As the students go through the program, I asked them to reflect upon what they have learned or insights into using the site
Check out some of the interviews, some of them will give you a basic overview of the site
And others may tell you what they have been learning as they complete the various episodes
Are you being pressured by your Principal to utilize more projects in your classroom based around the STEMS standards? Are your students bored with projects and you have no way to connect with them? Does it seem that
they only want to talk about how far they made it on the Zombie level of Call of Duty, and not how important your instruction will mean to their future? Well then, look no further because now you will have the opportunity to teach to your students' strengths and interests as they create video games utilizing the free web site - Gamestar Mechanic........
If you would like to read more about my latest article on Yahoo's Associated Content, just click the LINK HERE to learn how you can use this awesome web site with your students
CLICK RIGHT HERE (or check out the banner that I created this morning) so that you can play some of the games that my students created using Gamestar Mechanic. One student has made a game that is close to having three hundred people from around the world that have played it this past week alone.
http://mrgsgames.blogspot.com/
Also, if there are any teachers out there that would like to do something fun, unique and engaging with your students - I would HIGHLY recommend you check out the site of gamestarmechanic.com. They offer up some great Teacher Resources as well. What I did was I went through the majority of their teacher resources and I have compiled the majority of the basic game design steps into a Prezi (which is like a PowerPoint on steroids.) Below is a copy of my Prezi if you would like to use this in your classroom. (It is still a work in progress so be sure to check up frequently)
What is great about Gamestar, is that it is well balanced between playing, learning and creating. The site ACTUALLY encourages its users to play the video games through their tutorials called "Quest." The Quest is a little story that has the look and feel of a Japanese Manga, but as you play the game, you begin to learn the basics of video game design and you unlock characters and items to include in your games.
In FACT, you can't even publish your game until you complete all five episodes. So, as a teacher, I feel that this is a great (and free) tool to use with my students. Some of the games may be a little simple and cheesy, and the kids may be a bit frustrated that they can't import/create their own characters, items, music or backgrounds, BUT it is an excellent way for your students to create something utilizing 21st century skills, heavily bound by STEM standards, read comics while they learn and share their work on the internet for the world to play.
And coming from a gamer's perspective, for someone who grew up with a Nintendo Enterntainment System in their home as a kid and has since gone through the several generations of video game consoles, I think is a great way to hook the students into their own interests. If you have a student that is interested on some day creating their own games, check this one out to just get used to the whole theory and practice behind game design, but if you really want to get crazy with video game programming, then I would recommend Scratch (which is a bit more complicated)
