Dr Kawashima's Brain Training
Teacher attitudes at the beginning of the study
Attitudes to games-based learning from the senior management team and the class teacher were initially very positive. The depute headteacher talks about their openness to exploring new ideas that can enhance learning and make school more enjoyable. An appreciation of the influence, impact and cultural value given to games by learners in his school also helps to inform his thinking.
The class teacher is also very positive due to her earlier exploration of games-based learning during her teacher education experience at the University of Dundee.
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Management of the project
This clip details how the classroom teacher managed the project. She talks about how she got to grips with the game very easily and how she then organised group leaders and a process for handing out and collecting the DS consoles each morning.
She talks of how this became a seamless process that was managed independently by the children in her class. She also talks of the low technical skills threshold within this game that she believes would make it accessible for any teacher to use.
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Teacher attitudes at the end of the project
The main concern that the class teacher had at the end of the project was how the children would react to DS consoles not being part of their daily routine any more. She was slightly worried that the children would really miss them but even more concerned about what she would give them to do first thing in the morning instead.
The depute headteacher talks about how this experience has made the school give serious thought to purchasing their own DS set both to focus their whole class teaching scenarios and to work with children with additional support needs using other games such as Big Brain Academy.