edurealms.com

#NCTIES23 – Get Your Screen Time Outside

One of the positive benefits of the pandemic for my family and I is that we began to spend more time outside in our own backyard, hiking, and exploring our family farm. As a former biology teacher, I’ve always preferred the naturalist side of the science, identifying and cataloging the diverse flora and fauna around us. Now, there are apps that make that more accessible than ever! So, why not take advantage of the powerful capabilities of the screens in our our pockets to do just that? It’s like PokemonGo, but… real!

This presentation was shared at the #NCTIES23 conference in Raleigh, NC, March 9th, 2023.

GAME Manitoba – Resources

Here are my resources from my keynote and workshop sessions at the 2019 Gaming Association of Manitoba Educators conference. Feel free to use these resources, and please give attribution, especially if you find them helpful!

The Keynote – The Third Place

Third Places – GAME Manitoba from Lucas Gillispie

Keynote – The Third Place

The Game Jam

EPIC Academy – Gamified Professional Development for Educators

Gamified Professional Development – EPIC Academy from Lucas Gillispie

My First Esports Camp – Reflections

Today marks the last day of our four-day Ignite Esports Camp. This was a paid, four full-day camp open to rising 5th – 9th grade students from northwest NC. The response exceeded my expectations. We had 10 students from our rural region!

We spent a small amount of time talking about the esports industry, collegiate competition, scholarships, etc. But, kids don’t come to summer camps to listen to grownups talk, so we quickly jumped into our first game, Brawlhalla. Brawlhalla is a free-to-play game like Super Smash Brothers on the Nintendo. We downloaded via Steam. Within minutes the room was buzzing with excitement as they learned the basics movements, controls, and even techniques. Later that day, once the Blizzard servers were done with maintenance, we moved into Hearthstone.

My first hunch was that, after the frenetic pace of Brawlhalla, they’d find Hearthstone too slow. Hearthstone is a free-to-play strategy card game based on the popular World of Warcraft franchise. I was surprised, again, to see them excitedly working through the game’s tutorials. Two games, one day… I was tired and they were chatting enthusiastically on the way to the car pickup line.

Kicking off day two, I chatted strategy and mechanics in Hearthstone with them. Of all the games we played during the week, it’s Hearthstone I know best. Again, less talk from me and more time in the game was important. Later in the morning, we began exploring Blizzard’s Heroes of the Storm, a multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) game. It’s also free. This game was more complex at the onset and they struggled a bit with the game’s challenges. After lunch we split into five vs. five matches at which point their enjoyment of the game grew exponentially. Here, one team consistently dominated the other. They communicated, made plans, and to some degree, executed them. The other team struggled to connect to each other in this game. It was fascinating.

Here was one of many teachable moments. We pulled back and reflected. What’s working? What isn’t? How can we grow? Again, this was short and sweet, then back into the game.

Day three brought Rocket League and Super Smash Brothers. I’d purchased six copies of Rocket League and set up six district Steam accounts for the game. While six were learning the fast-paced action in soccer with cars, the others were playing Smash Brothers on a student’s Switch connected to the projector. We then rotated everyone through both games.

Our final day included significant blocks of free choice among our games. Students self organized their games, game rules/settings, and so forth. This was a great opportunity for me to jump in and play with them. This is so important. Play with them. Model sportsmanship and healthy game-related banter. They love to see you fail and succeed. We wrapped up with mini tournaments in each game. They established the rules for each tournament.

Here are some final thoughts and observations:

Contrary to what vendors or “hard core gamers” might tell you, you don’t have to have high-end machines to start an esports program, club, or camp. We ran all of the above games without issue on low-profile Dell lab computers that are probably 2-3 years old, integrated graphics and all that. We played everything with mouse and keyboard. Yes, even Brawlhalla and Rocket League.
Most of the games we played were unfamiliar to my campers. Exposure to new games was a good thing. In introduced many of them to new genres. I even noticed several logged in and playing Hearthstone outside the camp.
Students attitudes change quickly. The initial experience some had in Heroes of the Storm turned them off, but team play (and the subsequent successes) turned them around.
Everyone can lead somewhere. Some students emerged as leaders in one game while others emerged in another game. This makes me think that an esports program could be huge in membership with students specializing in one or two games.
We form bonds through game experiences. I know this. I’ve known this. This camp reinforced my own experiences. Diverse kids connect through game experiences. By the end of the first day they were high-fiving, GG-ing (Good Game), and otherwise encouraging each other. By the end of the week, they were comfortable enough with each other for friendly/healthy smack-talk too.
If I were to spend money, I’d purchase some additional Rocket League licenses (wait ’til they go on sale). I’d also pick up some game controllers for Windows PCs.

Many are already making plans to attend next year’s camp and bring friends. Now, to get formal programs started in our schools!!

-Lucas

Gaming Association of Manitoba Educators – Keynote

Wow. 200+ educators in one place to explore all things related to games and learning!! Thank you @gametolearnmb for organizing an incredible event! I wish I could be physically present to hang out with you all (y’all as we say, ’round here) and learn! Here is my presentation. PLEASE – The best thing you can do is connect to other educators who are passionate about the things you are passionate about! Let me help – reach out to me on Twitter – @lucasgillispie, and let’s make those connections!

The Presentation:

Students to Heroes 2.0 – Gaming Association of Manitoba Educators from Lucas Gillispie

Thank you all for what you do for kids each day. YOU are SO VITAL!!

-Lucas

50 Fun Things To Do As A Family With Digital Gaming

If you’re looking for the largest range of league of legends accounts for sale then you have to visit this site https://www.unrankedsmurfs.com/. They have hundreds of lol accounts with rare skins for sale, as well as plenty of lol smurf accounts for various regions.

If you want to buy league of legends account for your friends to play on the rift then be sure to check out their account store. With hundreds of level 30 League of Legends accounts for sale, there is no better place to buy your LoL accounts online than Unranked Smurfs with its excellent buyer protections and payment security from sapphire.net, as well as full account information provided with every order.

Online purchase of goods like your Ninja’s headphones setup for gaming, solutions, and services has revolutionized commerce, opening countless opportunities to entrepreneurs worldwide. As commerce or more importantly e-commerce continues to broaden, it has also opened doors to online fraud and theft. Online payment security is becoming one of the most serious issues. Protecting customers against attacks over the internet and cyber theft to gain their trust is becoming very crucial and one of the most important tasks for business owners.

Online payment security can be considered as providing rules, regulations and security measures to protect customers’ privacy, data and the money involved. In this digital era, every business, company needs to look out for every hazard, every problem that can be faced through cyber attacks, as it can occur as quickly as clicking on an email link.

Inspired by @PeggySheehy‘s challenge, here’s my list:

Oculus Go and Education – Part Deux

Yesterday, I wrote about my early impressions unboxing and using the new Oculus Go and considered the potential impact on K-12 education. Today I had the opportunity to take some students into VR with the Oculus Go. As part of a science lesson with science teacher, @JudeaTarn, we took students on roller coaster rides. Originally, we’d planned on using the HTC Vive exclusively, but I thought this was a great opportunity to put the Oculus Go into students’ hands and let them give some feedback. This also allowed more students to have access to experiences at the same time, allowing time for each student to ride the coaster. The feedback was 100% positive! We used the EPIC Roller Coaster app, a moderately realistic experience (this is mobile VR, after all). After an exciting ride on a rusty mine cart or on a tour of a dinosaur-style theme park, you have a great opportunity to chat about forces and motion.

After providing roughly 20-30 students through three headsets, around 45 minutes to an hour of solid use, each showed about 66% battery remaining. Schools using these at any scale will want to invest in some power strips to keep them charged!

Again, still giving the Oculus Go a thumbs up for K-12 use. I should get commission from Oculus/Facebook, too. I imagine I sold a few future Christmas presents today, too.

-Lucas

Oculus Go – A Practical VR Solution for K-12 Education?

Our Options Prior to the Oculus Go

I’ve been exploring Virtual Reality and its applications for K-12 Learning for many years now. Inspired by a passion for games and learning alongside visions of exploring the moons of Jupiter or Tut’s tomb as imagined by Earnest Cline in Ready Player One, I’ve been playing in this space since the Oculus DK1 was available to developers. Today, I’m supporting three HTC Vives, two Oculus Rifts, and a PSVR in schools across my district. Each comes with its own strengths and weaknesses.

High-End VR

The major strength of high-end, computer-driven VR is the level immersion afforded by the experiences and six-degrees-of-freedom (6DOF) VR. Great experiences are driven by powerful computers and graphics cards and the ability of the system to detect the position of the headset and hands in the rendered three dimensional space. An obvious drawback for K-12 implementation is the expense associated with the hardware ($399 for the Oculus Rift and $499 for the HTC Vive) and the cost of a computer to support it (easily $1000+). On top of this, one… -ONE- student can be immersed in the experience at a time. That’s not to say they’re not worthwhile investments. A secondary display and a centers-based approach can make them work in the hands of a creative teacher.

Mobile-Based VR

Several schools in my district have explored phone-based VR using a variety of headsets and devices like the iPod Touch. Here, you’re still looking at a $200+ investment for the iPod Touch (which is a versatile device outside of VR applications) and whatever headsets you choose. VR isn’t the primary function of any these sorts of devices and experiences vary widely. Many districts are exploring Google Expeditions sets, too. Though sold with education in mind, prices can range from over $3000 (for ten students) to over $9000 (for 30 students).

Enter the Oculus Go…

Those were our major options until just a few days ago when Facebook launched the Oculus Go. Available at $199 for the 32GB option and $249 for the 64GB option, this is a standalone (no phone or computer required) option for virtual reality. Everything’s built into the headset. …and I just unboxed one yesterday. Here are some early pros/cons and thoughts for the future:

Pros:

The device is well-packaged and seems solidly designed.
It’s at least as comfortable as any other VR headset I’ve used (Vive, Rift, PSVR, GearVR…), though the PSVR might be just a bit more comfortable for me, personally.
The visuals are great. The view is actually just a but better than the Rift. No obvious screen door effect. Less “god rays” caused by the lenses.
The controller works fine, feels great, and is very responsive.
The user interface is beautiful and incredibly intuitive. Turn it on and you’re in… in seconds.
Supports some Bluetooth game controllers.
Headphone jack on the side!
Eye glasses spacer is included.
There are 1000’s of experiences already available. Many are categorized as educational.
The price.

Cons:

The battery life is short. Reports are two, solid hours, so it’ll need to be put back on charge between uses.
Three degrees of freedom – This limits some of the capabilities of the VR as only head motion (rotation, not position) is tracked.
No Bluetooth headphone support (at this time).
Reports are that lenses are prone to scratching and sunlight damage. This would be something to watch in classroom implementations.
No native YouTube app… yet.
No enterprise management solution that I’m aware of…. yet.

Early Thought and Questions:

From a district-level perspective, whenever I consider the deployment of any device at any sort of scale, I wonder about account and content management. Can I have multiple devices registered to a single account? How does content work with multiple devices, especially paid content?
Where are the apps/experiences that allow students to CREATE? There are some out there for modeling and painting and I’ll be testing those out. Those are the things I’ll be exploring next. This device really shines as a content consumption device.
The tight integration/association will probably give some schools/districts pause, but I believe there are workarounds.
There’s a solid selection of VR content in the Oculus Store that would be great in classrooms. Aside from the obvious 360 degree video, there are several offerings that are clearly designed with education in mind – The Body VR, Titans of Space, etc.

With those points in mind, my early recommendation is to give this a definite thumbs up for small-scale deployments (a few devices at a school) and a “maybe” for anything larger. I think the Oculus Go is potentially going to bring many more people into VR and that will only drive advancements! It is certainly a device I’ll be recommending to my schools who want to add VR technology to support student learning.

-Lucas

(Edit – A few more observations. I’m actually setting up three of these devices. Though no phone is required, the Oculus App is used to initially set the devices up and get them initially connected to WiFi. Through the app, I can individually “manage” each device. After setup, each is paired with the same Facebook account. Setting up a Facebook account just for this purpose might be a good idea. I’ve not tested paid apps yet, but once attached to the FB/Oculus account, it seems that the library of “purchased” apps is available on each.)

We All Want To Be Ms. Frizzle

I want to be Ms. Frizzle when I grow up. When I think about the ideal classroom, the Magic School Bus quickly comes to mind. This show (which is getting a reboot soon on Netflix) is what good learning is all about. Seriously! Can you imagine being able to take your students literally anywhere, any time, to do, just about anything? Learning should spark a sense of wonder. The experiences we create and share with our students should be the first spark that spurs them to want to dig deeper and explore more.

Nearly three years ago, I wrote about some early experiences with the Oculus Developer Kit. I was immediately struck by the possibilities. Fast-forward to today, I’m excited to share that we’re making it happen! Through a partnership with foundry10.org, we’ve launched our first VR Space in Surry County Schools at Meadowview Magnet Middle. Getting started with VR in schools doesn’t require a dedicated space, however, as part of library makeover, we wanted to create a space that kids would beg to be in. What once was a dusty book storage room has been transformed into a state-of-the-art space where we, like Ms. Frizzle, can take our students anywhere!

Part of the challenge has been educating our teachers and administrators about the technology. VR is hot stuff these days and there’s a wide-range of gear. Some schools are starting to explore the possibilities with phone-based VR using tools like Google Expeditions. This is a great way to bring VR experiences to many students at once, however, the experiences lack the immersive quality of high-end computer-driven VR like you might experience with the Oculus or HTC Vive.

Thanks to foundry10, our space utilizes the Vive. The Vive takes VR a step further in that it allows for what’s been dubbed room-scale VR. Simply stated, this means you’re not confined to a chair for your experience, but can actually move about the room while immersed in a VR experience. Take a step forward in the room and you move forward in the virtual world you’re exploring. And, don’t worry. A virtual grid materializes in front of you if you get too close to a wall. We started with hands-on experiences for our teachers. Simply having a great first experience seems to spark teachers’ imagination for the possibilities. Our Lead Digital Learning and Media Innovation Facilitator, Alicia Ray, has been working closely with Meadowview teachers to match the growing variety of VR experiences to the curricula they teach. From there, teachers are scheduling times to bring their students into the media center (another bonus) to rotate through selected experiences.

There’s an exciting variety of explorations our students are trying, too. Our social studies students have been exploring the world with Google Earth VR, stepping inside the Roman Coliseum or walking the streets of London. Our science students can travel through the body’s circulatory system or deeper, still, into individual cells. Likewise, we can take them scuba diving for an encounter with a Blue Whale in Wevr’s the Blu. We’ve explored Saturn’s rings in Titans of Space and we’re soon hoping to let students build their own unique worlds with Vivecraft (a VR-ready Minecraft mod) and physics simulator, Modbox! The exciting thing? We’re just seeing the beginnings of what’s possible.

Perhaps I’ll be Ms. Frizzle after all.

If you’d like to know more about the resources we’re putting together for high-end VR in schools, check out the VR Page on the SCS Digital Learning Wiki.

What is Pokemon Go? A Parent/Educator’s Overview

This weekend, Pokemon Go has taken the app world by storm. Pokemon Go is an AR (augmented reality) game in which you collect monsters (Pokemon) out and about in the real world. The game, by Niantic Labs, creators of the AR game Ingress, uses your smartphone’s GPS and data to share the location of these critters in the real world. Look at your phone’s display. See some rustling leaves on the sidewalk ahead? There’s one hiding there!

As you explore, real world landmarks: statues, memorials, churches, parks, historic markers, and the like are represented by blue icons called Pokestops. Get close enough to it, tap it, and give it a spin to collect items to aid you on your quest to collect more Pokemon. There are also Gyms where your Pokemon can battle those of other players. The more you play, the more you level up and the better items and abilities you get!

So, what’s the value in this game? It gets us out and about! The best way to play the game is to get out, walking/jogging and exploring! This is a great way to encourage your kids to get out of the house and play a game in the real world. In fact, I just walked nearly four miles with my daughter as we explored our local community college, gathering resources and collecting over 25 Pokemon! Sometimes you find Pokemon eggs. Want to hatch them? Put them in an incubator. The game then requires you to walk a certain distance to get the egg to hatch. Talk about motivation!

The more landmarks and points of interest near you, the more likely you are to find places to interact. We live in a fairly rural community, so the local college and the downtown area are the most rewarding play areas. If you live some distance away from an area like this, you may want to drive/bike to an area and then explore.

Only have one phone? You and your kids can always take turns finding and capturing the Pokemon you discover. (Hint: Hold down the Pokeball and flick it toward the creature when the circle’s the smallest to increase your chance of catching it.) Also, keep in mind a few things. With music, graphics, GPS, data, and screen that stays on while you’re playing, this game will drain your battery! (There is a low battery mode, but I haven’t tried that yet.) For extended play, you may want to take a backup charger. Also, though this is a fantastic way to get some exercise, it can be distracting. Don’t forget to look where you’re walking!

At the end of this month, the Pokemon Go Plus (a wearable gadget that connects to your phone and vibrates to let you know when Pokemon are near) will be available to help you in your quest to “catch ’em all.”

Pokemon Go is a great way to connect to your kids and get outdoors for some physical activity. This is also a great game to encourage kids to research strategy, how-to’s, and the Pokemon lore. The hype is huge right now, so why not take advantage of it?

Time for me to go and train my Bulbasaur!

-Lucas

Resources:

IGN’s Pokemon Go Guide

Reflections on Minecraft Game Design STEM Camp

Last week, I had the honor of spending four full days with a group of talented and highly-energetic middle schoolers during the the Surry County Schools annual STEM Camp. My camp, in particular, was Game Design in Minecraft. Throughout the week, using Minecraft as our platform, we worked through a design process to create an original game, built on a shared server.

Form A Design Studio

Students first formed a design studio, a group of three to four student designers. They gave their studio a name and then created a slogan. Some of my personal favorites were:

CMT (Create. Minecraft. Technology.) – “Expect The Unexpected.”

4RandomThings – “Sometimes, all you need are 4 Random Things to make 1 GREAT thing happen…”

All of the submissions were equally creative.

Develop Story and Map The Game

From there, teams were tasked with developing a title and some basic story elements they wished to include in their game. One group’s theme revolved around surviving a zombie apocalypse, another tasked you with finding a lost pig. Once again, Minecraft’s flexibility really enabled students to unleash their imaginations and creativity. Following this step, teams mapped out their overall design plans, labelling traps, puzzles, landscaping elements, and other challenges. At this point, teams pitched their ideas to me for feedback. Much of this dealt with the technical possibilities and limitations of MinecraftEDU. After approval, teams logged into our shared server, selected a site for their game, marked off the borders with colored wool and signs and began building. By far, this step was the most time consuming and most enjoyed by the student-designers.

Playtesting

As the part of the camp neared, we moved into a play-testing phase. First, each team play-tested their own game, thinking critically about what was working and what needed to be changed. A snapshot of the server was saved (to preserve traps and such), and studios played the games designed by their fellow designers. They provided constructive, written feedback to the creators of the game they played and then we moved into an iteration/polish phase. We spent some extra time discussing how to give and receive feedback. “Feedback is a gift!”

Walkthroughs and Live Interview with Game Developers

The week concluded with a live walkthrough of the game facilitated by each team and ultimately a ceremony to distribute an official (physical) badge for their work with certificates. Our last treat was a live chat with game developers at 1st Playable Productions. The 1st Playable team shared their path leading to careers in game design, games they’ve worked on, and challenges they faced along the way. Our student designers asked incredible questions along the way.

What worked well:

The design studio concept and the emphasis on team development.
MinecraftEDU. The management aspects available to the teacher were invaluable.
Rezzly (3DGameLab) – All of the challenges (lessons?) were framed as quests. Each one unlocking the next. XP, ranks, and badges provided fun incentives outside of Minecraft play.
Playing alongside the students.
Taking breaks. – We periodically took breaks from our design work to work on collaborative, team-based quests in a Survival Mode server. Spaced mid-way during the morning and afternoon design work provided fantastic brain breaks.
Getting feedback from students. What did you like? What did you not like? What would YOU change?
Music during design time. They love to sing while working.
Spontaneous dance party. – Teleport all the kids to a central location, crank up the music. Dance! (or jump and crouch – best you can get in Minecraft)

What needs work:

Students didn’t actually get into Minecraft until the end of the first day. That’s tough. It’s hard for them to focus entirely on writing/drawing related to something they simply want to be playing. Breaking the early design work up with some play and possible ways to do some of the prototyping within Minecraft might help.
Reminding players not to set off traps when exploring other teams’ builds.
Despite front-loading, some players simply can’t seem to help themselves when it comes to respecting others’ space and things in Minecraft. They are accustomed to simply taking/using what they see and then arguing about it if there’s a conflict. The solution? Next time I’ll spread the teams out in the survival world.

I’m really looking forward to building on this first year prepping for next year’s camp.

-Lucas