:
How else to get students to use the Wii console for school lessons other than Physical Education lessons?

L: What I have LEARNED this week:
Something about MindMeiser software. Good stuff.

Q: What QUESTIONS I still have: None at the moment.

I STILL WANT a WII Console and WII FIT for Christmas, next one if possible. I'm my own Santa Claus... So, very possible.

Flash Games as Educational Tools

There is an abundance of online Flash games. The interesting ones are those that attempt to share information with the players and those that educate the players. These interactive games serve as educational tools for the public in whichever specialised areas; the range of topics or subjects are so wide.


I was exposed to some online Flash games that drafted the player as a surgeon and performed various types of leg surgery. The experience was very enriching as I progressed through the processes of diagnosis, preparation of surgery, surgery and post-surgery care. There were many things to consider whilst being an orthopedic surgeon. Do the wrong thing and the patients may end up crippled, nasty!!!


The other game I played was a simple mathematic game using all the basic arithmetic functions as the base concept. I had to destroy the tanks with mathematic problems with the ammunition from my cannon. The only catch is that the tanks can be destroyed by the ammunition with the correct answer to their mathematical problem. My team mates were having a good time with this game and some commented, "I haven't processed the question of the tank yet!" and "BOOM" the that tank was destroyed... hahaha... loads of fun.

Now for the KWLQs of this week...
K: What I already KNOW about this week's topic is the fun element of these flash games and they are readily available as long as there's internet connection. Sometimes they can be very addictive and there's a need for a facilitator to help students understand the concepts in these flash games.
W: What I WANT to learn more about: Finding more interesting games for classroom learning.
L: What I have LEARNED this week: My reflexes, both mental and physical, are better than I expected.
Q: What QUESTIONS I still have: None, Loving every minute of gaming :P Gamers Rule!!!!

Challenges in Using ICT in Classes

This week was the e-Learning segment of the course. It has proven to be quite a hectic week as I had to complete a few assignments and demostrations.

As usual, the readings required for the week's assignment were numerous and content heavy. Nonetheless, I feel good about completing it all within the given time frame. Yahoo!!!! Furthermore, my team mates and I completed the necessary preparation for our demostration tomorrow including a rehearsal on-site.

More details on this weeks engaging and fast paced timeline in a while.

Ciao

This is the add-on section...

The most interesting bit about this week's lesson is that we get to play computer games!!!! How cool is that??!?!?!!? Anyhow, we had to chew through some articles on the benefits and negatives on gaming and basically write some points on them in the course's wiki page. The second section is playing games!!!

We got to play the MacDonald game, which is an online flash game. This game is designed to help people understand the intricacies of running and managing a global franchise. All the necessary processes from growing the grain/soy to feed the cattle, to slaughtering the cattle to make burger patties, to hiring and firing front line personal at MacDonald outlets, to managing the shareholder in the boardroom, handling advertising, negative publicity, worker unions, environmental groups, etc... the list goes on and on. This is compounded by the need to make MacDonalds a very profitable organisation; get fired if the bank account is in the red. Hah, if that's ever possible.

The other online flash game is Darfur is Dying. In this game, the player gets to role play some characters within a Somalian family trying to survive the constant threat of militia attack and lack of water.


Now for the KWLQs of this week:
K: What I already KNOW about this week's topicI can't say I do, all these is alien to me. I know that I can use some software to enhance the teaching experience, but engaging the students in learning on their own is a whole new ball game for me.
W: What I WANT to learnMore about methods in getting the students interested in using ICT for their daily learning and self-improvement.
L: What I have LEARNED this weekIt was very interesting to learn about what ICT have improved the way students learn in some many different ways and in so many different subjects. I guess I will still be a frog in a well if I don't change the methods of teaching I'm used to. :)
Q: What QUESTIONS I still haveNone at the moment, still soaking in all the new stuff I've exposed to...Game ON!!!!