Programming for children comes in many guises: be it Logotron, my first logo, MS LOGO, Scratch, KODU, Starlogo TNG, Bee-Bots, Probots, Roamer, Pixie or any of the pencil and paper procedures we teach for instructions are not only good fun but a sound basis for for future computing languages and syntax.
Aimed at teachers and those interested in using games with an educational intent, this handbook aims to provide some useful anchoring points for educators to make sense of the area and to develop practical approaches to the use of computer games as a medium for learning.
It is assumed by some that the models games employ lead to learning, as young people effectively learn how to play without necessarily being explicitly taught, doing vast amounts of reading or interacting with others; while others see games as boring, tedious, time-consuming, and repetitive.
Originally designed as a learning tool for youngsters using Xbox 360, Kodu was released a year ago as service with a powerful programming language that quickly became a hit in academic circles. Since its release, Kodu has been downloaded more than 200,000 times and is used in more than 60 educational institutions across the globe, according to Microsoft. Redmond thinks Kodu's biggest hurdle so far, however, has been that schools needed to purchase Xbox 360s, controllers, and so on to get started. Thus, the software giant has ported the tool to Windows as most educational institutes already have PCs with mice and keyboards.
The game lab is downloadable from the XBox 360 Community Games page inside of XBox Live. Once downloaded (and paid for I might add; 400 Microsoft Points), you are launched into a tutorial that shows you the basics of how to manipulate the Kodu environment. There are three basic editable features: the world itself, the sprites & their actions / reactions, and user input via the game controller. But don’t let that lead you to believe that your options are limited. You have a nearly limitless canvas to fill with your ideas!
You can start with one of the many samples & tutorials or build your game from the ground up. There are a multitude of objects to include in your game’s scenery: hills, mountains, water, trees, and numerous other objects. After getting your world setup, there are more than a dozen different classes of sprites you can use to populate the game board. Each sprite has its own unique way of locomotion, speed, and abilities.
In a nutshell a playable custom version of a cross between Mapforge for Halo, Populous (if you're old enough to remember that!) and Starlogo/ Alice with the common control of Xbox handsets. The good thing here is that this 12 year old girl at the CES conference displays great bravery in front of this audience to demonstrate the speed of development of her world in kodu. This, I think, is a great gauge of where to aim your levlling at should you take this on in your classroom.
Welcome to old Skool methodology. The good thing about Logo in this context (here at Softronix opens in new window) is that it's all text. In today's climate, though, with the kids using all manner of consoles the lesson wears pretty thin pretty quickly unless you have some recursion examples at the ready. The prospect of hand writing the code is laborious especially when mistakes inevitably happens.
The key element I find is patience. Teach that it doesn't always go to plan. Have a few simple examples gone wrong (repeat 3 [fd 100 rt 90] as an example) to read the code before going on to bigger a greater puzzles. 3 lessons max is all we do in this mode now because of greater, more colourful and time saving programs are available (Alice, Scratch etc).
The one thing I wish we could arrange is to run this on the monitors attached to an Amiga or an Atari and loading from a diskette. Now that would bring back a great historical element very alien to a 10 or 11year old kid! I am hatcheting a plan as we speak.
Logo, though, holds a great deal of value to younger children especially in the MyFirst LOGO mode (will modify the post when I can find the blessed link - do you know where it can be found?) This is in conjunction with the bee-bot software which offers the differentiation of instruction within 2-D and 3-D worlds.
For early KS2 and later to Year 5 - I use these links as a base and an introduction from these wonderful people: numeracysoftware.com
To save the file, right-click on the link and select 'Save Target As' from the pop-up menu.
MSW Logo procedures which produce various racetracks for two pupils to manoeuvre around, taking turns to input logo commands. Instructions are in the text file.
A 2-player version of the download above. Players take turns to find a path through their own maze. Read the instructions in the text file. Requires MSW Logo.
MSW Logo procedures which generate 'targets' for you to shoot at. Excellent for developing simple logo skills and for estimating practice involving angles and distances. Instructions in the text file. Requires MSW Logo.
Use these MSW Logo procedures to demonstrate and discuss grid references with your pupils. Instructions and suggestions can be found in the text file. Requires MSW Logo.
A set of logo procedures which can be used to demonstrate and discuss the points of the compass with your pupils. Instructions in the text file. Requires MSW Logo.
A set of logo procedures which enable pupils to carry out a piece of investigative shape and space work. Instructions and worksheets are in the Adobe Acrobatpdf file. Requires MSW Logo.
MSW Logo procedures that can be used with very young pupils to develop language associated with shape, size and colour. Read the text file for more details.
These MSW Logo procedures are a valuable teaching and learning aid when covering work on transformations. Instructions and teaching ideas are in the text file.
Four mazes in bitmap format which can be loaded into MSW Logo as backgrounds for pupils to manoeuvre around. The LGO file automatically positions the turtle at the entrance to each maze. Instructions in the text file.
This pack of materials, in Adobe Acrobat format, contains teacher's notes and pupils' activity sheets for an excellent shape and space activity. The logo file contains MSW Logo procedures to support the activity.
This pack of materials, in Adobe Acrobat format, contains teacher's notes and pupils' activity sheets for an excellent shape and space activity. The logo file contains MSW Logo procedures to support the activity.
Tuesday, November 1, 2011 at 8:16AM 
