Dee Dhara2013-05-24T12:13:01-04:00Dee Dharahttp://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/author/index.php?author=dee-dharaCopyright 2008, HuffingtonPost.com, Inc.HuffingtonPost Blogger Feed for Dee DharaGood old fashioned elbow grease.Video Gaming in Schools to Engage Hard-to-Reach Youngsterstag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2013:/theblog//3.29011772013-03-18T12:32:16-04:002013-05-18T05:12:01-04:00Dee Dharahttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/dee-dhara/Video gaming classes could be the key to keeping disengaged youngsters in education and interested in learning, research by Lancaster University has shown.
The investigation, carried out by the university's Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences and produced by their senior research fellow Dr Don Passey, found how basing teaching projects around video games can engage hard-to-reach youngsters.
The report was commissioned by Wolverhampton Local Education Partnership who brought the initiative to the attention of schools and managed their involvement.
The pilot scheme encouraged teachers to bring together teams of young people, mostly in after school clubs, to use the PlayStation 3 game 'Little Big Planet 2' and create new levels. The teachers' role was to support the teams, facilitate work, provide a working environment and offer advice.
The schools included two pupil referral units, which cater for students who are disengaged from mainstream schools. Teachers included some groups of students that were known to be disengaged or were having difficulties in engaging with learning.
The project required the young people to use and develop soft skills in parallel with technical skills. It was found to improve their communication skills, team work and problem-solving abilities.
According to Dr Passey, the project has been useful for widening learning opportunities for the majority of teachers and has given them more ideas and the chance to explore topics in a new way.
Feedback from teachers involved in the project was overwhelmingly positive.
One teacher found that during the session two student ambassadors who both had attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) had been more focused than ever before. As a result both boys were looking forward to going to school, for the first time ever.
He said: "It has allowed the children an opportunity to be creative in a media form they might otherwise never have been able to and work in groups they do not usually work with."
Although discussion among students could often be difficult, teachers observed that the discussions involved here were at a very high level. It was also noted that less confident children were more communicative and self- esteem was noticeably improved over the weeks.
Project involvement was reported by teachers to improve attendance at school and to improve engagement in lessons. Many met up at lunchtimes specifically to work on storyboards together.
Maths teacher and founder of game-based learning company 'We Want to Know' Jean Baptist Huynh said: "By bringing this game-based format into the classroom, children of all abilities are presented with a system that they can identify with and that they enjoy.
"The game-based format is particularly valuable to teachers trying to connect with children who are disengaged or have trouble focussing on school work.
"It provides a fantastic opportunity to capture their attention and channel their enthusiasm for games into learning."
David Alsopp Headmaster of Queen Elizabeth's High School, Gainsborough said that his students already use some online games tools, such as Snackville and My Maths - he considers them to be highly engaging for the students.
However, he believes that one problem schools might have in bringing video-gaming into classrooms is overcoming the negative connotations some teachers may hold.
Sandi Mann, Project Lead on Your Future, Your Life at University of Central Lancashire (UCLan), said: "UCLan IS looking at the young person as a whole - their learning styles, their ability to cope with stress, their boredom proneness, their relationships with teachers and others.
"My concerns with this programme are that whilst it might develop teamwork/communication skills as described, it might not do much to actually motivate young people to aim higher and achieve at traditional subjects at school.
"The danger could be that all they learn is that video-gaming - which they tend to already be very skilled at - is a useful alternative to the traditional academic subjects'
Prospects, an educational service provider which runs six Academies and provides careers support for 25 local education authorities, want to integrate the findings of the research into future curriculum and careers development.
Dr Passey considers one of the next steps for the research is to look at how these findings might help to develop existing practices and create new curriculum models.
He suggests three main areas that schools and teachers need to consider if the concept is taken further are that schools need access to the technologies which might incur costs, teachers will need to dedicate extra time to run extra classes and a suitable framework and structure needs to be provided with access to advice and technical support for teachers as required.
According to the report, it was noticeable that students were making 3D and colour notes in their storyboards when creating levels for the game - these were in audio, colour and moving forms. Dr Passey believes this form of technology could be used in the future to create notes and presentations that would serve some students better.
For Dr Passey this project raised some key questions about what is meant by learning and how we learn. Through texts and on pages, traditional education has tended to make the world more static and non-moving. It is the individual mind or imagination that perhaps puts them into colour, with moving and audio forms.]]>Why Was Comic Artist Jack Kirby Not Acknowledged in Affleck's Argo?tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2013:/theblog//3.26311682013-02-06T12:35:06-05:002013-04-08T05:12:01-04:00Dee Dharahttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/dee-dhara/
This covert rescue mission involved creating a fake film and production company to be used as a backdrop to help save six American diplomatic workers from Iran during the embassy crisis. This fake film was actually created using genuine production illustrations and screenplays that were intended to make a real movie at the time.
The concept art was a crucial element in determining the plausibility of the production to the Iranian authorities. Indeed, in one of the tensest scenes in Argo the concept art was used by the group when confronted by Iranian border staff - suggesting that the concept art contributed greatly to communicating the high adventure of the science fiction film. Similarly, a poignant moment in the film hinges on a piece of concept art being retained as a souvenir, preventing it from being placed in the classified file. Unfortunately, the pieces that were used and presented to the audience in Argo were fairly generic, uninspiring and arguably served to undermine the power of these scenes.
Indeed, it would be no surprise if Kirby's concept art was instrumental in convincing the CIA - of all people - to use such a bizarre plan in an effort to rescue a group of hostages from in amongst the turmoil.
Creators of comics sometimes spend years developing characters, scenarios, history and visual effects. Many well know comics are inspired by ideas surrounding philosophy and theology; some reflect cultural features and societal issues - this is particularly true of Kirby - which I suspect made the 'fake film' all the more believable in the eyes of those ready to question it.
In 1988 Kirby said:
"I know our own place in the Universe. I can feel the vastness of it inside myself. I began to realise with each passing fact what a wonderful and awesome place the Universe is, and that helped me in comics because I was looking for the awesome. I found it in Thor. I found it in Galactus."
The story 'The Coming of Galactus', introduces Galactus as an almighty being ready to demolish worlds and the Silver Surfer as a solitary wanderer who is misunderstood and feared by humanity.
In order to enable his sustainability, Galactus wants to convert elements on earth into pure energy using a deadly energy converter, destroying the world and all that exists on it.
When Kirby created the Silver Surfer and Galactus it came out of a Biblical feeling. He came up with what he thought was God in Galactus.
"Everybody talks about God, but what the heck does he look like? Well, he's supposed to be awesome, and Galactus is awesome to me. I drew him large and awesome. No one ever knew the extent of his powers or anything, and I think symbolically that's our relationship with God."
Continuing with this biblical theme, Kirby began to create a fallen angel, and the fallen angel was the Silver Surfer.
Galactus' name is derived from the terms God and Galaxy; before his arrival on Earth, he had attempted to devour planet Zenn-La. The Zenn-Lavians experienced the 'Golden Age of Reason', where they overcame social difficulties. However, Zenn-La was then run by machines which the inhabitants grew idle to - disabling them from Galactus. One inhabitant, Norrin Radd, then sacrificed himself to Galactus, becoming his herald. In return, Galactus would not harm Zenn-La. Radd joined Galactus on his quest and transformed into the Silver Surfer.
Galactus' arrival on Zenn-la can be seen as a kind of epiphany when all of Zenn-La's technological advancements proved worthless in an instant. This is when Radd sacrificed himself for Zenn-La's salvation.
At the end of the story, Galactus confines him to the Earth, just like the fallen angel.
In Gnosticism; humans are believed to be divine souls trapped in a world ruined by material possessions. Gnostics associated the God of the Christian Old Testament with an evil creator who produced materialism in the world; it was this corrupt ruler that the Hebrews had formed their belief system around. It is this 'Old Testament' deity that Galactus represents.
According to Gnosticism, angels are manifestations of one's spiritual self. They believe in radical dualism where the lower part of self is merely a fleshy illusion and the higher part is the spiritual essence of the being. Norrin Radd discards his outer illusive self and takes on a higher form as the Silver Surfer.
In theology heraldry is associated with spreading the word of God. Similarly, here, the Silver Surfer takes on classic functions of a herald. He discovers new worlds and announces the coming of his master.
Each panel, colour, line and style is carefully planned in order to deliver a specific impact. Kirby became renowned for creating visually bold comics. In 'Coming of Galatus' there is a clear division of anticipation turning into aggression, which Kirby creates through lines representing motion. In their early days, comics used motion lines that poorly represented moving objects, however, over the years, these lines became increasingly stylised.
Jack Kirby brought comics to life through his highly expressive motion lines and unique rendering techniques - particularly those used to represent crackles of energy, which comic artists now refer to as 'Kirby Dots' or 'Kirby Krackles'.
The numerous connotations and visual elements that lie beneath Kirby's pioneering art suggest an academic stance towards the characters and scenario, thus creating pieces full of intellectual ideas and vivid imagination. These elements combined draw me to the conclusion that during the Iran mission in 1979, it could only have been Kirby's concept art which would have sufficed in order to carry out such an operation and therefore should have been used, or at least acknowledged, in Affleck's film - particularly when he is such a huge comic fan himself and claimed to have kept the main details of the film as close to the truth as possible.
Affleck's Argo is a great; however, with its recent release and the wider exposure of what was a tremendous feat between Hollywood and the CIA, it seems unfortunate now that the concept artist - who played a pivotal role in the operation - has received such little acknowledgment.]]>Support for Schools to Help Tackle Cyber-Bullyingtag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.22780902012-12-12T19:00:00-05:002013-02-11T05:12:01-05:00Dee Dharahttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/dee-dhara/
Many schools ban mobile phones and social networking sites, however, the technology a child brings into the classroom can be used in a positive way and facilitate lasting improvements in pupils' behaviour and safety.
Tupton Hall School, Derbyshire uses Contact Group's 'Text Someone', an anti-bullying solution encouraging young people to report via text and email incidents of bullying directly to schools.
Martin Ebbage, deputy head, said: "Children often 'talk with their thumbs' and texting provides them with a familiar medium to communicate issues they might otherwise find difficult."
He explains: "The technology has provided a mechanism where parents and friends can report a situation on behalf of someone else.
"We want to keep up with the times and encourage staff to use Twitter so there is another form of communication open to students."
Dr Joe Dawson, Principal Educational Psychologist at Leicester City Council, developed the technology for use in its schools. He believes there is reluctance among pupils to report bullying face to face. Therefore, texting and emailing would help to improve the amount of incidences reported.
He said: "Over 94% of schools train in the use of Text Someone and are pleased that the technology gives them a robust system in place to report bullying."
The use of art and creativity is also considered to be an essential tool in helping create positive relationships amongst students.
Projects such as the Artis programme are available for schools and encourage teaching the curriculum through the arts.
Artis chief executive Rebecca Boyle Suh says: "One of the most important factors when it comes to addressing bullying is that children respect one another.
"When children collaborate and share their work through arts activities, their confidence grows and they are happier to work with everyone in their class.
"This mindset transfers to the playground, helping schools create a positive culture and reduce bullying."
The tragic death of 15-year-old Amanda Todd, whose suicide is believed to be attributed to cyber-bullying, has urged authorities to reintroduce inspection frameworks that recognise children are growing up in a digitalised age.
Ofsted is placing unprecedented emphasis on e-safety, and safeguarding tools are available which protect pupils from cyber-bullying, online grooming and harmful images and websites.
Securus Software monitors activity through screen captures and alerts schools to anything that suggests a child may be at risk.
Facebook and ChildLine are collaborating in an anti-bullying initiative, 'The Step Up: Stop Bullying'
campaign, including an app offering guidance, tools and people who can help.
Sue Minto, Head of ChildLine, said: "We believe in the power of friends to help prevent bullying.
"The most powerful safety feature of social networks is being social."
According to the NSPCC, 18% of young people worried about bullying said they would not talk to their parents and are under pressure to remain silent.
Anita Chopra, education law specialist and partner at Match Solicitors, said: "Parents are encouraged to follow internal complaints procedures and to put concerns in writing.
"The reality of the situation is that this avenue offers little by way of a resolution for the child."
ChildLine reported an increased in cyber-bullying. Internet and mobile-based bullying is up 7 per cent overall with mobile up by 11 per cent.
Ben Collingwood, employment lawyer and schools specialist at Barlow Robbins LLP comments: "Playground bullying may be simple to detect, however, the increasing use of online social media by children, means bullying online has become more prevalent and may be more difficult to detect or monitor."
Ofsted found that schools with a strong curriculum extended an effective approach by carefully and continually adapting their curriculum and introducing initiatives in response to the school's changing circumstances.
It seems a key element in developing school policies is increasing awareness of the need to shift the burden of responsibility to report away from children, putting the onus on schools and authorities to prevent incidences and protect victims.]]>