A1: So far #FORTNITE and #PUBG have become topics connecting students. I haven't used it in my class for academic purposes. I have viewed it as an annoyance. #MakeItReal#fortniteEDU
Welcome to tonight's #MakeItReal Chat with a focus on using FORTNITE in the classroom! Introduce yourself, what you teach, and where you're from! #FortniteEDU
I'm Denis, Author of Instant Relevance, Host of #MakeItReal Chat for the past year and a half, and seeker of ways to engage beyond the contrived "real world" applications. Looking forward to how you extract real lessons from passions, interests, and life instead of fighting it!
Phil from Northern Virginia. I teach 7th Grade US History II and am the moderator of #waledchat. #makeitreal I play fortnite after originally just trying it out to see what all the excitement was about. Pretty fun game overall.
Hi! Selena, instructional tech facilitator from Mesquite checking in & admitting an embarrassing level of ignorance for tonight's content. Using this as an opportunity to step outside my zone & embrace #FortniteEDU to find ways to #MakeItReal PS: it's taking forever to download!
Rebecca from NJ, Special Ed teacher. Told my students I’m learning about fortnite tonight and trying to bring it into the classroom- they went bonkers out of excitement #MakeItreal
Welcome to tonight's #MakeItReal Chat with a focus on using FORTNITE in the classroom! Introduce yourself, what you teach, and where you're from! #FortniteEDU
Welcome to tonight's #MakeItReal Chat with a focus on using FORTNITE in the classroom! Introduce yourself, what you teach, and where you're from! #FortniteEDU
A1: in a game club / #Esports / competitive gaming environment we could certainly leverage a game like @FortniteGame to break down strategy and work on teamwork especially in duo and quads. #makeitreal
A1: I teach game design and development and student choice is at the center of my course. Students draw inspiration from a variety of stories, games, etc. so why not @fortnitegame - two students are working on a #fortnite inspired game in #minecraft#makeitreal#fortniteedu
Q1: FORTNITE is powerfully infiltrating the lives of our students. In what ways have you used it as part of a lesson, activity, assessment or tool in your classroom. Share links to activities/docs, too!! #MakeItReal#FortniteEDU
A1: Just now learning about fortnite.
So far I see parabolas &I’m intrigued about its possibilities in a math class.
My questions:
• Do storm circles always close in at the same rate?
• How long would it take to level up all 100 tiers?
#MakeItReal#FortniteEDU
Q1: FORTNITE is powerfully infiltrating the lives of our students. In what ways have you used it as part of a lesson, activity, assessment or tool in your classroom. Share links to activities/docs, too!! #MakeItReal#FortniteEDU
A1: Main way I have used it is to build connections with students who I have been struggling to build relationships with. When they find out that I play (and I tell them about all my top ten finishes) I earn street cred with them and have been able to build on that #makeitreal
1) So far, only a few of my students have mentioned it (third grade here). I definitely think it would be fun to use in the classroom though! #MakeItReal
A1: Met a teacher recently in Nevada who's using quadratics to model situations in the game! Reach out to @coachmarker for more! #MakeItReal#FortniteEDU
#MakeItReal Hi! I am Veena, a high school Spanish teacher from Indiana. My students love Fortnite. One of them was excited to see that I was attending a chat about it tonight!
A1: I haven't used it, but most of my 7th and 2nd period classes play it and talk about it a lot. I am interested to hear how you all use it, although I have reservations because of the violence involved. I am keeping an open mind. #makeitreal
A1: Having played fortnite and Player Unknown Battlegrounds, I use the games to connect to distance formula, circumference and areas of circles. Video games contain a lot of mathematics and physics. #makeitreal#fortniteEdu
#MakeItReal#MakeItReal Hi! I am Gwena, a high school Spanish teacher from Indiana. My students love Fortnite. One of them was excited to see that I was attending a chat about it tonight!
A1: Students completed a project creating a slideshow of a town that they’re familiar with in order to practice vocab. They had to introduce the town by paragraph and label what each place looks like! Many chose Tilted Towers. Engaging for Spanish! #MakeItReal
A1 I want to know if I could change the language to Spanish for my classes. I know Minecraft teaches a lot of vocabulary. Hoping @FortniteGame can do the same #MakeItReal
A2: Turn it over to students using #circletalks to see what they can learn from it.
My observations are: Violence is fantasized by some types of video games. All guns are capable of causing death and destruction, and we are a very competitive culture. #MakeItReal#fortniteEDU
This game ( and almost every game) are such statistical playgrounds. I taught AP stats and loved it, this would have definitely made it into my activity bank #MakeItReal#FortniteEDU
A2: The violence question is a tough one. If we choose to use the game, what age should we consider it appropriate for? Are we really using it to talk about violence ? Maybe to raise the moral question regarding the difference between game violence and real violence #makeitreal
A1: I have not used it in the classroom but looking forward on thinking about how this game can be leveraged to reach and engage students. I think tapping into the math and game design aspect, #3Ddesign is a way to go. #fortniteEDU#makeitreal
@PelechStanley Just gave me a great idea! Have students write a story about a battle. I think they can also write a script, act it out and record it! Make costumes and props! #FortniteEDU#MakeItReal
Q1: FORTNITE is powerfully infiltrating the lives of our students. In what ways have you used it as part of a lesson, activity, assessment or tool in your classroom. Share links to activities/docs, too!! #MakeItReal#FortniteEDU
Great connections! Can you look beyond them to have kids model/create a scenario that could help the characters, not just analze them? #MakeItReal#FortniteEDU
A2: when it comes to violence in games and this doesn't really apply to @FortniteGame I think we need to have a larger conversation around content / censorship based on the form of media. Literature often gets a pass while games / film are perceived differently #makeitreal
Repeating since my timing was off... A1: So far #FORTNITE and #PUBG have become topics connecting students. I haven't used it in my class for academic purposes. I have viewed it as an annoyance. #MakeItReal#fortniteEDU
Q2: There’s an elephant in the Fortnite room...violence. How can Fortnite be used as a vehicle for learning about violence, guns, and culture in your classrooms? #MakeItReal#FortniteEDU
A1: Always love a good writing prompt, and the storyline behind the game, or relating it to historical war events can create excellent writing opps #MakeItReal#FortniteEDU
A1: Late but in and out tonight. Haven't used it yet, but as HS ENG, I"d have Ss write creative story of what happens in game or base their story off of it. #MakeItReal
I agree with Mr. Isaacs (my game design teacher),I play lots of ofrtnite in my free time and its not about the killing or eliminating of others its about having fun, being creative with building an ,making new friends through matchmaking in modes like duos and squads. #makeitreal
A2: We Ts can be quick to dismiss our Ss and say "violent games make them violent people!" and "Keep it out of my classroom" but when #Fortnite opens a door to real conversation that may have been closed otherwise, walk through it and have real conversations with Ss. #MakeItReal
A2: one of my students is doing their science #DesignThink project on the impact Fortnite has on his stress level - I’m curious to see what other questions and discussions are sparked from his project. #MakeItReal#FortniteEDU
Thanks for joining Zach. Do you feel that putting the violence aside for the reasons you mentioned would count as "desensitizing" to violence, or choosing to devalue it instead? #MakeItReal#FortniteEDU
I can see that as a struggle, have you talked to them about it? I often found these could be vehicles to help reach students that seemed "unreachable" or not engaged. Making these connections is beneficial. Too much can be a tricky, but an attempt can go a long way. #makeitreal
I agree with Mr. Isaacs (my game design teacher),I play lots of ofrtnite in my free time and its not about the killing or eliminating of others its about having fun, being creative with building an ,making new friends through matchmaking in modes like duos and squads. #makeitreal
If I could speak chinesse, spanish and a few other languages well enough to game with people it would take down the communication barriers. #MakeItReal
Yes, we need to tap into this to reach students and show them the value in education. All of this is connected. Open up discussions about video game design, math, stats, layouts, graphic arts, etc. #STEMed#MakerED#makeitreal
Avoiding it does nothing in the long run. They will be exposed to it wherever they go, especially outside of our classrooms. Pretending it doesn’t exist and pushing it aside only further allows students to engage in violent games but not dive deeper. #makeitreal#fortniteEDU
A2: Violence in our schools is an unfortunate reality. Can we have open conversations about it BECAUSE students like @FortniteGame not In Spite of their interest? #MakeItReal#FortniteEDU
In a way I can see the difference. Visuals leave little to the imagination. But I imagine Shakespeare film violence is treated differently than other R-rated film violence. #MakeItReal
That is such an interesting topic. That would be a great debate for students....the different standards society holds for violence in entertainment mediums. Hmmm.. #MakeItReal#FortniteEDU
A1: Not sure how Fortnite fits into the history classrooms. My students are big fans of the game and know that I enjoy playing PUBG myself. I could see math or science teachers using the game as a way to get students interested in topics within their curriculums. #MakeItReal
A2) I know Pi can be used to build in Minecraft. I am wondering if Pi could be used to change the violence in FortNite? Challenge students to find alternatives? #MakeItReal
Agreed! There was a major teen pregnancy problem, so health classes talked about family life ed better. Same with smoking and drugs. Now we have vehicles to discuss violence #MakeItReal#FortniteEDU
I feel that we should not be ignoring the fact that most of the game is focused around violence, but we can use it to show kids how powerful it is but also how detrimental it can be to youth. PUBG is the more original battle royale game and that is focused on... #makeitreal
Yes. These games are team collarboration games that involve strategy. I am sure classroom discussions would easily lead to "what if" scenarios to further our explorations into the mathematics of these games. #MakeItReal#fortniteEDU
A3: Students can get instant feedback, try again and play the game how they want (fast and furious) or (slow and methodical).
I play both games myself, but not on mobile.
Is VideoGame addiction real?
Do the developers care about unintended consequences?
#makeitreal#FortniteEDU
A2: I honestly have trouble answering this because saying it should be addressed is one thing, but how to have that conversation in a meaningful, impactful way is another. Thoughts? Ex: “killing people is bad.” “It’s just a game!!!” “Well, ugh, right..” #MakeItReal
violence which is why i would recommend giving that as an example to those who think Fortnite is too violent, because it has been dialed down to be more of an undertone. #makeitreal
Had a teacher se this to identify potential locations of the battles by geography. Then we use @geoguessr to create a map of those locations and have students investigate and discuss! #MakeItReal#FortniteEDU@mrsjworrall
Q3: As important as passion/interest are in student engagement, so is figuring out WHY students love it. What is it that draws students into Fortnite and can we layer some of those same secret sauce ingredients into our class? #MakeItReal#FortniteEDU
Fortnite is more about playing with friends than using guns to kill people. It wouldn't be as successful if you couldn't play with each other. #makeitreal
A3: #Fortnite resonates with Ss via the Battle Royale format. Fight alone (gpa) to be better than everyone else (valedictorian) with a random starting situation (previous knowledge/money) and dream of potentially overcoming a la Hunger Games. #makeitreal#fortniteedu#edchat
A3: We could take the mechanic of the shrinking world and have a lot of fun with that in a #gamified learning environment. Play to the survival aspect of @fortnitegame which is one of the draws to the game. #fortniteedu#makeitreal@FortniteEdu
A3: I asked my Ss about the appeal in Fortnite:
• competitive
• collaborative
• interactive
• new feature every week
• creativity (hacks)
• challenges/awards
Providing these things in our classrooms would undoubtedly lead to increased engagement.
#MakeItReal#FortniteEDU
A2: Violence for my kiddos is a big deal. They want to play the games with the guns and weapons. We have those conversations quite a bit. How do you do this with kids who have social/emotional needs and have gone through significant trauma? #makeitreal
Right. This is always tough. But the conversation will grow because of your Ss perspectives. things like"i played violent games and am not violent" or "what are the social impacts of group violence in a game." discussions worth having #MakeItReal#FortniteEDU
A3: This question makes me think back to the good old days of spelling bees and silent ball- it was all about being the sole survivor - sounds a lot like @FortniteGame to me :) #fortniteedu#makeitreal@FortniteEdu
A3: I asked my Ss about the appeal in Fortnite:
• competitive
• collaborative
• interactive
• new feature every week
• creativity (hacks)
• challenges/awards
Providing these things in our classrooms would undoubtedly lead to increased engagement.
#MakeItReal#FortniteEDU
If nothing else, it can be used as a talking point. Do Ss actually need to be in game and playing, or simply discussing impact of these events. #makeitreal I am not really seeing the same level of creativity as other games, problem solving and decision making, yes
Q2: There’s an elephant in the Fortnite room...violence. How can Fortnite be used as a vehicle for learning about violence, guns, and culture in your classrooms? #MakeItReal#FortniteEDU
A2: Games can connect to a lot of important topics. I think this game allows us to discuss violence with students, but I don't believe games lead students to become violent. I played a lot of Mario and Paperboy, but I don't want to be a plumber or deliver papers. #makeitreal
A3:I think as a consumer the real pull towards the game was first wanting to ride this wave of popularity that started a few months ago,but also the evolution of how you play,it really shows in the game and the pride you feel when you and win is a natural high. #makeitreal
I agree... building relationships or even chasing an opportunity to earn teacher's gamer tag could motivate students and make good conversation the way many people talk about sports. #MakeItReal
A3 I don’t know much about the game but I think as a whole, using gamification aims to engage students. Incorporate the competitiveness, the need to “level up,” survival, etc. #MakeItReal
A3: Including students from different social “circles” in an environment where they can all be vulnerable and be friends when in the outside world their paths might never cross. Athletes and theatre “geeks” both enjoy #fortnite and play together. #MakeItReal
A3: I do not know anything (aside from what I am learning right now) about Fortnite, but we are doing a 2 week unit on video games now. I am including activities that are interactive, collaborative, on the screen, somewhat competitive-although I need to be careful. #makeitreal
Nice! All competition in current trend that is popular. Brings some many students together. Its like #FlappyBird phenomenon, "What's your high score?" About the challenge and being better. Competitive edge = engagement #MakeItReal
In reply to
@mr_isaacs, @FortniteGame, @FortniteEdu
I am involved with a lot of fan accounts about fortnite on all platforms many say the map is based off Poland, for example, retail row is very close to Warsaw a huge shopping destination and Retail Row being filled with stores. #makeitreal
Or...you can take a word like Fortnite, show them the real one, then have a talk about finding other intentionally misspelled words in media! #MakeItReal#FortniteEDU
A2: Violence for my kiddos is a big deal. They want to play the games with the guns and weapons. We have those conversations quite a bit. How do you do this with kids who have social/emotional needs and have gone through significant trauma? #makeitreal
A3: It is free. Constant updates and changes. Team play. Fast matches. Fictional weapons. Can construct things. You can play with your friends. #makeitreal#fortniteEDU
Doing a #MinecraftEdu project with students right now and they were saying they would love to do #FortniteEDU for building purposes. Such a platform does not exist that I could support it right now but if we could rethink it maybe... #MakeItReal
Thank you all for an amazing, open minded chat about finding ways to creatively engage students and become better teachers, too! #MakeItReal#FortniteEDU
Yeah, but many games have been doing this for years. What's new about fortnight is the battle royal element. The ever shrinking arena. How could we recreate this in school. Maybe like an underground railroad adventure, Ss take on various roles. #makeitreal
Wow! How can we create that world for them in our classrooms. One where they only want to be there, communicating with others there, loving every minute! #MakeItReal#FortniteEDU
In reply to
@carriebeau613, @MGrundel, @mr_isaacs, @JayBilly2, @LFlemingEDU, @SteinbrinkLaura, @sdtitmas, @_on11, @forthekiddoes, @spiralEDU, @burgessdave
A3: The game is free, there is an ultimate winner, can play with friends or complete strangers (social), now can be played on mobile devices (easy access), genre is becoming popular, athletes and celebrities have been streaming games. #MakeItReal
I hear the phrase Fortnight is the new Minecraft often. But does it involve the same elements of creativity and exploration? Or customization and adaptation? Or is it just a really popular game right now, like Pokemon go 2 years ago, or call of duty Black ops #makeitreal
Or you have the students come up with these ideas. Have them create storylines that relate to the content being covered, a historical event or time period, current political issues, US relations, etc. #MakeitReal#fortniteEDU
A3: I don't think the games make students violent. I just don't want to perpetuate any violent thinking that a student is already having. However, I don't mind talking about the game, using maps from it, etc. #makeitreal
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies? Seriously Kate Atkinson's Life After Life = main character dies repeatedly. In Cold Blood & others = grotesque murders... #MakeItReal
Again, this isnt unique to Fortnight, gamers have been Utilizing chat features for years. Does this mean the game will come as quickly as it arrived, like Pokemon Go? I would be more interested in teaching kids how to design battle royal style games in Unreal or Unity #makeitreal
In reply to
@carriebeau613, @MathDenisNJ, @mr_isaacs, @JayBilly2, @LFlemingEDU, @SteinbrinkLaura, @sdtitmas, @_on11, @forthekiddoes, @spiralEDU, @burgessdave
For some of my students, diving into this world allows them to escape the harsh reality of their lives. It's a place where they can communicate without having to be physically there. People are more outgoing when they aren't face to face? VR in the classroom?? #MakeItReal
In reply to
@MathDenisNJ, @MGrundel, @mr_isaacs, @JayBilly2, @LFlemingEDU, @SteinbrinkLaura, @sdtitmas, @_on11, @forthekiddoes, @spiralEDU, @burgessdave
It's a worthy discussion. It sounds snooty to say there's such a thing as "literature" compared to pop entertainment, but I believe in the distinction. What is the intended purpose of the work, and what role does the violence play in that? #MakeItReal
Thanks for the interesting chat on #ForniteEdu to all those attending #MakeItReal you contributed to the discussion well. Feel free to keep it going if there is anything you want to discuss further. I am game for follow up. #PLN
So then let's recreate those aspects, like @breakoutEDU challenges, could even be Fortnight themed. Or Murder Mystery style role-play games, like ARGs. Would love to do some investigative lessons that involve survival and team work. Actually pandemic comes to mind #makeitreal
In reply to
@HowardKiyuna, @PernaZachary, @breakoutEDU
I agree, actually - and I don't worry when they read Romeo & Juliet, but I *do* worry when they play Fortnite for hours... Still, maybe worth discussing with the kids? #MakeItReal
Yes, it could be a phase. However, I've never seen such a group effort. I have students comparing everybook to Fortnite. They found a way to relate a conversation of Number the Stars to Fortnite. Idk how it happened. #MakeItReal#sbpdchat
In reply to
@MGrundel, @MathDenisNJ, @mr_isaacs, @JayBilly2, @LFlemingEDU, @SteinbrinkLaura, @sdtitmas, @_on11, @forthekiddoes, @spiralEDU, @burgessdave
Nothing closes off understanding quite like "I'll never understand the appeal...." Nobody asked you to like it too! But we should be curious about our kids. #MakeItReal
A3: It's funny how close Fortnite is to football. Violent, but team based. Challenging, but requires communication. That's why we call gamer competitions "e-Sports." Same framework, different location #MakeItReal#FortniteEDU
Do your students talk non-stop about Fortnite? Are you ready to ban it from your classroom? Or will you #MakeItReal instead?
Join tonight's chat and share your AWESOME ways for using Fortnite in class and learn more from our PLN! See you after #Kidsdeserveit and #122edchat
A3: I asked my Ss about the appeal in Fortnite:
• competitive
• collaborative
• interactive
• new feature every week
• creativity (hacks)
• challenges/awards
Providing these things in our classrooms would undoubtedly lead to increased engagement.
#MakeItReal#FortniteEDU
Yes, when they're not playing they spend their time watching videos of those playing. Then they come into my room and they talk about it like crazy. So it's not just the physical aspect of playing. #MakeItReal
