Scratch

Ok...so where to start.  Here's a new tool I played around with today (it only took me 4 hours lol).

Here's the link http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/11582073/

What I liked about it: 

- self-created (by teachers or students)

- you can aggregate content (by 'seeing inside' and remixing)

- fun way to participate in a learning game (attention grabbing)

- students/teachers can comment for a nice discussion

- FAQs and tutorial available

What I didn't like about it:

- it took me 4 hours to make that silly (and incomplete) game

- tutorial didn't fully explain each term individually....I had to guess or copy the tutorial

- it wasn't saving appropriately (I had to re-do the quadrants 11 times!!!!!!!!!)

But in all seriousness, if I knew how to use it and it functioned appropriately, the uses of games or self-created projects through the use of tools such as Scratch are wonderful tools for learning.  

As a teacher, when creating a learning game one must always keep in mind objectives.  Once a good learning game is designed it has beneficial uses for the teacher and students.  It enables the teacher a quick glance at the scores to see where the students are at, as a quick (unofficial) assessment. This frees-up the teacher to provide feedback and redirect instruction.

As a student, these can be fun (attention-getters) and a way to self-assess.

As an IDer, this is yet another tool under one's belt.  Just as we try different tools in this course, Scratch and other game-based learning tools can be a way to train IDers to practice linking objectives with tasks.  It also facilitates creative options for developing instruction.