Adventures in Technology Integration - Internal Perspectives: Computational Thinking Part Two

In class, we reviewed several websites that apply computational thinking into their game/interactive experiences. I enjoyed experiencing all of the interactive websites that we reviewed during class. The experiences ranged from the basic, yet still interesting and fun to play Lemonade Stand

to the complex world in Second Life,

to the very cool Alien Rescue game. See for yourself below

Alien Rescue wins my vote for the best site for teaching children computational learning skills in an interesting and fun way. Such a great positive premise- helping each displaced alien type find a place to live that best suits their characteristics and requirements. I think most adults would also enjoy this game!

My group played the Blood Typing Game.

There are many things about this game that I can appreciate, and need to remember, should I ever try to create something this grand! The game was very appealing visually, and has a great deal of detail.
For example, when using the syringe to add blood to the test tubes, the amount of blood in the syringe decreases after each addition into the test tube. I really liked that the earner had to position the syringe both to draw blood on the patient, and to place it into the test tubes. Simple things, such as using blood spatters to fill the screen after you make a selection is absolutely genius, and adds a lot of appeal!

Upon revisiting the game, I noticed how the sounds of the game really added to the experience. The splat that came with the blood spatter, the sound of the blood dropping into the test tube, and the mixing sound in the test tube were all satisfying to hear!

While the game is fun to play, I don't feel I learned anything. I'm not saying that you can't learn anything from playing the game, it just didn't happen organically while playing. I think going into detail about why that is may be useful, so here goes.

The game starts off by offering you several different versions of the games to try.

What it didn't do, is try to incorporate learning blood types into the game. Unless you already know about blood typing, you are just using trial and error. It is still fun, but I didn't feel I was gaining any knowledge. When choosing the wrong blood type, the patient screams, along with many visual cues to let you know you got it wrong - no other feedback is given.

A great enhancement to the game would be to explain, in a fun way, WHY the type chosen was incorrect. This would help the learner catch on more quickly and result in fewer patient deaths(!).

The same thought applies to the actual blood typing of the patients. If the game could add just a quick reference to what you are seeing in each test tube (why some tubes have what appears to be a clot at the bottom, and some do not), it would add to the learning experience.

Instead, you just make random selections, and are only told you are wrong, instead of WHY you are wrong.

I think some people would get frustrated, as you can make MANY errors (A+, A-, B+, B-, AB+, AB-, O+ before FINALLY selecting 0-, the correct answer) before hitting on the correct answer.

Another enhancement would be offering to direct you to the tutorials to learn about blood typing after you select a couple of wrong answers. I only found the tutorials by clicking the Main Menu button.

Adding an option to begin with the tutorials on the starting splash screen would be a great idea.

Another enhancement would be making the tutorials more interactive and fun. While they have plenty of pictures, you are really just reading about blood types.

I am guessing not many people read the blood typing tutorials. They are just too bland in comparison to the game. Why not add some "what if" components to the tutorials, such as: "What if we gave someone with type A- type A+ blood. What do you think would happen?" and then have the learner do that to see the result. It would keep people learning, instead of ditching the tutorial in order to play the game.

I'm not trying to bash the game, I just wanted to examine it, so that I can learn from it, and apply it to making my own game.

Adventures in Technology Integration - Internal Perspectives

Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Computational Thinking Part Two - Application