How to Create Online Games with KODU a Free Course!

Starting March 1st Kodu is offering a free five week course to teach people how to use Kodu to create fun interactive games for kids.  ”Kodu is a visual programming language made specifically for creating games.  It is designed to be accessible for children and enjoyable for anyone.”    If you are interested in creating games in an online environment this seems like an incredible opportunity.  How much you participate is up to you and all of the materials are free.  You can download the program at this link: http://fuse.microsoft.com/kodu/ .  The only thing that they do not provide is a computer to run the actual program.  To find out more information aboout this class check out this link: http://planetkodu.com/course/2010/02/24/before-we-begin/.  You can find an overview of the course at this link: http://planetkodu.com/course/overview/ and decide for yourself if it is worthwhile.

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Flash Cards a Resource to Remember

Over the past few weeks, I have seemed to slip back into a bit of drill and practice with my students.  After a little time working with them on repetition, I began to remember how useful it can be for some learning applications.  So, I started to repeat key learning targets and use flash cards to help them remember certain facts and figures.  As we then moved into studying states and capitals, again, I looked at using flash cards to help students learn.  Since I use Moodle in my classes, I started to use their flash card application, but found that it was clunky and did not work the way that I wanted it to.  So, I looked online for another application that I could use on my website and found  Pauker.

After a first look and trial run, I really think this will fit the bill for my application.  Also, it is nice that some flash cards are already created that you can just simply download.  I always like open source programs with a community behind them.  Another bonus is that  it has a MiniPauker application that will allow you to use it on handheld devices and cell phones.  This is a Java application, so you may need to look at their compatibility page to see if this will fit your use of this program.  I found it very simple to use and setup.  I recommend it as a great application for creating flash cards for your students to learn.  Check them out at the address below.

(Pauker) http://pauker.sourceforge.net/pauker.php?page=home&lang=en

(MiniPauker) http://pauker.sourceforge.net/pauker.php?target=home&lang=en&project=minipauker

Another good flash card site:

HeadMagnet: http://headmagnet.com/

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