I can’t get The World of Naaya to work on my classroom computers.
The game can be played through any web browser with Adobe Flash Player plug-in installed. Check with your school’s technology team to ensure your computers are set up with Adobe Flash Player.
Other system requirements for playing the game include:
- Mac (OS: 10.5+, CPU: 1.83GHz, RAM: 512 MB)
PC (OS: XP/VISTA/Windows 7;
- CPU: 1 GHz; RAM: 512 MB; Direct X: 9)
- Screen: 1024 x 768 px or higher resolution
- Adobe Flash Player 10 (needs verification)
- Browsers supported for the game will include:
- Safari 4 or higher
- Internet Explorer 8 or higher
- Mozilla Firefox 3 or higher
I’m having a hard time getting my students to log in independently. How can I make this easier?
Consider writing down their credentials and placing them in a folder for the students to pick up when they enter class. If they’ve forgotten their username and password, you can set the expectation that they should look in their folder.
Another option is to set up all of the computers (entering login credentials at each station) before students enter the class, if you intend to get them into the game immediately. This option may not work if you intend to have a whole class lesson beforehand, as the sessions may time out before the students get to their stations.
My students complain that they are unsure of what to do while logged into The World of Naaya.
Remind students that the game gets easier the more they play. You can set a goal for them each time they enter the environment. You may want to post the list of goals in the classroom where they can see it. If they are unsure of how to proceed, prompt them to look at the list and pick a goal for today’s session.
Some goals might include:
- Find the Squirrel.
- Buy a Welcome Sign at the General Store.
- Choose a homestead.
- Buy food from the General Store.
- Adopt a pet from Animal Rescue.
- Find the Cliff Bottom and help build the staircase by collecting stones.
- Earn enough coins to watch movies in the Theater.
Review the “Lesson Plans” in this guide for a more structured framework for guiding your students through specific tasks in the game.
My students aren’t earning any badges. What should I do?
Remind students that they need to collect all the Time Tokens, Nature Frames, Portraits and Fact Files. Then, they’ll they be able to take quizzes. All of this will help earn some of their badges.
Encourage them to send friendly and respectful messages to one another to earn the Communication badge. These messages can be about interesting things they’ve learned in the environment or words of encouragement or appreciation, such as: “Thanks for feeding my pet, Annie! You’re a good friend!” or “You’ve discovered so many animals, David! Keep up the good work!”
My students are sending one another inappropriate messages. I’m not sure how to handle it.
Each school will have different protocol for handling inappropriate behavior, so be sure to follow those guidelines. In addition, remind students that they can rate messages as “Don’t Like”. Messages that are rated “Don’t Like” will affect a Player’s ability to earn the Communication badge.
It can be helpful to provide models for appropriate messages. Remind students that messages should be friendly, respectful, and helpful to other Players. Examples include: “Hi, Sarah! Let’s chat in Town today, OK? I’ll wait for you there.” or “Hey, Michael! Which homestead did you choose?”
My students’ pets frequently run away. How can I help them?
Remind students how important it is to feed their pets in a timely manner. Students should collect coins along their journey and visit the General Store to buy pet food. When they log in to a session, point out the Food message that often appears on the the screen. This tells Players that their pets need food. Players should visit their Homesteads using the map and feed their pets as soon as possible.
My students want to know how they can reach new Levels. What do they need to do?
To get to Level 2, they will have to earn 1,000 points. Reaching higher levels will require even more points. Completing badges and taking quizzes will help them earn more points faster.
What are some of the new things that students can do when they reach Level 2?
They will be able to adopt a new pet from the Animal Rescue enter and have a much larger choice of items to purchase at the Curiosity Shop.
A Player logs in and finds that his/her environment status has changed to “Cloudy”. What caused this and what should Players do to make it “Sunny” again?
Each Player is allowed to catch a fixed number of fish or create a fixed number of fishing rods in any given session.
If they exceed that limit (despite being advised not to), the Environment goes out of balance. The next time the Player logs in, the environment status will have changed to “Cloudy, remaining that way for the whole session (NOTE that multiple log ins during a 24-hour period are considered part of the same session).
Assuming that the Player does not engage in harmful activity during the Cloudy session, the Environment status will change back to “Sunny” during the following session. You can explain to the student the cause and effect of his or her actions.You can also discuss the importance of caring for our environment and the effects of excessive logging or fishing on the global environment.
My students are having trouble finding some of the Knowledge Objects. How do I find them?
The Knowledge Objects are spread out through the various regions. If your students are having trouble finding some of the objects, refer to the Knowledge Objects Locations summary in the Content section to know where they are located.
Where do Players go to take quizzes?
Each historical region or pair of regions has a Key Station somewhere inside. This is a place where Player enter to take quizzes that cover the information on all of the region’s knowledge objects.
If you are having trouble locating a specific Key Station, review the Quiz Station Locations at the bottom of Knowledge Objects Locations summary in the Content section of this Teacher’s Guide.
