http://www.webkinz.com/de_de/

Teaching German Online

Letting children explore, play and learn

How I used Webkinz in my grade two German class....

Webkinz.com is translated into thirteen languages. Luckily German is one of them. The first thing I had to do was to get the children plush toys, as each plush toy contains a secret code that enables the child to login and discover the virtual world. I used my stationary budget to buy the plush toys.

More information about entering this kids virtual world:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGBKy6Ng380

The children picked German as their language. And logged in.

The first thing the children had to do was to adopt the pet. They had to answer a few questions, name their pet and then received a ‘certificate of adoption’. All this was done in German. I had to help a few children, who could not read and understand everything. Once this was done, the child officially had a pet, which needed to be fed and played with....the child had to take care of the virtual pet….

Here is my pet Milli. When a pet is adopted, each user receives a sum of money, called kinzcash. With this money one can buy furniture, virtual books etc. If a user runs out of kinzcash, he or she has to either ‘get a job’ in the virtual world or play games. Moving from one level to the other in the game, rewards the player with kinzcoins.

Things that can be bought....

Some posted jobs in Webkinz. Children are motivated to complete the jobs and obtain kinzcash. They have to read through the job description in order to understand what the job requires. This is a good way for children to improve their reading skills and strategic competence.

An example of a job instruction page. This is an example of the English job description.

Some issues I have encountered:

1.) Loading time can take too long2.) Games sometimes crash3.) Certain games have an additional cost to them4.) Too much advertising on the website4.) Children with beginner German or low intermediate will be challenged when navigating through the website, these children can either partner up with another child or the teacher has to assist 5.) Certain areas of the website were not translated. Half of the game would be in English and half in German. This does not necessarily have to be regarded as something negative. This can be considered an example of bilingual gaming exposure

I liked the newspaper section. I would let my children read the short articles. Above is an example. We would then talk about words they do not understand. The topics of the newspaper articles revolve around new events in the Webkinz World.

This is the Kinzville Map showing the numerous areas the children can enter. Above is the newspaper icon. Every week a new newspaper article is published in German.

My class played the Quizzy’s Discovery Zone Game. This was the only game we played in class. As homework I let the children explore the rest of Webkinz World.

The Quizzy’s Discovery Zone has three areas that can be explored:-Tiere (animals)-Geographie (geography)-Wissenschaft (Science)

The English Version has more categories.

Virtual Friends such as the Quizzy bear are constantly motivating the children, giving them instructions and supporting them throughout their Webkinz Experience. Translation of the white speech bubble: “Great to see you again. Let’s begin”.

Once the geography section is picked, the child can choose the continent. Each section contains 25 questions. The questions are updated and changed. For certain sections a story has to be read first, then questions have to be answered.

Translation: Are you ready for the next question?

YES NO

Here are a few sample questions, multiple choice:

If the child answers the question wrong: a red ‘x’ appears indicating that the answer is wrong.For each right answer, the child receives three kinz coins.

Kinzcash is the motivation and also teaches children about the real world.

Once the child answers the question correctly, further information about the topic is revealed. This is very educational as the child continues to read and explore the topic of choice.

Several games can be found on the website. I found the Quizzy Corner Game the most interesting and educational one. But this is my opinion....I am sure the children have their own preferences and thoughts.......Most of the kids in my classroom liked the game Spree.

The Quizzy Corner Game shows, a digital adventure that can be fun and educational at the same time. Motivation is an important factor when planning a lesson. The following is accomplished with exposing the child to the game:a.) navigates through the German website (overcomes challenges)b.) completes the games and online tasks (feeling of accomplishment, rewarding)c.) understands game and test instructions (analyzes and processes, improves German skills) d.) talks about his online experience (forms opinion)e.) challenges the virtual world (seeks ways to improve it, critiques)

This type of activity is: creative, explorative, mysterious but at the same time rewarding and challenging. Other skills:

-- child’s attention span is improved, as child has to focus on task-- ability to make decisions and use judgement to advance in the online adventure or game (building strategies, positive wash-back affect)-- improve hand-eye co-ordination-- if done in a group it improves social skills and team work as the child learns about becoming a team player-- teaches the child about problem solving-- enhances creativity: exposes child to sound, graphics and design