Computer Games for Kids, by Kids
by Michael Tempel and Hope Chafiian
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Kate was working on a computer game. Dogs were
running, birds were flying, messages were popping
up, questions were being asked, and music was
playing. She wasn't just playing the game. She
wrote it. It was January and she wasn't scheduled
to take computer until April, but she had learned
what she needed to know from friends who had
already taken the course.
A group of students corner their teacher in the
stairwell to tell her about a bug in their program.
Another wants to know why the timer isn't working
in her program.
Four students are grouped around a computer
watching intently as a fifth tries to maneuver a
fast-moving turtle through a winding maze. His
fingers move rapidly around the arrow keys as he
tries to avoid going into the wall. He fails and is
sent back to the beginning of the maze. One boy in
the group is quite pleased. He is the author of the
program and his creation has remained
undefeated.
These students are thinking a great deal about
what they are doing. They are involved. Educators
have long taken advantage of children's passion for
games, and especially for computer games. The usual
approach is to overlay some educational content
onto a familiar game format. To reach the next
level you must answer a question about history or
calculate a sum.
We don't ask our students to design games that
focus on a school subject. They choose what the
games are about so the objective is more likely be
to conquering space aliens or getting a date than
solving a math problem or getting to the West
Coast.
We follow in the tradition of Idit
Harel1 and Yasmin Kafai2 of
the MIT Media Lab, recognizing that more profound
learning comes from designing and building the
games than from being on the receiving end.
The Settings
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Ask the
mermaids for advice. They can help you
find your way around Stephanie's adventure
game.
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We have been working with students on computer
game projects for several years, at The Spence
School, a K-12 independent school for girls, and at
Computer School II, an alternative public middle
school, both in New York City. We have also shared
our work with other teachers in workshops on game
programming and as part of the annual Logo Summer
Institutes sponsored by the Logo Foundation.
By the fifth grade, Spence students are old pros
at Logo. They have been using MicroWorlds since
kindergarten and have a variety of projects saved
in their accounts on the school's network. Spence
students know turtle geometry well and have used it
to explore concepts of angles, area, perimeter,
polygons and fractions. They have generated
probability outcomes and have developed games
around probability. They have programmed geometric
faces, animations and turtle races. They have used
MicroWorlds for creating multimedia reports,
importing graphics from the Internet, digital
cameras and scanners.
At Spence the fifth grade computer class, which
meets Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons in double
periods for one third of the year, is one of a
series of classes including dance, drama, and
writing workshop that provide varied environments
and tools to foster students' self-expression.
Computer School II opened in September 1996 with
45 students in 6th and 7th grades. It expanded the
following year to include an 8th grade and
approached its target enrollment of 90 to 95
students. We began with 25 networked computers in
one room. By the middle of the 1997 - 1998 school
year there were 55 computers on the network with at
least four machines in each classroom in addition
to those in the computer room. Internet access was
limited to one computer using an unreliable dial-up
connection.
All students and staff members had accounts on
the file server, and could access their work from
anywhere in the school. This server also allowed us
to set up a "Public Folder" that everyone could
look at and copy files from. This shared area was
important for the game project because we could put
starters and samples there to introduce new ideas
and techniques. The Public Folder also provided an
exhibit area for finished work.
Students had four computer periods per week. The
computer room was also full during lunch periods
and many students stayed for two hours or more
after school. Computers were used in conjunction
with most subjects, but the dominant activity
during computer classes was the game project.
At Spence and at Computer School II the computer
classes develop into active collaborative design
studios. Most students are quite willing to help
each other, although some form groups that harbor
secrets. Since the students are motivated to
improve their games, there is a drive to learn new
skills and acquire information. It's a pleasure to
have them gobble up new ideas and techniques. Whole
class lessons are rarely needed or appropriate. We
often teach something to one student knowing that
it will be all over the class in short order. Or,
we place a sample project or starter in the Public
Folder on the network and students take it as they
need it.
What We Want to Achieve
What are our students learning? There are basic
language and math skills that are practiced and
improved while building games. Instructions have to
be clear. Calculations of distance and angle are
needed to lay out a game and move characters
around.They are learning to plan and organize a
large project and to appreciate another's point of
view, that of the person playing the game. They are
learning programming and the important skill of
debugging.
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Can you
maneuver around the teachers in
Elizabeth's maze game?
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As teachers we have our criteria for judging our
students' work. But what drives them most to high
achievement is the judgment of their peers. Games
should be complicated and difficult, but fair and
possible. It should be clear what the goal is and
what you have to do to maneuver your characters.
Games should be clever, tricky, and funny. They
should be aesthetically pleasing. And they should
be fun.
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