Cathrin and I have had our paper "Computer Game Design: Opportunities for Successful Learning." accepted for publication in Computers & Education (see publications page for the full draft). Cathrin did some great work in the analysis section, doing painstaking qualitative analysis of mountains of data and writing up in a really readable way.
I am quite fond of this paper. It's about game making within A Curriculum for Excellence, which I also quite like. For readers not among the blessed (i.e. Scottish), it's the new curriculum framework which is starting to come on stream in Scotland. It's much more flexible than the framework it replaces, giving the teachers license to do good stuff without having to stick within the previous 5-14 guidelines. We've had a lot of interest in our Adventure Author project from teachers who are starting to take advantage of the CforE. There are loads of challenges in getting the new curriculum up and running: we discuss some in the paper. We focus particularly on the "successful learner" strand of the curriculum which relates to some other work I am doing on metacognition.
"Abstract. Developing children as successful learners is a key aim of A Curriculum for Excellence in Scotland. This paper presents qualitative results from an eight week exploratory field study in which a class of ten year olds made their own computer games. The analysis focuses on the development of aspects of successful learning as identified in the curriculum: enthusiasm and motivation for learning, determination to reach high standards of achievement, independent and group learning, and linking and applying learning in new situations. As teachers have an important role in facilitating and supporting learners as they use technology, the paper concludes with a discussion of implications for classroom practice. "
Comments