With the recent launch of the new James Bond film and in many people’s opinion the best James Bond was Scottish. Then is seems a good time to tell you about a great resource launched recently in Scotland.
Polybius Games are providing their award winning Spy Quest educational game to all Scottish primary and secondary schools. Under the scheme up to 750,000 Scottish pupils will benefit annually by learning core skills in a fun and engaging way.
Schools in Scotland only have until 9th November 2012 to register their interest at schools@polybiusgames.com.
Two teachers from each school will be invited to attend a 3 hours local training event. Prior to them attending Polybius will liaise with each school and have their game constructed so that they can ask relevant questions on the day and start straight away with their new game.
Through gameplay learners develop knowledge and understanding of a variety of curriculum areas. Importantly, learners also develop a range of transferable skills to better equip themselves and prepare for future situations in school, at home and life. They also have great fun.for learning, life and work. These are encapsulated in four key areas of successful learners, confident individuals, responsible citizens and effective contributors.
Spy Quest embodies the aims of the Curriculum for Excellence and each game is designed to develop a range of transferable skills, some of which are listed below.
■ Motivation - Spy Quest is motivating for children as it links suspended disbelief with real world problem solving with the competitive but non-threatening world of a computer game.
■ Communication - Spy Quest encourages learners to communicate using verbal and non-verbal
Partners in Learning’s very own ‘James Bond’ , Ollie Bray, formerly Senior Policy Advisor & Consultant for Scottish Government & National Adviser for Emerging Technologies in Learning wrote a white paper on how games such as Spy Quest epitomise how valuable a playful approach learning is.
You can find out more about SpyQuest in this TESS article
But, don’t despair if you are a school not in Scotland , Polybius Games intend to extend the offer to all UK primary and secondary schools in 2013.