Lorax Sticker Game

The Lorax Sticker Game concentrates on the math concept patterning. 

There are different levels of difficulty and it progresses from easy to difficult. The children are to click and drag the right sticker into the correct place within the boxes to complete the pattern. 

There are hints for the child to click on if the child is unsure of what the answer is. If the child places the picture wrongly, the software will indicate that the child has to try again. The game will not proceed until the child has placed the correct pattern into the picture. 

If the child gets it correct for each level, the game will praise the child with a “Good job!”

Evaluation by Rubric

Using the same software educational games rubric, I have realised that this educational game is excellent:

In the area of organisation and design, there are no areas where they teach the children about understanding the concept of patterning. It just goes straight into the game where it will test the children through the varying difficulty levels. Navigation through the game is clear.

In the instructional design and delivery, the learning objectives are unclear. In addition, the learning styles of children will not be met that well. It will be more of the visual and a little on the kinesthetic because the kinesthetic children will be moving their fingers while the visual will be seeing the screen. Though it might not attract all children, the game allows those who play it to develop their cognitive skills – analysis and evaluation.

In game based learning, the children will be lost at first because it is new to them, but then, there are simple instructions for the children to follow. The goals are clearly stated and the children are unable to play backwards in the game. They will only be able to go forward. The feedback given is not that constructive because it does not tell the child where he/she has gone wrong. There can be interactions as the child might find that he/she is unable to solve the missing pattern and he/she might ask from help from the teacher or students around him/her.

Effectiveness for Learning

This game is effective in teaching the children patterning. It allows the children to see the patterns from the easy level to a more difficult level. Thus, it serves like the ZPD (Zone Proximal Development) where the computer is like the teacher who guides the children to be more efficient in their concept of patterning. This not only reinforces the concept of patterning, but also, trains the children’s fine motor skills. Fine motor skills “involve finger dexterity” (Santrock, 2009). In clicking and dragging the sticker to the box, it trains the children’s eye hand coordination and exercises the small muscles of the fingers. 


Parents/Caregivers can be more supportive and be there to guide the child too when the child feels as if the patterns are too difficult for them to solve.


Overall, I'd rate this game 3.5/5.

Whack-a-Mole

Whack a Mole is an educational game which tests on a child’s understanding of the sequence of the alphabets. The player has to move the hammer around using the mouse to whack the moles, which are holding up an alphabet sign, in alphabetical order.

Here we can see the beginning of the alphabets, 'a'.

Then maneuver the mouse to move the hammer to hit the mole that is holding up the 'a'.

Here you will see that on the left hand corner, the alphabet 'a' will be shown so as to let the player know that 'a' has been hit so now he/she can move on to the next alphabet that comes after 'a'. It also serves as a checkpoint if the player has forgotten which alphabet he/she has just hit!

The end product will look like this as the player starts to come to the last alphabet:

When all 26 alphabets held up by the moles have been clicked and whacked upon, a mole will show a smiley face to praise the player for completing the alphabets!

Evaluation from Rubric

Using the software educational games rubric adopted from California State University, Sacramento, I have found that this educational game baseline:

In the layout and design, there are some graphic elements like the mole holding up the alphabet sign but limited variations in the layout because the picture stays the same as it goes through the 26 alphabets. After a while, it gets boring and players might become disengaged as sometimes he/she might have to wait for a long time for the next alphabet to appear. Moreover, in teaching young children their alphabets, 2 to 3 years old might have some problems in sitting down in front of the computer and concentrating/focusing on the game! Navigating through the game is not quite clear. The players do not have any prompters to direct their next move if let's say, they have forgotten their alphabetical sequencing.

In the instructional design and delivery, I find that the learning objectives are not clearly pointed out. Besides that, the activity does not have many opportunities for the children to boost their cognitive skills. Thus, it will be challenging for the teacher to integrate the game into curriculum. For the learning styles, it will be more for the kinesthetic, visual and auditory learners. However, I find that the visual learners will benefit more from it because it is colourful and thus, will engage the children’s attention span. 

In the area of game-based learning, there are no exact rules on what to do and not to. The subject and goal is simple and straightforward. However, the game does not let the child get much feedback on their own performance and does not allow for much social interaction with others.

Effectiveness for Learning and Implementation

This game is not very effective for children who are just learning the alphabets. This can be used as a means to test the children’s knowledge; however, it also can be a barrier for the young children who have not developed their fine motor skills as yet. Because the moles are always moving, the children might find it frustrating to play and whack the mole to get the alphabets out.

One way that parents can make use of this game is to allow their children to play the game up to a certain alphabet so as to allow for dishabituation. The parent should be there to guide and encourage the child since there are no guides through the game. The child then, will be able to do much better cognitively in this educational game. The child will also learn the art of waiting as in the world, most things happen only if you are willing to wait for it.

In conclusion, this educational game, Whack-a-Mole is only effective when there is an adult guiding the child player. There, the child will learn so much more from it!

VAK

Write about VAK (Visual, Auditory, Kinesthetics) learning style model. What is it? List 5 examples of how you can assess each learning style (e.g listen to teacher attentively – auditory)

Referenced from:
http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/styles/vakt.html

http://homeworktips.about.com/od/homeworkhelp/a/learningstyle.htm

The VAK learning style model is just a model which shows the different learning styles each individual adopts. This is not something which one follows strictly with, it can change with the environment that a person is in. VAK stands for Visual, Auditory and the Kinesthetics.

Visual learners have two channels: visual-linguistic and visual-spatial. Visual-linguistic learners like to learn through written language such as writing and reading tasks. They have the ability to remember what has been written down, even though they do not read it again. They like to write down instructions and can pay better attention to lectures if they watch them. However, for the visual-spatial learners, they have difficulty with the written language but learn better with demonstrations, videos and other visual materials. They can easily viusalise faces and places. 

Auditory learners learn through their ears, they can listen and learn better however, they will find it more difficult to concentrate when there are long passages to read and essays to write. They usually talk to themselves so as to self regulate and when they are reading, they might read aloud or move their lips. They are able to listen in lectures and learn easily.

Kinesthetic learners do things best hands-on. It has two channels too: movement and touch. They are unable to focus whenever they do not have external stimulation or movement. When listening during lectures, they will take notes for the sake of the movement of hands.

Visual Learners usually:

copy what's on the board

take notes, make lists

colour code notes

use of flash cards

draw maps and diagrams

Auditory Learners usually:

read to themselves out loud

are good at grammar and foreign language

remembers names easily

follows spoken directions well

not afraid to speak up in class

Kinesthetic Learners usually:

play music while doing work

need frequent breaks

are good in sports

fidgety during lectures; unable to sit down for long

not great at spelling