active board + Wii = ?

[jordanhaney]

Does anyone know if you can hook up the Wii to the active board? I was watching a podcast and I thought I saw some students playing Wii tennis in the background. If so, what are some ways you can use it educationally and not just for game play? My students will greatly appreciate any ideas!

Jordan

[daliena]

[clap]great idea!
but, what do you teach?
are you a p.e. teacher, or do you think to teach math through the points calculation?

[jordanhaney]

I teach fifth grade and all subjects. I have a Wii at home that just sits there and I figured it could be used for something.

Jordan

[rgrondin]

Well, the easy answer is yes, it can. It does not get connected to the ActivBoard, it gets connected to the projector. So, in my particular setup, I have a connection between my VCR and the projector - the Wii would just go to the VCR. Basically, look at your projector and see what connections you have available.

We had a Guitar Hero fund-raiser. It was a lot of fun.

[markrobinson]

We have had a DVD/Surround Sound System and a Wii connected to our Activboard for a couple of years. You can use the remote control to switch between the Wii/DVD/Console and the Computer - so you can switch if they are both supporting a lesson.

Your Promethean installation may have had a wall box. On this there will be connections for video/audio using phono connectors. Usually ou can take the outputs straight from the games console to these using the wires supplied with the console.

The Wii has some great games that could be used in lessons. As well as the quiz and puzzle games where the class can work to suggest answers etc. there are some nice thematic games like Endless Ocean which could support an ocean sciences / environment topic (blog about this here: http://edte.ch/blog/2009/11/03/using-endless-ocean-wii-in-the-classroom-making-a-class-aquarium-for-descriptive-writing/). Wii Music is great since 4 can play at once and you can get other kids to play real instruments alongside and the sports games let you set up classes of users for virtual sports leagues and class competitions.

The idea above about having an after school league or fundraising based on games is a great one.

Some ideas here on using Games in classrooms:
http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/ictineducation/gamesbasedlearning/index.asp

Also PC based games should not be underestimated. My class made an online guide to using SimCity to learn about Geography and Human influence on the environment and some of the historical strategy games make for really rich classroom discussions. Getting everyone involved can be the challenge - so I would usually aim to have the game 'support' a broader activity - rather than being an activity itself.

[markrobinson]

There are some "whole class" games being developed using the SDK for Expression and Activote. This allows everyone to be actively involved.

These often feature curriculum quizzes and team based competition:

Race game:
http://www.robertpowellpublications.com/RaceGame.htm

and Aimer:
http://www.aimereducation.co.uk/

are examples and there are more...

[jordanhaney]

Wow! Thanks for the incredible reply Mark. I also checked out your blog and it is full of great ideas.

Jordan

[curchyr]

I notice you referred to SDK. I'm looking for Active SDK flash extension to install on my computer, but can't find it. Do you know where to get it?

[LisaD]

I think what you are refering to is a development tool, not something that the end user would need. Read here:

http://www.prometheanplanet.com/pdn/community-3/

Lisa