The Thingy About Rubrics

There were several tasks that presented a challenge when creating the rubric.  And what we found the most challenging was choosing descriptions that could succinctly explain each category.  Another challenge was researching rubrics that could look at the assignment from a teaching tool point-of-view  while managing to incorporate the design of the game.   We discussed the basic structure of  traditional games that usually have rules, the objective, then the instructions, then worked out the rubric from there.  There were many rubric templates on the internet that either gave brief explanations, while others gave lengthy ones, which helped us to decide how we wanted to make ours.  Lastly, another interesting challenge was to make a rubric that could be used in our classroom to assess all technology-based educational games before including it in our lesson plan.  However, despite the challenges we encountered, one advantage to this assignment was the fact that we didn’t have to meet in person to collaborate, yet we spent many hours contributing to the progress of the presentation.  This discovery compelled me to see the parallel of the online educational games that strive to promote collaboration among the students.  As I read an article titled, Video Gaming, Education and Digital Learning Technologies, I feel armed with a fortitude to look into the online realm to augment student learning to incorporate in majority of my lesson plans.

The game is essentially about exposing students to the variables in genetic heredity, and the probable outcomes.  I can include this game as a homework activity when I teach life science.  Students who have access to a computer will be able to play the game from their home, and save the results of their game to their email account.  I have three working computers in school which the students who do not have home access can use during class, lunch and break time.  The students can save the game which is forwarded as an email message, which the student can then forward again to the teacher for monitoring purposes.  The teacher will then know at what stage the student is in, currently.  I can use this as a long-term performance assessment as the game allows for level advancement, and to continue where the student last left off.  This assignment works on problem-solving skills when students have to figure out how they can accumulate points or to stay in the game. The game also provides students opportunity to enhance their analytical skills, by formulating strategies, and another skill enhanced is being able to make predictions on the outcome of their actions in the game.   The game has an inspired look of a game that was popular a few years ago, called Tomodatchi, which involved constant interaction within a pro-long period of time.  Its objective was to challenge the consistency, responsibility and nurturing abilities of its players.  

                        Thingdom wins A Design Week Award.  The Design Week Awards are the stage for the most outstanding work across all design disciplines, from branding to interiors,                               products to interactive.

I would first use the rubric to assess the effectiveness of the online educational games I have selected in the past before I present it as a game again.  I will be able to break the game into parts to focus more on the design that enables learning, whether different learning styles are present, and if there are too many things happening.   What I’ve learned while creating the rubric is that sometimes we want the game to be flashy, but the busyness may be create a setback, by detracting from the objective of the game.  We spent a considerable amount of time looking for an ideal game, because we thought that “Thingdom” our chosen game, looked too simple or plain.  I learned though, that the simplicity of the design, gives a greater advantage for the game to become more technologically sophisticated after assessing it with a rubric.   I could also ask the students what types of games do they enjoy playing before I begin a search so that I can narrow it down to their preferences.   The success of creating this rubric will come with a clearer direction of what to look for in online educational games in the vast expanse of the internet, less time spent searching, yet more time in finding the strengths in a particular game, instead of finding the overall perfect game, which we discovered does not exist.

References:

Kirriemuir, John.  2002, February. D-Lib Magazine. Video Gaming, Education and Digital Learning Technologies. Vol.8, no.2.  Retrieved (2012, April 13) from: http://www.dlib.org

Castro, A., Pillow, R., Baxter, S., Santiago, S., Pangelinan, K. 2012, April.  Thingdom Rubric. Retrieved (2012, April 13) from: http://thingdom609.blogspot.com/