It has been an exciting couple of months for ELT Sandbox in the new surroundings of Libreville, Gabon. Life in this part of the world is full of challenges. You have to learn to do without things you previously took for granted and make the most efficient use of things you never even thought about being in limited supply before.
Access to and use of technology has been one of the things most drastically affected (which shows how this part of the world is changing as I am not concerned about drinking water or electricity). Internet is painfully slow and incredibley expensive and has an annoying habit of not working at all just when you need it.
However, in terms of the school I now work at, I have landed on my feet somewhat as it is a well-equipped and efficiently run place with plenty of opportunities and encouragement to do something different (see this post on my other blog for more details).
Access to and use of technology has been one of the things most drastically affected (which shows how this part of the world is changing as I am not concerned about drinking water or electricity). Internet is painfully slow and incredibley expensive and has an annoying habit of not working at all just when you need it.
However, in terms of the school I now work at, I have landed on my feet somewhat as it is a well-equipped and efficiently run place with plenty of opportunities and encouragement to do something different (see this post on my other blog for more details).
So, when I was asked to propose an idea for an after school club (and not being especially talented at any sports or arts), the first thing I thought about was 'game-based learning'. But how to sell the idea to the school? I prepared a series of points to make to emphasise this wouldn't just be about playing games after school. They were as follows:
- Each session will have a learning goal in mind
- The students will learn to play through cooperation, not just competition
- We will discuss issues about gaming such as how much is too much, why are some games unsuitable for kids and so on
- We will focus on problems, dilemas, and social issues that the games raise and how we react to them
The club has been running for a little over a month now and I am now finally getting some time to write up some of the activities we have been doing. We have started out with MinecraftEdu and the school also purchased licences for KerbalEdu, which we will start using in the next couple of weeks.
The great thing about these titles is that they are 'edu' versions of games the students already know so it opens up the idea of games having an educational element. They also both have active communities of teachers who create maps, worlds, and missions, and also share a multitude of lesson plans and ideas online so there is a lot of inspiration out there.
Of course, this club is not really about language learning as I have a mix of native and non-native English speakers in class but the plan is to use the chance to educate the students about what games can teach us if we let them and how to connect what we the skills we use when playing with the skills we need in the classroom and beyond.
So, a major focus of ELT Sandbox over the coming months will be the club, the activities we do, and the games we play. We will not just stop at Minecraft and Kerbal as some very cool games developers have been kind enough to grant us permission to use their games so I will be writing about those titles as and when we use them.
Also, I have a series of reviews lined up, not just of the games from our club and their educational uses but also a couple of games designed specifically for learning scenarios, a book review and reviews of some of the other GBL blogs and resources out there.
And interviews! I have approached a few leading lights in the worlds of GBL and ELT to be intervieweed for this blog and you can expect to see some of those appearing soon.
Please stay tuned for our GBL club adventure and ELT Sandbox posts!
The great thing about these titles is that they are 'edu' versions of games the students already know so it opens up the idea of games having an educational element. They also both have active communities of teachers who create maps, worlds, and missions, and also share a multitude of lesson plans and ideas online so there is a lot of inspiration out there.
Of course, this club is not really about language learning as I have a mix of native and non-native English speakers in class but the plan is to use the chance to educate the students about what games can teach us if we let them and how to connect what we the skills we use when playing with the skills we need in the classroom and beyond.
So, a major focus of ELT Sandbox over the coming months will be the club, the activities we do, and the games we play. We will not just stop at Minecraft and Kerbal as some very cool games developers have been kind enough to grant us permission to use their games so I will be writing about those titles as and when we use them.
Also, I have a series of reviews lined up, not just of the games from our club and their educational uses but also a couple of games designed specifically for learning scenarios, a book review and reviews of some of the other GBL blogs and resources out there.
And interviews! I have approached a few leading lights in the worlds of GBL and ELT to be intervieweed for this blog and you can expect to see some of those appearing soon.
Please stay tuned for our GBL club adventure and ELT Sandbox posts!