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In my quest to have my students learn by doing,
I introduced the Landmark Game to Kidproj, a division of
Kidlink, two years ago. Introducing my students
to the game and their administrative responsibilities is one of my favorite
presentations since it facilitates cooperative and active student learning
as it incorporates word processing, data base, spreadsheet and telecommunication
skills in a real world interdisciplinary activity. It also encourages students
to talk and think technology.
The
Landmark Game invites participating schools to
choose a landmark any where in the world. Students research facts for clues,
compose nine clues and post three per week to Kidproj. Participating schools
can ask one question per week of posting schools. The school which guesses
the most landmarks is declared the winner. Last year nearly 50 schools from
around the world participated.
Through the use of the LCD panel and the Landmark
home page I introduce the students to the game. I review the Call for Collaboration
and timeline from last year's game, and the landmarks and clues submitted
by past players. In cooperative groups the students develop a model by talking
and thinking about the technology skills that they need to administer and
play the game . Through class discussion of each groups' model, we develop
a schemata of the necessary technology skills.
The schemata includes game managers, data base managers, spreadsheet managers,
and telecommunications managers. In future class meetings, every student
will l also take an active role in assembling the clues for our landmark
and solving the clues submitted by other schools. The game managers are
responsible for the game running smoothly, picking up all loose ends and
helping each of the other managers as needed . They assemble a large world
map to mark the location of participating schools and post weekly clues
for landmarks on a school bulletin board. The data base managers develop
a template, enter the registration information for all participants, produce
a list with each participant's name, location and e-mail, produce forms
each week with all clues and create a final report at the end of the game
with a final tally. The spreadsheet managers keep the numbers. They set
up a spreadsheet to calculate the number of correct guesses of each landmark
and of each school. At the end, they produce a graphical picture of the
results. The telecommunications managers are responsible for downloading
and uploading registrations, clues and correct guesses, answering inquires
concerning the rules of the game and our landmark, and disseminating this
information to the data base and spreadsheet managers.
After volunteering for the various roles, each student gathers with her respective managers for hands-on lab work. The game managers assemble and distribute a document with each managers responsibilities. After brainstorming for the necessary fields the data base managers assemble the database template and form. The spreadsheet managers design and implement the spreadsheet incorporating all necessary formulas, and the telecommunications managers assemble an address book and mailboxes. They also compose and upload the Call for Collaboration for this year's game.
This activity,which extends over three classes, brings excitement and enthusiasm to the students as they become active learners. The students also get a chance to talk and think technology as they incorporate their writing, problem solving, critical thinking, assimilating and organizational skills along with their technology skills and it allows me to be the guide on the side instead of the sage on the stage.
