Designing a Digital Quest…
Update on learning how to design a digital quest:
I introduced my religious school students to arisgames.org last week. I broke out the laptops and had the kids go to my Interesting Questing wiki page. They watched some movies about using ARIS and SCVNGR and about Global Kids’ NY Haunts game. They are EXCITED!
After getting them excited about the project we played Grow a Game (thank you Natalie from the iCenter for introducing us to this!). I wanted to get their creative juices flowing.
Then we talked about what kind of quests we could send Jewish teenagers on. My students offered ideas like “teach about Judaism to someone who doesn’t know about it,” and “wear a kippah for a day and journal about what happens.” They had some great questions too, like “can we link this to Facebook?” (great idea!)
Then I started spending some time playing with ARIS. The editor is still under construction, and the creators warn you that the interface is shaky, but I haven’t had any problems in my limited testing. The biggest issue for me is that support materials are rather scarce: I like to work through tutorials and read manuals and those just don’t exist. But that’s part of the fun of using emerging technology, right?
I’m totally psyched about using ARIS for this project. I love that you can drop items anywhere using the map interface, so we can create the game from the comfort of our classroom and then just go into the field to test it. Once I understood the basic interface I found creating quests and characters fairly intuitive. I still need to master the terminology and how to logically create quests, and of course, how the game flows will be a big challenge. But I definitely see this having tremendous potential!
Next steps:
1. Design a few quests that kids can experience in the synagogue so they get the idea
2. Create a plan for designing a game flow
3. Design classroom dynamics. There are close to twenty kids who come regularly. How do we split these kids up so everyone’s engaged and productive?
Big questions: what are the educational goals for the activity? How do you blend “experiential education” with mobile devices?
To be continued!
Links You’ll Love
Want to brainstorm with your class? Check out Edistrom and sign up for a free educator’s account. Here’s a video explaining how to use it.
Attention math teachers! Visit ThatQuiz for activities that reinforce math concepts. Students get immediate feedback! Educators can create accounts and assign or create your own tests. For more math resources, here’s a great blog post with a list of math videos on YouTube.
I know I’ve told you about ways to send audio emails using Vocaroo before. Want to send (or have your students send) a video email? Two resources are MailVu and Eyejot. Mailvu and Eyejot require users to sign up (a pet peeve of mine), but I know it’s good to give your students several options if you’re assigning homework.
Using Wordle with a Google Form
Here’s a fun tip for you:
If you want to take a poll and then display the results in Wordle, try this:
1. Create your multiple choice form in Google. Here is an example of a form I’m creating for an upcoming presentation. Note the tilde (~) in between words. That’s so Wordle will keep the words together in the final product.
2. Once you’ve distributed the form, highlight the column with the selections. Copy that to your clipboard.
3. Paste the clipboard contents into Wordle. Wordle will thoughtfully ignore the commas, and since you used tildes to keep multiple-word entries together, it’ll keep those puppies intact. Like this:
Links You’ll Love
I love Flickr. It’s a great way to share photos and to find photos to use with your students. Check out this interesting blog post on some great Flickr tools, including a photo poem generator.
Who doesn’t love madlibs? Here’s a neat website that will create a poem from the words you enter.
I know I’ve talked about Snag Films before. This is a great resource with over 2500 documentary films. If you have an iPad you can download the app, too.
I am deeply, deeply saddened over the death of Steve Jobs. I plan to write more when I have time, but here’s an interesting read on his impact on edtech.
Links You’ll Love for 9-23-11
Here’s a video from the Shofar flash mob outside Wrigley Field last Sunday
Gann Academy (The New Jewish High School of Greater Boston) has a somewhat annotated spreadsheet of Jewish web resources. You can filter by source, type and experience
Are you using YouTube? Here’s a great post with some unique ideas and tips for integrating YouTube videos.
Check out 10 ways to wake up your class. Even if you don’t use these tips, you’ll get a chuckle when you imagine how your students would respond!
Links You’ll Love
Explore the Jewish contribution to Europe’s cultural heritage: http://www.judaica-europeana.eu/
Have you been playing with Evernote? Check this out: http://edtech.nathansandberg.me/10-tips-for-teachers-using-evernote-education
You know how much I love word clouds! Take two minutes and watch this little video on how to use them in the classroom: http://blog.simplek12.com/2-min-edtech-talk/6-ways-to-use-wordle-in-the-classroom-video/
I’m sure I’ve featured Jacob Richman’s awesome website before. Here’s his newest Learn Hebrew Rosh Hashana video:
Interested in finding out how video games are changing education? Here’s a great infograpic: http://www.onlinecolleges.net/2011/08/25/how-video-games-are-changing-education/
Interesting Questing
A new interest for me is developing digital quests. These might be digital versions of old-fashioned scavenger hunts, or more complex activities like city-wide activities using GPS navigation devices. When I was in Vienna this past summer with Centropa, we went on part of a geocaching tour that was created by middle school kids. What a great activity, both for the people who are participating and the kids who prepared it.
What’s super exciting for me is that I’m going to getting support from the great staff at the iCenter as part of my iChallenge incubator grant. There are three projects which I’m working on:
- A pretty straightforward digital scavenger hunt to be held in the synagogue building.
- A digital quest for Purim.
- My preconfirmation (8th and 9th graders) “Finding the Jew in You” quest. My students and I will be creating a digital quest for Chicago-area teenagers to use. The quest will include going to various Jewish sites in the Chicago area, performing tasks and collecting student reflections
I’ve started to compile resources on my wiki. Here are a few of my favorites:
Software:
SCVNGR is an app which is widely used commercially. It has a clean interface and it doesn’t seem terribly complicated to create challenges. Free accounts are limited to five challenges, but the developers graciously granted me an increase to 25 just for the asking. The editor is online, and the user needs to download an app to play.
ARIS is a platform developed at the University of Wisconsin. The site is impressive and extensive, with user docs and samples. Players can interact with virtual guides and collect artifacts (which can then be annotated using voice or a smartphone camera). The learning curve on this product looks steeper than SCVNGR, but there’s great documentation. Like SCVNGR, the user needs to download a free app in order to play.
QR (quick response) codes are not software per se, but rather digital tools. You create a QR code to encode some kind of data, such as displaying text or directing someone to a website or to create an email. There’s been a lot of discussion on how to use them in education, including digital scavenger hunts, links to podcasts and students portfolios and more. Users with smartphones, laptops or computers with webcams can use QR code scanners to read the code.For a video on how you can use QR codes in school, check this out.
Need some inspiration?
Getting a grip on the tech side is one thing, but there’s nothing like a little show and tell to get you going. Here are a few videos that might help:
And for a real dose of inspiration, check out Global Kids. Their New York City Haunts game will blow you away!
If you’d like to share what you’re doing, or what you’d like to do – please let me know!
How to create your own YouTube channel
First you need to create an account by clicking on create account in the upper right-hand corner
Once you’ve created your account, your email address will appear in that same corner – click on the drop-down arrows to the right of that. Click on Channel
Click on Channel, and a window that has a blue box that says Make me a new channel should appear
It’ll walk you through putting in your information, etc. Once you do all that, you’ll get to a screen that has “customize your channel page” on it. It’ll walk you through choosing colors, etc.
Then, when you log in to YouTube, you can choose Channel and get to videos that you’ve added!
Links You’ll Love
Listen to this amazing TED talk by Sarah Kaminsky, in which she discusses her forger father’s acts of bravery during WWII: http://www.ted.com/talks/sarah_kaminsky.html
Need to type a few words in Hebrew? Check out http://www.gate2home.com
http://davenspot.blogspot.com/ is an interesting blog by the Lookstein Foundation for educators who are “instigating dynamic energy to school prayer.”
http://tobendlight.com is a blog created by Evanston poet Alden Solovy. Alden is a prolific poet and shares his talents via blog and email.
And, to get your Rosh Hashanah season started: check out Dip Your Apple by The Ein Prat Fountainheads:
Links You’ll Love for 8-26-11
Ever feel like you’re a space case? Me too! If you’re interested in some great TED talks about the vastness of space, and about the awesome things that are up there… check out TED’s “To Infinity and Beyond” Playlist.
In the news this week… Steve Jobs, Apple Computer’s founder, resigned his CEO position due to health problems. As you might imagine, I’m a huge Apple fan, and the news saddened me. To understand a little of what makes him the innovative, creative genius that he is, check out the following links:
His 2005 Stanford Commencement Address
Harvard Business Review’s Umair Haque on Steve Jobs’ Insights for Capitalists
Interested in learning more about the iPad? The middle school will be getting one as a pilot machine. I hope to get it shortly, and encourage you to borrow it to see what it can do for you. In the meantime, here are a few links:
10 Excellent iPad apps for Teachers
20 Amazing iPad Apps for Educators
And, finally…
The 10th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks is quickly approaching. Visit the URJ for some teaching resources.
About
Debbie Harris is the technology coordinator at the Sager Solomon Schechter Middle School in Northbrook, IL and teaches religious school at Lakeside Congregation for Reform Judaism. Involved in Jewish education for over thirty years, she received an education degree from Northwestern University with a concentration in instructional media. She is skilled in using and teaching desktop publishing, video editing, presentation and animation software; and consults and presents regularly on integrating technology into Judaic studies. Her students podcast, blog, edit video and create claymations. She co-chaired the technology track for CAJE 33 in Vermont, is a SMART Certified Trainer for SMART Notebook version 10 for both Macintosh and Windows, and a 2011 recipient of the Grinspoon-Steinhardt Award for Excellence in Jewish Education.
When not learning, teaching or writing about technology, Debbie likes to craft. While not particularly highly skilled at anything, she likes to knit, do calligraphy, sew, paint fabric and just generally play with fun toys like scrapbooking supplies, watercolors, and anything with texture. She is incredibly proud of her two daughters; Lori, who teaches English at a community college; and Allie, who is a student at Hebrew Union College in LA.
Look for her at:
Her educational technology wiki
Debbie Does Desktop
Flickr
Twitter
Diigo
YouTube
Ravelry
Email Debbie here
