Code Fred: Reflection Prose

He's Not Out of the Woods Yet

Having students enjoy class time should be one of the main efforts of teachers next to making certain that the students do indeed learn some pertinent material. In making class time enjoyable, much time and effort would have to be reserved for research, development, and implementation of any lesson plan that can be enjoyed by teacher and student alike. Competition and games, with the chance of bragging rights and most definitely a higher grade would draw adolescent students into playing and learning in school. With the advent of the Internet and the rapid rise of the content therein, the use of digital learning technology is a contemporary change in the classroom setting. Some websites provide tips and tricks to use in the classroom, others procure full lesson plans or lesson ideas, albeit most are behind a paywall. BrainPOP is a mostly free educational website for students and teachers that provides links to articles exploring the use of video games in the classroom, and tips on how to use particular video games in the classroom, all of which I put to good use in exploring Code Fred for this project.

Using competition strategies in classrooms is an exciting way to increase student morale as well as gain results from the enjoyment of learning. Unsurprisingly, using video games in the classroom is not without its problems and hurdles. In her 2014 article, Katrina Schwartz cites time management as one of the main roadblocks in implementing video games in the classroom. Other than finding a game that fits right for the classroom style or subject, being able to manage time to play and for school work is an issue when it comes to games in the classroom. Students would have to make time for an extracurricular game outside of class time if necessary, but that would be the case for immersive games like the one that junior high school student Tony Mai was testing for his school (Schwartz, 2014). Many simulation style learning games require deep concentration and the ability to take the time to learn the material and be able to understand how to apply them later on in real-world situations. These games would be immersive and have applicable standards and situations, but take away crucial time from actual class work. These concerns are met with short-form games that tie in with classroom standards. These games, as Schwartz explains in the words of Lori Takeuchi, are entitled to "'be easier to map to curriculum standards'" all while being able to finish within a class period.

Code Fred: Survival Mode is one of those games that falls under the category of "short-form" being designed to be able to complete in under fifteen minutes. Developed for the Museum of Science and Industry Chicago and used in schoolkid-friendly BrainPOP, Code Fred: Survival Mode is an intensely captivating game with driving music and graphics that are easy on the eyes. It can adapt to largely any lesson plan for grades five and up and with help from BrainPOP Educators, it comes complete with a free lesson plan to accommodate the game to a health, science, or biology class. This lesson plan not only includes the games with grade-variable features, but it also comes complete with prompts with supplemental material to run a whole class period around the anatomy and biological components of the communication of organs and systems in the human body. Along with the lesson plan and other supplemental material, but BrainPOP has also provided learners and educators the chance to tie in Code Fred, as well as many other games on BrainPOP, with state and Common Core standards. Code Fred itself has a handful of NGSS (Next Generation Science Standards) alignments and more than a dozen Common Core Standard alignments to be availed of. Although the game lacks in any realistic simulation of bodily functions or anything close to anatomically correct animations, it does its best in letting the player discover the ways that the body responds to external and internal stimuli. If I were to use Code Fred in my future class lessons, I would most probably follow the BrainPOP Educators lesson plan nearly to the word adjusting only to class size and individual student ability.

QR code leading to the BrainPOP Educators lesson plan adapting Code Fred into the lesson.

   In the process of building this project, I had no qualms about sticking with Code Fred as the game I was going to present on from the beginning. It was and is exciting to play, and I would probably invite friends to play this game with hopes for a series of games like this. In developing the rubric for the evaluation of online educational games and Code Fred in particular, I looked for the key points that drew me to Code Fred. What I usually look for in games, not necessarily educational, are "hooks" that draw people into their game. Key hooks of the game are the music and graphics components that play a critical role in the course of the gameplay. Code Fred has music that follows the plot and bearing of the game and excites the player throughout all twelve mini-games with calm, concentrated transitions into the music of the actual mini-games. With dark, yet calm colors, Code Fred draws the players eyes to smooth animations from section to section of the game. With these key points in mind and my interest in science material and using such material in a classroom as the basis of this project, it is clear why Code Fred has piqued my interest.

   For educational games, Code Fred: Survival Mode stood out as the most interesting from the ones that I had been browsing on the BrainPOP website. Not only did BrainPOP provide such an interesting science game from a museum of science, but it also conveniently provided largely essential material for using this game in a classroom setting. The lesson plan and science standard alignments that are provided are an exemplary convenience. With the ease and excitement of the game, and especially the science-based components overall, it is easy for me to see why I was drawn to it. Such a game would tie into a lesson and supplemental material would provide essential learning points, and with how the game is designed the lesson would certainly be an enjoyable one.

References

Unit 9. (2013) Code Fred: Survival Mode. [Flash Game]. Museum of Science and Industry Chicago. Retrieved 3 October 2018 from https://www.brainpop.com/games/codefredsurvivalmode/

BrainPOP Educators. (n.d.). Human Body Lesson Plan: Code Fred Survival Game. Retrieved 3 October 2018 from https://educators.brainpop.com/lesson-plan/lesson-plan-code-fred-game/?bp-game =code-fred-survival-mode

Schwartz, K. (2014, November 24). Some Struggles Teachers Face Using Games in the Classroom. Retrieved from https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/37944/some-struggles-teachers -face-using-games-in-the-classroom

Presentation made for this project (Camacho, K., 2018)