Innovative approach to learning technique reaps rewards for pupilsBy Edd McCracken, Education Correspondent
The addition of Sonic the Hedgehog and Super Mario Brothers to the ranks of Robert Burns and Robert Louis Stevenson is helping Scottish schoolchildren become enthused about learning and reaping ground-breaking educational results, according to researchers and teachers.
Experts say in games-based learning, using technology such as the Nintendo Wii and Nintendo DS in the classroom, Scotland leads the world.
According to the Consolarium, the Scottish centre for games and learning which is funded by Learning and Teaching Scotland, the number of pilot schemes around the country has grown exponentially. Last year 10 local authorities were using games-based learning. At the start of the new school term, 27 are investigating its possibilities.
As further evidence of growth, Derek Robertson, head of the Consolarium, points to this week's Scottish Learning Festival at the SECC in Glasgow. With titles ranging from Thinking Out of the Xbox to Scotland's Got Game: How Scotland Has Embraced Games-Based Learning, there are 10 seminars sharing examples of how classrooms are using computer games. Last year there were only four related talks.
"I don't think there is any other place in the world that has done what LTS did," said Robertson. "I'm continually asked who does my job in England, and there isn't anyone. For LTS it was a risk, a maverick idea from the left field that has moved into the mainstream. It's even mentioned in the Curriculum for Excellence. That's the impact we've had."
The world is now looking to Scotland. Robertson has been asked to speak in Germany, Australia the US. He has already advised the Singapore government. A section of the influential Handheld Learning Conference in London will be given over to what is happening in Scotland.
"People recognise that Scotland is a place that is keen to integrate these things into the curriculum," said Robertson.
Teachers are reporting that by using games such as Mario and Sonic at the Olympics, Guitar Hero, Wii Sports and Endless Ocean, pupils' motivation, attendance, personal skills and academic performance have improved, particularly among young boys and hard-to-reach children.
Meldrum Primary school in Aberdeenshire employed the game Endless Ocean as a hook for cross-curricular project for its P7 class. After playing the game on the Wii, which involves controlling a diver exploring a seascape, the pupils learned about bio-diversity, wrote stories and staged a debate about developing the a section of the ocean for tourists.
"It got so heated the person acting out the part of the tourist development person was in tears," said Kim Aplin, the deputy-head teacher. "The quality of the learning that took place was tremendous. There is no doubt at all it improved their academic ability."
Other examples around the country include West Lothian nurseries and primary schools using dance mats as a way to develop early-years phonics and reading skills, with "huge success", according to Laura Compton, the authority's information and communications technology development officer.
In Elrick and Banchory primary schools in Aberdeenshire, P2 pupils learned how to be responsible for looking after a pet using the Nintendogs game on the Nintendo DS.
In Clepington Primary School in Dundee, Jo-Anne Bell used Mario and Sonic at the Olympics on the Wii as a hook to teach her P6 class about the solar system. Pupils were placed into teams named after planets, wrote stories about the creatures that would live there, and competed against each other every morning on the Wii.
"Before that project some would struggle to write paragraphs, have mental blocks when it came to using their imagination, some would have backgrounds they don't want to use," said Bell. "The volume they wrote and the creativity used was massively changed. It is about academic achievement but it's also about enjoying school and working with peers in class."
After last year's trial involving a Dundee primary school class using Dr Kawashima's Brain Training on the Nintendo DS for 20 minutes a day, which sparked a 10% improvement in their basic arithmetic, the project was rolled out to 16 other schools. The results will be revealed on Thursday at the Scottish Learning Festival.
The head teachers' organisation, School Leaders Scotland, said while it welcomed the rise of Nintendo and Sony consoles in the classroom, it had reservations.
"It's a great extra resource, a great motivational tool, but it has resource implications and you have to keep it in perspective of the other things that you really need to do in terms of education," said Ken Cunningham, the general secretary. "The projects are product-dependent and not readily available to everyone all the time. They have to balance all that with all the more traditional style of teaching, the interpersonal skills. So it's about getting the balance right."
