15 oct

Finally all of us have submitted our ict lesson plan essays! What a relief! One essay down, many more to go(at least for other modules). Today, we continued with our station games and we were to cover 2 stations. As for my group, we had to go to stations 4 and 5. I was a tad excited, waiting to lay my hands on the wii controllers as soon as we are given the green light to begin playing the games.

Some of my team members played wii tennis and from the first round, I could sense the adrenaline rush just by observing how intensive they were while playing tennis. It felt as if they were holding an actual racket each as they were swinging their arms. The rest of us, who weren't playing, were cheering them on! Then, it was my turn to have a go. I played wii boxing against Angela and I lost! I must say that I felt quite breathless after several rounds and my hands were a little tired. It must be due to the lack of exercise which explains why I was that weak! Though a little tired, I enjoyed myself and has fun!

After the bell rang, we moved on to station 5-which was the coding of the QR code. It was quite interesting and engaging as we took turns to scan our iphones to detect the missing word and to rack our brains as we tried to think of all the common themes for the various stations.

Reflecting on what was done today, it is quite true to say that while playing the several station games, we were not exactly absorbing or registering any learning takeaways. At least for me, I am just interested in having as much fun as I can. Before every game, there will be instructions pertaining to the game and a few from the class raised that we do not really read and understand them till we have attempted the games, that we realize and know the proper way in achieving the goal. This can be in relation to traditional classroom teaching where teachers just deliver their lessons and they give out instructions. Students on the other hand may seem like they do understand plainly by listening.

However, the real test comes in when they are required to do the exercises. And it is only learning by doing that they will be able to fully understand and fully comprehend whether they are on the right track.

Another learning lesson which I have learnt is that it is very critical to fail in game based learning in order to improve. It is only after failing once, that one will be aware of his mistakes and to improve and avoid them in the future. For example, before playing the game, we were briefed beforehand on what to take note, the do's and dont's of the game (basically the rules). I thought that it would be a piece of cake for me till my I tried it myself that I realized it wasn't that easy. I failed on my first attempt and the subsequent rounds, I got better and better. Once one has failed, it is natural (or rather human nature) to be more motivated to do even better for the future rounds.

Quoted from social studies central, digital games are mainly "Purposeful goal-oriented, rule-based activity that players perceive as fun". All in all, I feel that game based learning is a different type of learning outside the usual context of textbooks and whiteboards where students can experience a different dimension to learning and at the same time be able to bring home valuable lessons of learning with them.