After watching an episode of #AppShareLive hosted by Mark Anderson (@ICTEvangelist), I was introduced to the app BLOXELS by Steve Bambury (@steve_bambury). I really liked the look of the app and all the possibilities that could be created by using it in class.
Once the episode finished, I downloaded the app onto my iPad and began to have a ‘play’. This started of as an investigation to see how the app worked, and how easy it would be for the children to use, but ended up as an hour or so of pure enjoyment and total engrossment. The app is extremely easy to use and the possibilities of what can be created are endless.
As the weekend came to a close I decided that I would definitely be incorporating the use of BLOXELS into my teaching for the forthcoming week. I was not 100% how I was planning to use the app, but was determined to use it in some way during the week.
On the Monday morning, I explained to my class how I had found out about a new app that we had not used before and proceded to describe the app to the class, before showing them the example I had created on the weekend. The children were engaged straight away, they loved that they would be able to create their own games, as they really enjoy playing platform games when given choice on the computers during Golden Time.
The next day, I introduced the BLOXELS basics to the class and showed them how to create a level, what the different blocks mean, how to change the design of the level and how to create a character. After that, I explained that they would be working in groups of 5 or 6 to create a game (where they all create one square, which linked onto the next one).
We decided together that they could create any game they wanted, as long as they were linked to the topics that we were looking at in other subjects.
Three of the groups decided to make their games based on St Lucia and the banana trade, while the final group wanted to work on a game involving the Celts and the Romans.
The groups started off by creating a miniature story board for their games, describing who their character would be, where they are trying to get to and from, what they need to collect and who they need to defeat. Once this was all decided, the groups worked on designing their levels and recording them using paper and DIY BLOXELS boards (as I was new to the app I had not purchased any official boards).
Once each member of the group had designed their levels the children began to use the app to create their game. The groups worked really well, taking it in turns to create their level, then working collaboratively to decorate the different type blocks and design their characters.
After a few sessions, the children had completed their games and spent some time playing their own game, as well as the games from other groups. They then evaluated each other’s games and gave constructive feedback on what they liked about each other’s games and how they could modify / improve their games.
The groups took this feedback on board and were given the opportunity to edit their games before deciding that their game was complete.
When the games were near completion I began to think where we could go from here and what activity we could complete next based on their games.
The children are very familiar with iMOVIE and again really enjoy creating videos and trailers when given free time. So I decided that we would attempt to use one of the trailer templates and make an advert using a mixture of clips from the games and short sentences which explained the aim.
The children were given a template, into which they could put 9 sentences to describe their game. We spent a small amount of time talking about the use of nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs and alliteration. The children worked on their sentences individually, before gathering together in their group and choosing the best to create one finished script.
The children used a screen-cast of them playing their game, and these sentences to create their finished adverts.
Unfortunately due to time and various other commitments, this was the extent of what we managed to create on the back of their games. However the options are endless. Children could create a story based on their game, create and instruction booklet explaining how to play or create their game, the possibilities really do go on and on.
I really enjoyed using BLOXELS, and will definitely be using it again in the future. It is great to use as an end of topic plenary, but also as a mid topic ICT activity, with plenty of options to follow up.
