With the free rice game I can see its merits in helping to build or assess students vocabulary.  It is a fun way for the children to test themselves without feeling the pressure from their teacher.  I do believe however, that this could become a distraction because it solely for the purpose of testing vocabulary.  It also does not give the teacher any control over the vocabulary being tested so it may or may not succeed to this end, particularly if the students become frustrated.  The "Get the Glass" game can be used to motivate students on the legal system, bail and prison, however I don't think that students should be encouraged to play in the role of the criminal and I do not see that this would be helpful beyond using for one lesson and only within this particular context.  I think the graphics are very impressive and that this could be very motivational but I do not see its relevance in a classroom.

As far as educational games go for meeting state and national teaching standards go I think it is possible provided that the game meets a very specific need of the lesson.  It must be used to accomplish something within the class otherwise it is just a wast of valuable time.

I was reflecting on the speaker we had in class the other day and everything she had been discussing with us.  For me it is so hard to swallow the idea of an online school for adults, let alone one for young children.  I cannot fathom how it would work.  It seems to me that it would have to be so much more complex to accommodate for all their needs and would need to have a parent be accommodating as well to sit next to their child and work with them when they are struggling.  I cannot imagine how frustrating it must be for a child sitting at home in front of a computer who is simply not understanding addition.  She is trying to follow the instructions the teacher is saying but she is not fast enough to keep up and gets frustrated.  How does an online school account for the different rates that the children work/ How do they explain and pick up on all the children's misconceptions? How do they differentiate their instruction?  I just have so many questions and get anxious about the entire idea, as if it were my own child having to go through this.

As I was working on the project for class I was really thinking about all the ways you could use moviemaker in a classroom. Aside from motivation to spark interest, you could use it assess knowledge, gauge comprehension, connect different disciplines, etc. This medium just allows you to reach more learners such as, auditory and visual, and can be extended through in class activity to tactile learners. It just amazes me. Especially with the shift into the digital age it would be so interesting watching students create their own story maps and create plots and characters and slowly generate their own movies. It would just allow students who are so disinterested in the stagnant classroom environment to become creative and use this as an outlet for their interest.