Peggy Sheehy, Teacher (Game Master) | EPIC Learners
EXCALIBUR: Creating a Story and Gaming Academy for Middle Schoolers – Hits and Misses
Wrapping up year two of the 8th grade elective, Excalibur, I will reflect on what went right, what went wrong, and what I plan to do next year.
Excalibur is an elective that aims to accomplish multiple educational and social goals — the primary being to provide students with a real-world experience and skillset that can transfer to any modern profession. Using the concept of forming a game-design company, and making all of the decisions necessary to have that company produce a successful game, students are able to identify and master a diverse selection of technical skills as well as public speaking, narrative creation, branding and marketing, sound effects and voice-overs, art from conception through animation, researching to insure authenticity, management, leadership and teamwork.
Presented by the
Serious Play Conference
seriousplayconf.com
at
Orlando,
University of Central Florida,
UCF,
July 24-26, 2019
Montreal, Canada, Quebec,
UNIVERSITÉ DU QUÉBEC À MONTRÉAL,
UNIVERSITY OF QUEBEC IN MONTREAL,
July 10-12, 2019
14. HAIL EXCALIBUR !
1. Set up the xbox and the PS3 - Play
JOURNEY and Madden, OR SOMETHING
ON YOUR PHONE until we begin
3. Generate Game list by genre and
device (console? computer?) and
a. If you have it to donate OR
b. If we need to purchase it
4. Generate acceptable snack list --
consider food allergies!
5. Review Course syllabus from web
15.
16. Core beliefs…
■ students invest when they can be creative
■ students learn best by doing
■ social engagement can be a powerful accelerant to learning
■ Students can only develop an understanding if they have a
curiosity about the world they live in …
■ …and also an understanding of the needs and desires of others
17. VISION…
■Excalibur’s STEAM curriculum will connect students
to engaging, collaborative, learning activities by
employing sound education principles, and technical
skills & concepts that are critical to the constantly
changing and evolving field of computer science.
18. MISSION…
■ STUDENTS will LEARN HOW TO CODE BY USING REAL
SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT PROCESSES TO DESIGN,
PROGRAM AND PUBLISH MOBILE GAMES AND Game APPS
■students will develop their knowledge of the role of design
within society
■Students will explore Moral, Social, and Cultural question
which arise within the design process…
■Students will gain insight into the marketing & branding
processes of design production
19. Standards…■Over the past few decades, computers have transformed both
the world and the workforce in many profound ways. As a
result, computer science and the technologies it enables now
lie at the heart of our economy and the way we live our lives.
■To be well-educated citizens in a computing-intensive world
and to be prepared for careers in the 21st century, our
students must have a clear understanding of the principles and
practices of computer science. No other subject will open as
many doors in the 21st century as computer science,
regardless of a student’s ultimate field of study or occupation.
--- CSTA K-12 Computer Science Standards
20. GOALS…
the EXCALIBUR curriculum is designed to:
■ Attract interest in computer science from a broad and diverse range of
students
■ Teach the fundamentals of programming and computational thinking
■ Instill confidence in working with technology
■ Foster creativity, curiosity, and collaboration
■ Teach how to program computing devices to make things of real-world
interest and use
21. STUDENTS WILL…
▪ DEVELOP THEIR KNOWLEDGE OF DESIGN And TECHNOLOGY
WITHIN SOCIETY
▪ BROADEN Their Knowledge OF TOOLS, TECHNIQUES AND
STRATEGIES
▪ investigate product aesthetics and functions, both past and present
▪ examine how they affect the quality of our daily lives.
▪ develop their thinking skills and explore the wider world around them
▪ reflect upon what they see and develop an open mind
22. Students who successfully complete this
course will be able to:
■Describe what a computer program is
■ Use and implement common program control
structures
■ Read code in the environment and describe what
it does
■ Create and publish apps and games