Scratch Frozen Monkey Game Click Here
For this module I decided to create a mini game using Scratch. I have been playing with scratch throughout the course and I really like how this program makes coding and design fun. Through making this game I realized the benefits of game design in the elementary classroom. First the students have to decide what the premise or purpose of their game would be just like they would when writing a story. I decided to make a game where a character, or sprite as referred to in Scratch had to avoid moving objects. The following is a list of some of the challenges I had with creating my game and how I solved them.
1. My monkey sprite was floating down to the grass too slowly. I had to figure out a way to implement gravity. I looked up a tutorial on youtube for how to do this as I wanted my sprite to gain speed as it moved back down to the grass.
1. My monkey sprite was floating down to the grass too slowly. I had to figure out a way to implement gravity. I looked up a tutorial on youtube for how to do this as I wanted my sprite to gain speed as it moved back down to the grass.
2. I needed to figure out a way to get my witch sprites at the top of my game screen to move randomly. I looked around in the coding operations and implemented the "random movement code" to ensure that the witch sprites would move to random coordinates. Then I had to figure out a way to ensure the witch sprites stayed on the top of the screen and didn't move all over the place so I had to set the Y or height variable for a certain height.
3. I couldn't get the snowflakes to disappear once they hit the grass or my monkey sprite. I had to code the snowflake sprite to disappear or hide and I ended up finding the "if touching..." widget and the "hide sprite" widget.
4. I was wondering how the game would end once the monkeys lives went down to zero. I didn't realize to do this I had to create a new backdrop and set the code to switch to the new backdrop once the monkeys lives went to zero. My brother who is taking computer programming in high school suggested this solution to me.
3. I couldn't get the snowflakes to disappear once they hit the grass or my monkey sprite. I had to code the snowflake sprite to disappear or hide and I ended up finding the "if touching..." widget and the "hide sprite" widget.
4. I was wondering how the game would end once the monkeys lives went down to zero. I didn't realize to do this I had to create a new backdrop and set the code to switch to the new backdrop once the monkeys lives went to zero. My brother who is taking computer programming in high school suggested this solution to me.
Something I would change about the process of developing my game is I coded most of the code onto one sprite (the monkey) which makes the organization of the code look jumbled and confusing. Next time as suggested by my brother I can implement relative code on separate monkey sprites to clear up the clutter of the code widgets. Making this game also got me thinking about next steps. Something I would like to implement is time intervals that cause the snowflakes to move faster after each minute passes by to make the game more challenging. If I did this I would also adjust the height the monkey sprite can jump. In a previous module I used a MaKey MaKey to develop controls for a pac man game. Using the same idea as building the pac man controller I would like to get a Makey Makey to control my Frozen Monkey Scratch game.
I had a lot of fun creating this game and I think students in the elementary setting would too. It is important that when this is used in education students are creating purposeful games that link to the curriculum. I thought as an activity students could make their own game using inspiration from books and characters they have read about. Another activity is for students to develop a game that helps describe a concept. There is definitely a process of design and inquiry that goes into developing a game with Scratch and is a great tool to engage learners in working with computers.
I had a lot of fun creating this game and I think students in the elementary setting would too. It is important that when this is used in education students are creating purposeful games that link to the curriculum. I thought as an activity students could make their own game using inspiration from books and characters they have read about. Another activity is for students to develop a game that helps describe a concept. There is definitely a process of design and inquiry that goes into developing a game with Scratch and is a great tool to engage learners in working with computers.
Playing with Code Combat
During this field activity I decided to explore codecombat.com as I had never heard of the gaming website before. This website really reminded me of the game Math Prodigy. However instead of using math facts to complete a quest the player has to learn skills for coding to provide their hero in the game instructions for what to do to complete quests. I played the first six levels of the game, took screen shots, made a collage and used thinglink to make an interactive photo of the features that I liked throughout the game. You can click the links below to access my thinglink interactive infographics. Scroll over the red dots to access my comments.
Code Combat Collage #1
Code Combat Collage #2
I think this type of gameplay would be great to use as a technology centre in the classroom. The game incorporates instructions to effectively scaffold the teaching of coding for beginners. Reflection and verbalization of concepts learned is a strategy teachers can use to help their students learn. In a study by Panoutsopoulos and Sampson (2012) the use of both computer games and paper based reflecting was examined in relation to performance and attitudes of mathematics with a sample of students aged 13-14. They found that the students were able to create and examine a hypothesis, and provide analysis of their work after engaging with the game. The reflection following game play revealed that the students were also able to relate game play to the real world suggesting that CBL was a valuable experience for them.
References
Panoutsopoulos, H., & Sampson, D. G. (2012). A Study on Exploiting Commercial
Digital Games into School Context. Educational Technology & Society, 15 (1), 15–27. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.uproxy.library.dc-uoit.ca/docview/1287024883?pq-origsite=summon
Code Combat Collage #1
Code Combat Collage #2
I think this type of gameplay would be great to use as a technology centre in the classroom. The game incorporates instructions to effectively scaffold the teaching of coding for beginners. Reflection and verbalization of concepts learned is a strategy teachers can use to help their students learn. In a study by Panoutsopoulos and Sampson (2012) the use of both computer games and paper based reflecting was examined in relation to performance and attitudes of mathematics with a sample of students aged 13-14. They found that the students were able to create and examine a hypothesis, and provide analysis of their work after engaging with the game. The reflection following game play revealed that the students were also able to relate game play to the real world suggesting that CBL was a valuable experience for them.
References
Panoutsopoulos, H., & Sampson, D. G. (2012). A Study on Exploiting Commercial
Digital Games into School Context. Educational Technology & Society, 15 (1), 15–27. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.uproxy.library.dc-uoit.ca/docview/1287024883?pq-origsite=summon