The original draft for implementing "Stop the Mob" in the classroom
With regard to our teaching plan, we first introduced ourselves to the 18 pupils of a 4th grade in a new
secondary school. We proceeded by asking them what they already knew
about mobbing/bullying. The students named a few scenarios and
described it as “doing something bad to another student” or
“hurting someone’s feelings”. After this short brainstorming we
continued by giving them instructions for our game “Stop the Mob”.
The students worked in groups of three using one tablet. Therefore,
they had to decide together how to act, discuss their options and reach an
unanimous decision. They had time to play the game twice or even three times depending on how fast they played. We then
compared their scores and outcomes focusing on the questions: Why did
you make Bob happy? Why isn't he feeling better or which choices made
him feel even worse? We also tried to create a definition of mobbing/bullying together with the students. By answering the following
four questions in the affirmative, one can detect mobbing and
distinguish it from a temporary conflict:
-
Is there a harm or damage done to a
person?
-
Was it caused on purpose?
-
Since when do the damaging activities
occur? Are they occurring repeatedly?
- Is there an asymmetry of power between victim and offender? (cf. Kessler 2009: 22)
For the last twenty minutes the pupils created their own bullying scenarios, for which they were free to choose the form (dialogue, role play, sketch, comic etc.). The presentation of the outcomes was optional, but nearly every group wanted to take the opportunity.
the lesson's aims
- Our overall objectives for the lesson were to confront students with mobbing/bullying, to equip them with the means to identify mobbing/bullying, and, above all, to make students aware that their actions can make a difference.
- With relation to English language teaching we tried to practice speaking skills by engaging in pair, group and whole-class discussions and to practice reading in digital media (here: computer games).
Our overall aims implied the primary learning assets of “Stop the Mob”, as it functions as a simulation that helps learners to prepare for action in the real world. Immersed in an environment where English is the native language, the players are faced with mobbing/bullying scenarios and can test the consequences of their actions before they act in real life: Does it have any effect on the victim if I just walk away? What could I do to improve the victim's situation? With regard to such questions, the game purposely prepares the students for specific actions. (cf. Gee 2007: 24) We also discussed the several scores and outcomes of the students gaming experiences and created a meaningful relation to their real-life environment.
The game’s educational value was increased, as we let the students play the game in groups of three. Students were not only able to act out the dialogues in the different scenarios together, but, more importantly, had to discuss which action to choose in the five in-school and the four at-home scenarios and agree on one action. Thereby, they communicated with each other, brought forth their arguments, tried to convince their classmates, and listened to and considered a different argumentation, i.e. they developed “a set of effective social practices” (Shaffer et al. 2005: 106).
As far as our English language aims are concerned, we had to be very flexible, because the students' language level was not as good as we expected. Although we tried to keep on speaking English in the classroom, we sometimes had to translate parts into German and had to switch to German completely for the second part of the lesson. However, as the game is text-based and only few actions are animated, students had to read in English exclusively: They read an introductory text to orientate themselves in the game, followed continuous dialogues and understood the options they had to choose from in each scenario. Whenever a student did not understand the game’s texts, other students or the teachers helped them out by translating into German or into the student’s mother tongue. The quite long text that pops up on the home screen when the players choose "google mobbing”, however, is a simulated authentic text and constitutes an exception to a B1 language level. Therefore, all of the students had difficulties understanding it and asked us to help with vocabulary and translations. Nonetheless, we tried to use teaching activities that do not require learners to understand the whole text, but rather train reading strategies such as scanning or skimming. In this case the students were supposed to try to find a definition of mobbing/bullying, which they did. Regarding digital media literacy and viewing video games as texts in the broadest sense (cf. Beavis et al. 2009: 169), “Stop the Mob”, furthermore, addresses students' skills to successfully work with digital media: they had to know how to interact with the game, how to reach a desirable outcome and how to extract information for specific purposes installed by the game or the teaching context.
REVIEW: a successful lesson?
Video: Students play "Stop the Mob" on Samsung tablets and design as well as perform their own bullying scenarios.
Before the lesson started, we were pretty nervous and excited, as we did not know the school, the teacher or any of the students. However, our team was looking forward to trying out “Stop the Mob” in class and to getting feedback immediately. The students were really motivated and seemed interested in working with tablets and digital games. At first, we mainly spoke English, but after a short time we had to switch to or translate into German, because for most of the students the English language was really hard to understand. The group forming process was not easy either, but we were able to sort it out after a while. During the game phase, when the students were actually playing, we moved around the classroom, trying to be wherever someone needed our help. Some of the students did ask for translations, especially during the “google mobbing” part of the game. As our lesson plan was pretty intense, we were not sure if all our activities would fit into 50 minutes. However, the students were extremely cooperative and we were surprised when they wanted to continue presenting their outcomes and self-made scenarios, even though the bell had rung. We were very happy about the students’ enthusiasm and regarded it as the greatest feedback and compliment we could get. We were glad that the students really had some creative ideas and put a lot of effort into their own bullying scenarios, as you can see in the pictures below:
Before the lesson started, we were pretty nervous and excited, as we did not know the school, the teacher or any of the students. However, our team was looking forward to trying out “Stop the Mob” in class and to getting feedback immediately. The students were really motivated and seemed interested in working with tablets and digital games. At first, we mainly spoke English, but after a short time we had to switch to or translate into German, because for most of the students the English language was really hard to understand. The group forming process was not easy either, but we were able to sort it out after a while. During the game phase, when the students were actually playing, we moved around the classroom, trying to be wherever someone needed our help. Some of the students did ask for translations, especially during the “google mobbing” part of the game. As our lesson plan was pretty intense, we were not sure if all our activities would fit into 50 minutes. However, the students were extremely cooperative and we were surprised when they wanted to continue presenting their outcomes and self-made scenarios, even though the bell had rung. We were very happy about the students’ enthusiasm and regarded it as the greatest feedback and compliment we could get. We were glad that the students really had some creative ideas and put a lot of effort into their own bullying scenarios, as you can see in the pictures below:
Authors:
If you have any further questions about “Stop the Mob” please do not hesitate to contact us:
Katharina Luftensteiner, Katharina Pölzl, Markus Resch, Katrin Waldhart - stopthemob@gmx.com
Bibliography:
Beavis, Catherine; Bradford, Clare, Apperley, Thomas; O'Mara, Joanne; Walsh, Christopher. (2009) Literacy in the digital age : learning from computer games, English in education, vol. 43, no. 2, pp. 162-175. URL: https://www.academia.edu/386001/Literacy_in_the_digital_age_Learning_from_computer_games
Gee, James Paul. “Good video games, the human mind, and good learning”. In: James Paul Gee. Good Video Games Plus Good Learning (Vol. 27). Chicago: Peter Lang, 2007. URL: http://rhetoricalpeaks.pbworks.com/f/Good+Video+Games+Gee001%5B1%5D.pdf
Kessler, Doris; Strohmeier, Dagmar. Gewaltprävention an Schulen. Persönlichkeitsbildung und soziales Lernen. 2009. URL: http://www.oezeps.at/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Onlineversion_Gewaltpraevention.pdf
Shaffer, D. W.; Halverson, R.; Squire, K. R.; Gee, James Paul. “Video Games and the Future of Learning”. WCER Working Paper No. 2005-4. Wisconsin Center for Education Research, 2005. URL: http://website.education.wisc.edu/~kdsquire/tenure-files/23-pdk-VideoGamesAndFutureOfLearning.pdf
If you have any further questions about “Stop the Mob” please do not hesitate to contact us:
Katharina Luftensteiner, Katharina Pölzl, Markus Resch, Katrin Waldhart - stopthemob@gmx.com
Bibliography:
Beavis, Catherine; Bradford, Clare, Apperley, Thomas; O'Mara, Joanne; Walsh, Christopher. (2009) Literacy in the digital age : learning from computer games, English in education, vol. 43, no. 2, pp. 162-175. URL: https://www.academia.edu/386001/Literacy_in_the_digital_age_Learning_from_computer_games
Gee, James Paul. “Good video games, the human mind, and good learning”. In: James Paul Gee. Good Video Games Plus Good Learning (Vol. 27). Chicago: Peter Lang, 2007. URL: http://rhetoricalpeaks.pbworks.com/f/Good+Video+Games+Gee001%5B1%5D.pdf
Kessler, Doris; Strohmeier, Dagmar. Gewaltprävention an Schulen. Persönlichkeitsbildung und soziales Lernen. 2009. URL: http://www.oezeps.at/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Onlineversion_Gewaltpraevention.pdf
Shaffer, D. W.; Halverson, R.; Squire, K. R.; Gee, James Paul. “Video Games and the Future of Learning”. WCER Working Paper No. 2005-4. Wisconsin Center for Education Research, 2005. URL: http://website.education.wisc.edu/~kdsquire/tenure-files/23-pdk-VideoGamesAndFutureOfLearning.pdf
