Engagement and Creativity Without Limits

Submitted 8 years ago

Community Review for Gamestar Mechanic

Rick J.
Rick J.
Birmingham Covington School
Bloomfield Hills MI, US
My Rating
Pedagogy
Supports

My Take

Gamestar Mechanic has completely captivated my students. They love the ease-of-use that comes with the templates. It is extremely engaging and very exciting. The students love the ability to create something that can be so easily shared with the online community. The challenge is to make sure that if the students are creating content-area games, that the games contain constructive, meaningful information.

How I Use It

I have used Gamestar Mechanic to enable my students to create their own video games to teach their peers about energy reduction and sustainability. Students worked in pairs, which enabled them to support each other and generate more creative ideas. The challenge is inserting meaningful content that transcends mere game-play and actually teaches concepts.

More community reviews for Gamestar Mechanic

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Susan E.
Susan E. Eleanor Roosevelt High School New York, NY
November 2, 2016

Great tool for getting started and engaging some learners who might not have been engaged before.

This software forced students in an engaging way to work through game design principles in order to win the sprites needed to make games. One student realized that he needed additional parts for the game he wanted to make and asked if he could go back to the tutorials to earn more "raw materials" for his own game making. Too often, these types of programs let students play without ever learning. Gamestar Mechanic is good at not doing this - especially in conjunction with the Mouse Create program.
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Audra B.
Audra B. Educational Technology Integration Specialist Wheatley School Old Westbury, NY
July 14, 2015

Cool Interactive Learning and Coding

I think that this is a beautifully rendered and thought out piece of software. I love that my students like it and WANT to use it. I also love that it helps them with critical thinking skills and it helps them adjust their thinking about other types of Coding.
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Dianna S.
Dianna S. Academically Gifted Coordinator Creech Road Elementary School Garner, NC
March 4, 2015

Versatile gaming program that helps build design and writing skills.

The tool meets many 21st Century skills. It can assist students with engagement. The program does require the teacher to be familiar with basic design techniques, but there are several lesson plans already developed that can assist some that may be hesitant.
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See 26 reviews