Week 5

I started the teacher quest, and I found myself rather captivated by it. I know that a lot of my student take breaks during their lessons and will either try to find a way to hack through the firewalls to get onto Facebook, listen to music and try to nap, or play games. With this site, I think they would be more engaged to continue with their lessons. I found the game itself, (at least in the teacher's quest), to be very similar to that of Mario Brothers.
I read through Kevin Hodgson's article on using storyboarding. Students are such quick learners that they want do always want to jump to the project if it involves a computer, but don't have an idea of what they want to do. I like Hodgson's idea of having the students check in with the teacher to make sure that they are on task and are developing their ideas well.

I personally think that allowing educational games is fine in a classroom. If they have been checked out, then I don't see the problem with incorporating them. I know that Connected Foundations uses a similar idea where students have to complete quests, and they receive badges once they finish. I think it is beneficial for students to have these types of rewards so they are encouraged to continue.