[IAEP] activities (games)

[Brooks, Kevin]

Pedro,

The 5th graders we work with really enjoy Maze and Implode.  While playing games is probably not constructivist, what we love about these games is that they make the structure of the games quite visible, and they don't clutter the game field with distractions.  So Maze, for example, starts with a simple Maze that allows the kids to learn how to operate the game and have quick success, times them to add a second goal, and then increases the complexity.  It also allows us to talk about how a game like this is written / coded.

Students also love Speak.  You will have to decide if Speak is a game or not. : )

And they love Physics.  We have "gamified it" by giving them the challenge of building a virtual Rube Goldberg machine; we have broken the tasks into levels and their final products tend to be game-like (get a ball into a box). Gamification, as you probably know, is a hot topic in education right now.  You might not want to deal with the gamification of Physics, Etoys, and other Sugar Activities, but that option is there for you if you want to take it.

Good luck!

Kevin

On Nov 28, 2012, at 3:27 PM, <iaep-request at lists.sugarlabs.org<mailto:iaep-request at lists.sugarlabs.org>>
 <iaep-request at lists.sugarlabs.org<mailto:iaep-request at lists.sugarlabs.org>> wrote:

Message: 2
Date: Thu, 29 Nov 2012 07:34:08 +1100
From: forster at ozonline.com.au<mailto:forster at ozonline.com.au>
To: pt.pmpm at gmail.com<mailto:pt.pmpm at gmail.com>
Cc: iaep at lists.sugarlabs.org<mailto:iaep at lists.sugarlabs.org>
Subject: [IAEP]  activities (games) recommended age
Message-ID: <201211282034.qASKY8ne026924 at smtp.ozonline.com.au<mailto:201211282034.qASKY8ne026924 at smtp.ozonline.com.au>>

Hi Pedro

The main target audience for the XO laptop and Sugar is primary school, grades 1-6. Younger children will have difficulty using a computer. Many of Sugar's Activities are usable by older children, I think Sugar still quite suitable for grades 7-8. Older children may find the Sugar desktop restrictive and want to use the Gnome desktop for some tasks such as access to the underlying file system.

Children in grades 5-6 are probably the most productive, the desire to experiment and create seems to peak around these years.

Tony

Hello.
I'm a teacher and I am going to do master's thesis on the use of Sugar
Activities (games).
Can anyone tell me if there is any recommendation on the appropriate ages
for activities (games)? Or do you consider this as an opposition to
constructionism and the freedom of choice of the child?
Where can I get more information on this subject?
Sorry for my english.

Thank you very much,

--
Pedro Martins
966092379

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