Games

=**Margaret Meijers**= //Teacher and ICT Curriculum Coordinator, New Town High School, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia//

=**Games: A Gateway to Becoming an Inclusive Learning Community**=

Gaming and education: Why play games when there is so much work to do? Margaret Meijers, a 2005 winner of the Microsoft Innovative Teachers Award gave the answer to that question and a road map for anyone who wants to make game making a part of their school curriculum. [|Mindtools], the website created by Margaret Meijers as a resource for her students, contains everything you need to get started.

Why have students create [|games]?
 * Games capture students’ motivation and enthusiasm and harness it for learning
 * Students become more engaged
 * They enjoy playing each other’s games
 * They are keen to swap ideas to solve problems
 * Students do more work than normal outside the classroom
 * Games are intellectually demanding and requires higher order thinking skills
 * Programming increases logical thinking and math reasoning
 * Game creation fosters creativity
 * It is very empowering for students

Ms. Meijers began by having students use the software [|Klik & Play]. It is an older application but it is free and it will run on any machine from a 286 to the newest operating systems. It is suited to younger students or those with special needs. However, if she were starting today she would use [|Scratch], the software application created by MIT. It is very easy for kids to learn quickly and has an online community where students can share work and get ideas.

Other software used by her students includes [|Game Maker], which has a lite version that is free. It has a drag and drop interface and is built in C so as kids get more skilled they can write their own code. You can use it to make 3D games and it is continually being upgraded.

What kind of games can Grade 6 kids make? They tend to stick to traditional games such as mazes and simple shooter games. However, once they get going they can make quite powerful games.

Ms. Meijers also had some very practical suggestions about how to manage a classroom of students who are just beginning. She has them first create games through tutorials so they can get down the steps. Additionally she has them work in pairs--one student watches the tutorial and tells the other (driver) what to do on the computer. It halves the problems and gets kids to support each other. For the first couple of lessons she brings in 3-4 students from another class who have already taken the class to help as peer mentors. They teach a small group who in turn teaches another small group. She also uses high school students to support primary students.

Another neat outcome is that game making encourages a culture of sharing. Students share ideas, finished products, half-made products, and source files. She has a SharePoint website where everything can be talked about and shared between students. This is how learning occurs. She also creates a survey template in each student’s name and allows plenty of time for students to play each other’s games. Then she has the kids give feedback on each other’s games. They are better at it than a teacher would be because they are better at playing games. Feedback has to be positive.

Finally, as she demonstrated to us through a very heartwarming story, game making can be very successful with special needs students. At New Town High School [|Mindtools] has truly been a gateway to making their school an inclusive learning community.