WORLDSKILLS VISIT

I visited a few booths during the WorldSkills event held from 5th July to 7th July and there were quite a few things that I could learn from what was explained to me when I visited the booths. In comparison to many other booths that I have visited during this session, I was most intrigued and impressed by the following three booths.

The first booth which left a deep impression on me was the use of games for educational purposes. It is called Mospectrum and it strives to create enjoyable educational games. The system start recording down certain data when the game is started. Although the demo we were shown was not an actual educational game which they were striving for, we were able to get a vague picture of what they are trying to achieve. When a person starts playing the game, the system will proceed to start its timer and thus record the time taken for him to either complete the game or when he exits the game. Moreover, they mentioned a system whereby after crossing certain levels for example, answering certain questions, the system will record how long they actually took on those levels/questions. This will then allow them to have an idea of how much time a student will spend on the questions and how long they may take to complete the game. I personally feel that they have a very good base idea as nowadays, it is hard to keep the attention of youngsters since most think that studying is boring and a waste of time. By integrating educational elements into fun games will actually piqued a student’s interest and make him/her more likely to want to try out the game. Furthermore, with the system recording these data of the time spent, it will be easier for the teachers to track a student’s progress and generally which questions they are weaker on. With this being an educational yet fun game, it may even lead to students competing against each other to compare who has reached a higher level. This will make it more exciting for them to play the game and also give them a bigger reason for playing the game. Therefore, while competing with each other, they also subconsciously learn from the game which is a good result to achieve.

The next booth, the Microsoft booth, let us try out a little minor programming for a popular game, Minecraft. They made use of the education edition of Minecraft which aims to immerse students in a virtual landscape that fosters collaboration, stimulates problem solving and inspires creativity while exploring subjects from art to math, history to science. I feel that it is a very enriching experience and it is indeed very educational. Other than being open ended where anything can be done in game, it can be used for educational purposes like using the game to show the relationships between organs and systems or getting to know what the 5 senses are related to the organs and the biology of the human body. By making use of this game to allow students and even teachers to have a better experience learning and teaching, it brings about many benefits. I feel that by using this game, it is more likely that students will pay attention and also be more interested in learning as the graphics is more appealing as compared to just paper and ink. Moreover, the diagrams portrayed in the game can be used more effectively by the teacher to better explain what he/she is trying to teach, making the game very useful for education.

The final booth is about a system which monitors the statistics of a car system. There was even a demo which makes use of a virtual game which stimulates driving an actual F1 car. This system was created with the purpose of recording the speed, the distance travelled and many more factors which will determine the functionality of the car. For example, if the car is being driven at a certain speed that is supposed to travel at a certain distance but has instead only travel a small distance, the system will be able to detect that something is wrong. This will allow them to keep track of the status of the car to ensure that it is in good condition and that there were no factors affecting the condition of the car. I feel that this is a unique system as it keeps track of a car’s condition and also increase the efficiency in improving the car’s condition if any malfunctions were found. Problems will be solved early on which can reduce the possibility of the driver facing malfunctions and getting into an accident. Due to F1 being highly dangerous, this system makes it much safer for one to drive a car as he/she can be sure that there are no problems in the car’s condition. Therefore I feel that this will greatly reduce danger and aid in ensuring safer driving.

After visiting the various booths through this exhibition, I realise that there are many creative and unique ideas people have came up with which either helps in education or increases convenience for the general public. Therefore, I personally felt that I have increased my knowledge due to the things I have learnt from visiting the booths and that I should also come up with my own ideas that can potentially be of help to the society. Since there are many ways one can approach a problem from what I have seen from this visit, I felt that it is important for one to understand what attracts the attention of my target audience and how my product can possibly be of use to them before I can successfully produce a good product. Moreover, it is important that I have a clear aim before starting on the creation of a new product.