TetzMathPortfolio
“Games have grown up, and playing them is no longer reserved for children. In fact, the ability to play may be the single most important skill to develop for the 21st century.” (Thomas & Brown, 2011)
Final Video in My NLP quest to become a C++ programmer
Final Video in My NLP quest to become a C++ programmer
This work is an edited version of a previously published blog post. See below for the link to the original post.
When I started CEP810, I chose to become a C++ programmer as my Network Learning Project (NLP). I must say, like all things in my life, I was overly ambitious. Now while in the most basic form of the word programmer I am a programmer of C++ because I have made programs, I am not by any stretch of the imagination ready to add C++ programmer to my resume. At the beginning of my quest, almost 8 weeks ago I knew the C++ was a computer language that most game designers said you needed to understand to game design.
I am still unclear as if whether or not that learning C++ is just a hazing ritual, but I know I have learned a lot. I can now programs using inputs that are either numbers or words, I can use result statements, I can use if else statements to give two possible answers based on previous results, and I can use basic math operations in my programs. The program I used for this video is a completely new program, I did not find it in a video or a help forum. However, I did use look through many videos on youtube and look through many help forums to try and find out what I was doing wrong.
However, then Alberta was hit by a flood and the internet when out. Suddenly, my Network Learning Project became just a Learning Project. I had to scrap a large portion of what I wanted to do in this program because of the lack of access to the internet. I had not realized how dependent I had become to just be able to pop on the internet to look for a solution to my problem, until it wasn’t there. This must be how students feel when they work in groups using all the resources at their disposal and then cut them off to work alone on a test.
What I decided to program for my final video was a way to walk my students in the 8th Grade through the steps necessary to decide if a triangle was a right triangle if they knew the lengths of all three sides. Quite often I will receive the answer , that Yes it is because it looks like one….not the mathematical reasoning I was hoping for. So I thought walking them through this concept would allow me to not only use numbers, mathematical operation, string values, and results but would also be something useful in my teaching career. Before we get to the video, here is a primer for all of you that don’t remember The Pythagorean Theorem. The red square and the blue square fill the purple square exactly in a right triangle.
Serious Game Desing Elements Scavenger Hunt
Serious Game Design Elements
This scavenger hunt, really made me have to think about what I knew about game design, what I knew about games themselves, and what Ion the market games I had played and had to reconcile them together. I can honestly say that after completing the scavenger hunt I know I have a much better grasp of what elements I can use in games that I create for the classroom. I also really liked the scavenger hunt format, where I could complete the items in any order, but everything still had to get done. I may try this in my classroom next year as a way to get the practice that students need for master done, but still leaving them some choice in what order it gets completed.
Insightful 2
Explore More Innovative Ideas
So hopefully this visual will help you as you are listening to my video about creating a program that helps students to follow the mathematical reasoning steps to decide if a triangle not only looks like a right triangle but actually is.
I believe there are more ways to learn than just in the classroom. I agree that youtube allows students to learn a skill that they perhaps did not have access to or have the money for however I believe that any skill that could be dangerous to the student should have an on-hand mentor. It is all well and good to have the video on how to rewire your house, but the consequences of what could happen , I feel, out weigh the usefulness of youtube and help forums. So while I feel this is a useful way to allow students the freedom to control their own learning, I feel that for classroom use the parameters need to be limited to less than anything you want to learn.
