August rundown of the most read posts

illustration : Soledad Bravi

http://www.blogdesoledadbravi.com/

The summer comes to an end and the new academic year began, teachers are a sort of excited and a bit nervous. Students are feeling more or less like you. They are excited, nervous, curious about  you and the new curriculum.

As excited as we are to get back to school, all of us still get those first-day jitters. Between worrying about what to wear to impress our students or how to start the first class if you a are a teacher or the crush for the last school if you think your students feel, the first day is a bit of an emotional roller coaster. 

To start this new academic year, let your students feel free to express their emotions, be open to their imagination.

Find out who these kids really are. After that you will be prepared to start your lessons and find out what your students love deeply and then build the curriculum around that.

August was my summer break. However I wrote a few posts in English and French, sharing some interesting resources to ease and enrich the lives of educators and their students that will facilitate effective teaching and learning.

No doubt ! Games in school are always welcome. Even if they are not GBL, games and animated short movies can always be integrated in school curriculum if we know how to explore these digital resources in the classroom. 

Here are the most popular posts of the last month:

Coding at school : Piecefall, a game by students 

English & French : The hotest animated videos & video games to explore at school 

Le Mont Blanc et 1ere ascension : lectures BD 

Education & sciences : Catching the Falling Stars: the Perseids

Civics education : World Humanitarian Day 2015

Sciences education : here comes the 1st Supermoon 

Hope you will have a awesome new school year, creative students, good resources to enrich your lessons. And of course new ideas to continue intregating video games, animated short movies, social networks and other digital resources that will enhance the curriculum you are teaching.

Wherever you are for the new academic year, don't lose your joy and spontaneity of teaching. Teaching is a challenging work with many unique frustrations, but the rewards of teaching are numerable. Keep that in mind.

I'm back to posting the normal roundup every week.

G-Souto

04.09.2015

Copyright © 2015G-Souto'sBlog, gsouto-digitalteacher.blogspot.com®

August rundown of the most read posts by G-Souto is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Coding at school : Piecefall, a game by students

Piecefall game

https://store.playstation.com/

The first fully published PlayStation 4 student game has been released on the PlayStation Store on Wednesday, July 15th.

PieceFall the puzzle game will mark the very first game to be published and developed by a team of students for the PS4. 

screenshot: Piecefall

http://s3.amazonaws.com/

This was possible by the Playstation First initiative, which gives students a chance to get their games out there to the masses.

“Game studios like PieceFall creator Steel Minions don’t come much younger and fresher than this! In fact, the developers are all students on Sheffield Hallam University’s games degrees and don’t graduate until November 2015."

PlayStation Blog 

Steel Minions Game Studio, created in 2010 at Sheffield Hallam University to provide students with a merit-based "work simulation" studio environment.

Aims:

Students are chosen to work in the studio based on merit. And game projects are an integral part of their degree portfolio.

screenshot: Piecefall
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/

The game:

Piecefall is a Tetris-inspired 3D puzzle game where abstract floating islands destroyed by a storm have to be rebuilt piece by piece on a horizontal plane .

Four islands, each with twelve puzzles to be solved, allow students/players to gather points to unlock the ultimate level of the Zen Island by rebuilding the ancient spiritual monuments. 

As a reward and with enough points the ultimate level of the Zen Island is unlocked.

A game created and developed by students. Wow! I'm feel proud!

"The 3D visuals bring a sense of Minecraft, while the soft textures give off a tranquil calmness during gameplay."

PieceFall will mark the very first game to be published and developed by a team of students for the PS4. This was made possible by the Playstation First initiative, which gives students a chance to get their games out there to the masses.

@jacobmph & @WolfVulfy

How & when to get it?

Available on PlayStation 4 from 15th July, the studio’s new game PieceFall is an agile 3D puzzle game set in a world of abstract floating islands. 

The islands were destroyed by a storm, and it’s the player’s task to return the islands to their former tranquility by rebuilding the land piece by piece.

Price:  £0.99 ; $1.54

Education:

Oh! It’s really great to see young developers, in this case students, being given the chance to show the world what they have to offer, and it’s even better when what’s on offer is a very promising title.

Children and young adolescents are learning coding skills in schools curriculum.

Coding in school:

Teaching coding skills to students is seen as a long-term solution to the “skills gap” between the number of technology jobs and people qualified to fill them.

The new curriculum teaches students computer science, information technology and digital literacy.

Teaching them how to code, how to create their own programs and not just how to work on computer as the old school curriculum. But how a computer works and how to make it work for them.

There are apps, games already created by students. Piecefall is one of the last creations. And by English students.

Computing curriculum at school is already working in different European countries. Also in Australia, United States and other countries for sure.

Level : Elementary education; Secondary education, other.

Curriculum: You will decide as a teacher. The game opens huge possibilities as an educational digital resource.

screenshot: Piecefall

http://s3.amazonaws.com/

"It should come as no surprise that all five members of the final team have already secured jobs at LittleBigPlanet 3 developer Sumo Digital in Sheffield and Elite3D in Valencia." Wow!

PieceFall has been praised and hailed for being the first game ever to be released on a Playstation platform all done by students, which is part of  Playstation First Initiative. 

I think the game does look pretty solid, and from the video it does look quite nice.

screenshot: Piecefall
https://blog.eu.playstation.com/

Educators:

"PieceFall is sold as a puzzle game, but it is much more than just that. It’s an experience that tells a story of repair. Every time the island is put back together, it grows, as do the structures that were previously on the island. From building windmills, to a statue of an Egyptian god, it is all entered around re-building these sculptures. Combine this with the beautiful art style, and the relaxing music, it works as a relaxing little diversion."

Why not learning by gaming? You know how students love games in school curriculum. They learn much better.

Of course, it will be a good resource for Vocational students. They will be encouraged to follow their dream and be a game designer. Why not at Sheffield Hallam University?

"The visuals in PieceFall are charming with bright but soothing colours and peaceful landscapes. Although the soundtrack is very limited and can begin to grate on you if you’re stuck on a particular puzzle, the euphonious music helps evoke a sense of tranquility."

Indie Marathon

screenshot: Piecefall

https://blog.eu.playstation.com/

Better than this? If you want yo use it in your classroom, it will be a strangely hypnotic puzzle mechanic that will have an immediate appeal to Tetris students-fans. 

PiececeFall provides an intricate new take on the classic concept by flipping the puzzle onto a horizontal plane. Are your students ready to accept this challenge, and restore harmony to the islands?

PieceFall is brought to us from Steel Minions, a studio that is based in the Sheffield Hallam University, and is created by college students. Knowing that, it will encourage your students in coding lessons.

"This is the first fully published PS4 student game, paving the way for the next wave of PlayStation developers now in education, and is a real testament to what is possible when you follow your dreams."

PlayStation Blog

G-Souto

25.08.2015
Copyright © 2015G-Souto'sBlog, gsouto-digitalteacher.blogspot.com®

Coding at school : Piecefall, game by students by G-Souto is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Note: Thanks to Prof. Jacobs Habgood Department of Computing Sheffield Hallam University and Josh Pears, one of the English students.