This document outlines a learning story for a computer science class where students will develop a digital Pacman game by coding in Scratch. The learning story involves 15 lessons where students will work in teams to: research and design the game; code the sprites and background; test each other's games through peer review; improve their game based on feedback; and present their final game to the school community and at a digital festival. The goals are for students to learn coding skills, collaboration, project design, and receiving/implementing feedback to develop a digital game.

1. Learning Story Name: Develop a digital game by coding- Pacman on Scratch
Age range of students: 15-17
Number of students in my class:10
Subject: Computer Science and Communications Technology
Brief background on your school and classroom:
My school is a secondary school located in a little town in Greece with around 50
students. Most of them come from agricultural families but they intend to study at
university, therefore they work hard at school. Although most of my students have
a smartphone, it is forbidden by the Greek Ministry to use them in the classroom. I
have my own Computer lab with 10 desktop computers in a Local Network but
they are really outdated. When it comes for offline applications, the lab works
sufficiently.
Key challenges, trends impacting your work at the school and how they link to
the Learning Story:
ICT is is embedded across the Greek curriculum both as an autonomous topic and
asa horizontal tool support. Students are fans of technology and heavy internet
users from their early years, therefore they are considering ICT as a tool and not as
a science subject. This is the reason, I chose to teach them how to code, which is
the core of Informatics.Their parents also concern about the time students spend
on the Internet by playing games and posting on social media. This learning
activity will motivate them to become web content creators and not just
consumers on the Internet. They will also have the opportunity to use social media
for learning reasons.
Duration(could range
from a couple of minutes to a
couple of lessons)
2 lessons Homework: 1-2 hours
1 lesson
2 lessons
15 lessons 4 lessons 2 lessons
Learning Activity Dream Explore Map Make Ask and Collaborate Show
Goals (learning objectives,
try to match them to your
curriculum and 21
st
Century
Skills)
To learn coding on Scratch
To develop project planning skills
To develop collaborative skills
To develop communication skills
To develop software and web
content production skills
To develop research skills
To develop critical evaluation
skills
To reflect on their own design
To develop software production
skills
To develop information
organization skills
To develop collaboration
(feedback) skills
To learn the underlying concepts
of programming
Learn how to catch bugs and
break software
To learn how to upload and share
their work on the web
To define criteria and self-
evaluate their work
To improve critical thinking
To effectively use feedback and
criticism to improve their work
To develop communication and
presentation skills
To engage with a real-world
audience
Description of each
learning activity in the
context of the learning
story
I am a Computer Science teacher
and with the Communication
Technology teacher, I am
challenging my students to create
a digital game (Pacman) by
coding on Scratch. I first show
them a few interactive games
and quizzes on Scratch
Community in order to inspire
and motivate them and also
present the abilities that the
Scratch has. The last 15 minutes I
ask them to dream up their own
digital game.
In the second lesson, we work on
distribution in 4 three-student
teams. Each team selects a
coordinator and decides about
his/her role.
I ask students to find and play at
home various editions of Pacman
Game and to keep notices on a
common on line editor (Titan
Pad) about:
- the terms and rules of the game
- the characters (sprites)
-the scene (backround)
Back in school, all students
working in teams, review and
compose the notes on Titan Pad
and create mind maps of their
findings. This way they start to
create the basic scenario of their
game, including
-The characters (sprites) and how
they are moving on the scene
- Pacman’s lives at the beginning
- How to lose and how to earn a
live
- Messages to be displayed for
the player (user)
- Sounds and other effects to be
used.
Working in teams students start
to create their characters
(sprites) and background scene
using the drawing toll that is
included in Scratch. In second
phase they start to write the
programming commands for each
sprite. For this reason, they
follow teacher’s instructions that
are uploaded on school blog.
ALPHA TEST (Peer review)
Teams present games in the
classroom plenary. Students
compose an Alpha Test
Evaluation Form for Software,
using Google Forms.
Each team play the other’s team
game and fill up on line the
evaluation Form. They use
feedback to improve their game.
BETA TEST
Teams upload their games on
Scratch Community, and share
them on Facebook, asking their
friends, parents and teachers to
play the Game and post
comments and criticism as final
users.
They use feedback to improve
their game.
Students upload their final
edition in Scholl Blog.
SCHOOL COMMUNITY
Students present their games in
the school community.
STUDENTS DIGITAL FESTIVAL
Students present their work in
National Students Digital Festival.
Teacher evaluate the team work
in 3 dimensions
… Research Process
… content
… Public Presentation of
Teamwork
Digital
technologies and
tools
Scratch 2.0 on line edition,
Team up
Web search machines , Scratch
community, Titan Pad
Examtime,Titan Pad Scratch 1.4 off line edition,
School blog
Google Forms, Facebook, Scratch
on line
Prezi, School Blog