Scratch

Scratch is a multimedia tool that can be used by students, teachers, and parents for a range of educational and entertainment purposes from educational projects such as maths, to fun projects involving art and music etc. Mandy showed us an introduction video to it and then gave us a step by step guide and we had to create our own animation based on set instructions.  After having a go myself I would say that scratch is most suitable for people aged between 8-16 years old and this can again be backed up by the fact it is used in education all over the world. Personally I didn't enjoy using it as I found it quite hard to use and follow the instructions however I can see the reason behind it and how it would be useful in education. 

"Scratch helps young people learn to think creatively, reason systematically, and work collaboratively; which are essential skills for life in the 21st century"

http://scratch.mit.edu/

Gaming lesson

e ply with our friends could be incorporated into teaching!

We had a lesson based on gaming where Mandy gave us the chance to try out different types of computer games using a different form of console or technology. There were 5 stations in total and we al had to go around in groups spending 15 min on each. After each game we had to fill out an evaluation form noting down what we liked and disliked. The five games included:

• wii sport
• doctor who (on a tablet)
• adventure land (xbox connect)
• just dance (wii)
• mystery game (ipad)

Personaly I found the session fun as it was not a class room environment and as someone who necver plays compter games it was a new expirience. However I did find some of the games a little boring such as doctor who as I dont feel the instructions were clear enough. Wii sport on the other hand was a lot of fun and I would definately play on it again. 

From this session I have learnt that gaming can be used in group work and can definately be used to learn in a classroom environment. 

Techno Camps

On Tuesday my class visited the Libery Stadium to take part in a project called Technocapms. Unfortunately I couldnt attend however have done some back round research to see what it was all about. Techno camps provide free workshops to students to give them the opertunit to learn about in debth computer science and STEM. The work shops run include game design, programming, robotics, app development and much more. 

"It is about getting young people (11-19 years) in Wales excited about Computer Science and STEM and challenging them to think about the world around them in a different way." 



http://www.technocamps.com/