Computer games help maths class

COMPUTER games are about to get a lot more common in maths classes at four Liverpool primary schools (NSW).

A pilot numeracy program, where students use Nintendo DS game consoles to train their brains, has been extended.

Read more here …

Nintendo Brain Games Are Good For Pupils

Pupils’ mathematical skills, attendance and punctuality are actually improved by playing Nintendo’s Brain Training at school, a study claims… read more.

A Gamers Education: Nintendo DS results

http://agamerseducation.wordpress.com/category/nintendo-ds/

Gamers Education blog is a repository for games and the educational value they believe exists in each one. The value can be academic or social in nature. Each game listing includes an image of the game, a brief description and a listing of it’s academic and/or social benefits.

Other resources on this site include articles based on gaming and education, sites for online gaming, links to groups of gaming parents and information on gaming schools.

UK Game based learning sites

Handheld Learning and GameBased learning are 2 sites that contain some great information for research, proposals and grant applications.
http://www.handheldlearning.co.uk/
http://www.gamebasedlearning.org.uk/

Do you know of a good game based or handheld learning site?
Let us know!

Nintendo DS in Schools

At St. James’ CE Primary, we have been using the DS Lites with the Braintraining exercises on a regular basis. We have used these in addition to regular paper exercises taken from a range of Braintraining resources. We have incorporated the DS Braintraining with our Guided Reading as an independent activity. Each child initially took the test to get a baseline score and to identify areas for improvement. Children with one of these at home had the advantage of knowing how to complete the activities but once they had all become familiar with the tasks this did not appear to give them any added bonuses as we tracked their progress.

Read more at the Source

New Find: Nintenducation – A New Take On Edutainment

It’s a great time to be in grade school, if you live in Japan or Great Britain. Several dozen schools in both countries are putting Nintendo DSs in K-12 classes.

Games are no stranger to schools, of course. Think back to the 80s when at least 30 minutes of every school day was given over to drowning your wagon in Oregon Trail in the name of History class, or letting your SimCity fall to ruin through crime and tornadoes on behalf of Social Studies. From the first school-sanctioned games like these to the full-blown edutainment of today, it’s safe to say educators are aware of the learning potential in video games.

Read more at … http://kotaku.com/5218088/nintenducation–a-new-take-on-edutainment

Slideshare presentations of DS experiences

The following 2 slideshares are of schools/classrooms that have trialled the Nintendo DS systems in their classrooms.
Dawn Hallybone of Oakdale Junior School http://www.slideshare.net/HandheldLearning/dawn-hallybone-presentation

Anthony Evans of Peter & Pauls Catholic School http://www.slideshare.net/skinnyboy/nintendo-project-report-presentation

Oakdale Junior School DS report

A great artilce on the Future Lab site featuring teacher Dawn Hallybone.

“It’s the only time we are quiet,” quips Kianna, aged 11. And there is no dissent from Dawn Hallybone, her teacher at Oakdale Junior School. In fact the silence in the Year 6 maths lesson is remarkable as the pupils immerse themselves in the mental maths exercises generated as quickly as they can handle them by Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training software on their Nintendo handheld gaming consoles.

http://www.futurelab.org.uk/resources/publications-reports-articles/web-articles/Web-Article1259

Doctor Kawashima in the P.6 classroom

More from the Dundee Schools program.
by Derek Robertson

Some time ago I had a hunch, a gut feeling that Doctor Kawashima’s Brain Training for the Nintendo DS was a tool that had a locus of some kind in classrooms. I remember having the same feeling many years ago when I first saw the Logical Journey of the Zoombinis and that game proved to be incredible as a learning tool. Anyway, For those of you who have played Doctor Kawashima then you will know that much of the research that informs the games design is based on the fact that increased cognitive challenge means increased blood flow to the brain. This is, as Doctor Kawashima argues, just what a healthy brain needs to keep it active and alive!….

http://ow.ly/1K6aU

Brain games help distracted kids: study

BY EMMA SHAW

SOURCE

25 May, 2010 11:48 PM

The effectiveness of commercial brain-training games has been questioned in the media recently but one University of Wollongong academic still believes in the power of play.Dr Stuart Johnstone, an associate professor in UOW’s School of Psychology, is researching the use of simple computer games to improve impulse control, attention and memory in children.Dr Johnstone said his own approach was very different to the training offered by commercial games.”This notion of broad brain-training is not a bad thing,” he said.”It will keep you mentally active but ultimately you’re not going to see many benefits in everyday life because it’s not targeted.”Ours is much more of a targeted approach and it has a purpose. In children, one of the key principles is for them to keep their mind on the job. If memory, impulse control and attention functions are operating reasonably well, it keeps them on the job in the classroom.”

VOTE: Would you use video games to help your child concentrate?Dr Johnstone’s study has been running for more than a year and 100 children, including a number with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), have taken part. Game tasks include visual searches, where children have to identify certain objects.”We’ve had good reactions, although variable reactions,” Dr Johnstone said.”Parents have reported improvements, such as children being better able to follow through on tasks, and several parents have reported their kids are reading more, rather than going for the short-term stimulation of TV.”Dr Johnstone said he and his team were now keen to analyse the data collected, as well as develop the games for further research.”We’re only just dipping our toe into this research area now,” he said.”The motivation is to put something forward that isn’t a chemical, to offer parents with kids with ADHD a non-drug alternative.”Dr Johnstone is still seeking children with ADHD to take part in his study. Contact 4221 4495 for more information.