Game making

Making games!

How simple can get it be?  Have a look at the tutorials on the code.org site to get started.  (Try the hour of code)

• If you make something with the Anna and Elsa game you can share what you create via the embed code!
• Or take the angry bird through the maze and look at the code behind what you are doing.

                                         Source: http://code.org/learn 

Explore the starter projects on Scratch then have a go at either modifying one or creating your own.

On an ipad, have a play with Tynker or Cargobot.

Creating with code

This activity on the Thinking Myself site is a great way to get your head around...Computational Thinking!  There are also some good guides on the BBC bitesize site.  You could also watch this...or just visit the website :)

A couple of great places to play with code...

Code Monster

Khan Academy

And don't forget to revisit csunplugged.

Visual literacy

How visually literate are you?  Why is it important?  

Source: http://visual.ly/literacy-world

For some great discussion on the what, the why, the how...try:
Resource link or Silvia Rosenthal's fantastic Langwitches blog.  
There are of course lots of free and easy tools to create them.  These are just a couple:
easel.ly  piktochart.com  glogster.com  or you could just use one of the Microsoft programs.
When looking at the binary system, for our upper primary students...
Binary bingo!
CS unplugged has a range of great activities.

By the way, check out the American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) to see how you might represent other letters and symbols in the binary system.

Sustainability and a Futures Perspective

Who is really failing? Check out this slideshare and consider some of recent history's most famous failures. 

There are so many places to find amazing innovation. These are just a few great people and places that are addressing needs, trying to make the world a better place or simply fostering creativity to see what can come of it. 
Biome Eco Store 
ABC New Inventors (no longer produced but still many great ideas to explore)
The Thank you movement.
Sustainable designs for our homes.
Some more fantastic design ideas from Australian students.
Want to teach it?  Look at this great resource from the Powerhouse Museum.
The Maker movement is spreading!  Some great resources provided here by Gary Stager.

Looking at authentic eLearning

As you consider the context and design of your learning experiences, what key questions are you continually asking yourself?  What are the elements of authentic task design?

What form might it take?  Could problem-based learning work for you? Or a case study? (Here's another) If you are thinking web quest, make sure you know what a real web quest is!
Take a look at some of these examples of online learning and reflect on how they match the criteria for authentic eLearning design.  How do they make it happen?
Mysteries of Harris Burdick

Funds for pipeline project

Primary Science Mystery


Please don't underestimate the importance of questions! 
Question your design decisions - is it authentic?  is it a problem without a simple solution? are ICTs integral and being used purposefully? are students collaborating? etc etc etc
And of course embed questions throughout the learning experiences - why do you think? what if? what are the possibilities?
A couple of great resources for developing those questions:

Bloom's Question Starters

Socratic Questioning




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Mobile Technologies

Part 1: Exploring ideas
As much as we teachers enjoy creating individualised resources for our classes, let's not forget that there are many great ideas out there that we can tap into.
In terms of understanding the potential of, and making the most of mobile devices, here are just three sites you might like to explore:
http://www.jiscinfonet.ac.uk/infokits/mobile-learning/
http://www.ipads4teaching.net/ipads-in-the-classroom.html
http://louiseduncan.global2.vic.edu.au/

Choose one of these OR one you have come across yourself to explore with a colleague.  What is of value?  What are the issues? What tips or ideas are of particular value to your context?    


Part 2: Exploring tools
Work with a colleague to explore 1 or 2 of the apps or in-built tools on a mobile device.  Yes, actually get in there and use it.  Make something!  Consider how you could use it in your context.  Be prepared to share :)

Can you Google it?

If you can, and you can find an exact answer, perhaps you are not using problem-based design :)

Authentic, problem-based contexts are not ones in which a set answer is out there for students to find.  It is more like an open-ended question!