New school trend: Zombie-based learning A day on the job for Bellevue-based middle school teacher David Hunter starts just like any other teacher's day: He gets to class, settles his students down and takes attendance before he gets down to business -- talking about zombies and geography. Hunter's unique approach takes subjects that some kids struggle to pay attention to and turn them into something that they look forward to. His idea was to create a full geography curriculum (using National Geography Standards) taught in the context of a zombie apocalypse. The geography teacher funded his original idea for the project, called Zombie-Based Learning, on Kickstarter in June of 2012. "That age group (sixth- and seventh-graders) understands a zombie apocalypse better than they understand real-world applications of geography," Hunter told HLN. "It is amazing that we aren't already there," Hunter said. Will alternative learning continue to keep students from snoring their way through class?
Phospholamban Phospholamban, also known as PLN or PLB, is a protein that in humans is encoded by the PLN gene.[1] Phospholamban is a 52-amino acid integral membrane protein that regulates the Ca2+ pump in cardiac muscle and skeletal muscle cells.[2] Function[edit] This protein is found as a pentamer and is a major substrate for the cAMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA) in cardiac muscle. The protein is an inhibitor of cardiac muscle sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca++-ATPase (SERCA) in the unphosphorylated state, but inhibition is relieved upon phosphorylation of the protein. The subsequent activation of the Ca++ pump leads to shorter intervals between contractions, thereby contributing to the lusitropic response elicited in heart by beta-agonists. The protein is a key regulator of cardiac diastolic function . Clinical significance[edit] Gene knockout of phospholamban results in animals with hyperdynamic hearts, with little apparent negative consequence.[6] Discovery[edit] Interactions[edit] References[edit]
About the Game - World Peace Game Foundation The game is actually far more complex than glimpsed in the TED Talk or in the documentary film. Here’s what the game requires to be facilitated, played, and maintained: Students who play must: possess a certain “intellectual stamina” and can wrestle over an extended period of time with tough problems that are without quick or easy resolutioncan interact constructively with others different from themselves (diversity as much as possible)can forestall closure and handle the certain frustrations of endless challenges and conflicts as they collaborate to achieve peace Teacher / Facilitators who wish to use the game must: In short, charisma, compassion, connectivity, creativity, patience, and awareness are all necessary in great measure. To ideally, to learn how to play the game best is to observe a number of game sessions first. The game’s duration is also not that predictable.
Girls (Who Code) Rule The World In a conference room on the ninth floor of the futuristic-looking IAC building on Manhattan's far West Side, a hive of teenage girls were buzzing in conversation recently. But they weren't talking about fashion or Justin Bieber. Instead, if you listen in, you'd overhear snippets like this: "My interest is robotics--I'm curious how a stoplight or an ATM works," said Martha Ghose, a Bangladeshi girl from Manhattan, or, "I want to create new medical devices," said Sondos Alnajjar from Jordan. These are Girls Who Code and their newest friends, the TechGirls. Girls Who Code is an eight-week summer enrichment and mentoring program for teenage girls interested in web design, robotics, and mobile development. The program was started in New York City and is happening in six cities this summer. Some of the TechGirls are wearing hijabs, while others are dressed more secularly. [Image: Flickr user United States Mission Geneva]
Refining “Game-based Learning” In case you hadn’t noticed, education is full of jargon and rife with an alphabet soup of programs, policies, and practice. It’s often challenging for me as a professional in education technology to keep my terminology defined. What’s the difference between CIPA and COPPA? When you say PBL, do you mean problem-based learning or project-based learning? Of course, my own area of passion in education, the use of games and game principles for learning is faced with a similar, murky sea of words and ideas. Recent discussions, between David Warlick, Mathias Poulsen, and myself via Twitter during ISTE 12, forced me to consider the issues. It’s exciting to watch the idea of game-based learning gaining market share in the discussion on educational change, especially, since I’ve been pushing it for a few years now. Playful Learning One of the best things that game-based learning is bringing back to the education reform discussion is the value of play and a playful approach to learning. -Lucas
Promoting motivation with virtual agents and avatars: role of visual presence and appearance Amy L. Baylor1,2,3,* + Author Affiliations * abaylor@fsu.edu Abstract Anthropomorphic virtual agents can serve as powerful technological mediators to impact motivational outcomes such as self-efficacy and attitude change. 1. Research indicates the effectiveness of human social models in influencing another to change behaviours, beliefs or attitudes, as well as social and cognitive functioning (e.g. The focus in this paper is on the motivational (e.g. self-efficacy beliefs, attitude, interest) and affective (e.g. feelings of connection, relief of frustration) changes that result from observing or socially interacting with anthropomorphic agents that are instantiated in the role of social models. Further, there are several advantages to implementing anthropomorphic agents as social models. The advantages of accessibility in real time and customization are significant, but not if considerable time is required to construct these personalized agent social models. 2. Figure 1. Figure 2. Figure 3.
G.A.M.E. - Gamers Advancing Meaningful Education Mashirovka edurealms.com JumpStart Launches Educational MMORPG School of Dragons JumpStart has launched its newest educational multiplayer online game, School of Dragons™. The game is based on DreamWorks Animation’s How To Train Your Dragon franchise, and is one of the first massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPG) to incorporate basic science educational features in its gameplay. School of Dragons blends together three fields – film, online games, and television– to create an immersive online gaming experience for youth, allowing players to interact, play, and learn with familiar faces from the hit animated film, such as Hiccup and his dragon Toothless. “There is no other game like School of Dragons – it’s epic, fun, and gives fans of the How To Train Your Dragon another way to experience their favorite characters,” said David Lord, CEO of JumpStart. School of Dragons can be played online through a limited free account or by paid, full game subscription. Source: Press Release
How Gamification Works - 3D GameLab | 3D GameLab Instead of courses consisting mainly of textbook learning and lectures, classes built using game mechanics such as badges, experience points, levels and leaderboards, boost student engagement by allowing students to choose from “quests” and progress at their own pace through a series of educational activities. Students are motivated due to personal choice and meaningfulness, real-time feedback, the ability to collaborate or compete, and over time, they learn stay persistent in learning due to prior successes. Quest tasks can range from listening to a podcast, collecting and analyzing real-time data, or watching a short video to partnering with a classmate for discussion or writing a short essay. More on Quest-Based Learning™, Dr. Understanding Quest-Based Learning™ Infographic on the Gamification Education
Two Types of #Gamification | Kapp Notes CSU Resources Here are some resources you may find helpful from the workshop. When you are in the classroom or teaching online, you may want to find new and interesting ways to engage students. Here is a course titled How to Increase Learner Engagement which provides ten great ideas for breaking away from the lecture and working toward engaging […] Continue Reading → A conversation with GamEffective The other day I had a chance to have a conversation with Roni Floman of GamEffective. Continue Reading → Screening of an Innovative Film Locally If you are in or around the Bloomsburg area….You might be interested in what is below: I’m happy to announce our screening of a new documentary that takes audiences into three innovative public schools where students are taught HOW to think rather than WHAT to think. Continue Reading → A Conversation with Brandon Carson The other day I had a chance to catch up with Brandon Carson who contributes to our industry in so many ways. Continue Reading →
8 Reasons that We Should Teach to the Game (#GBL) from James Paul Gee, David Williamson Shaffer : Looking where the light is bad: Video games and the future of assessment Abstract In the past we have referred to games as good “learning engines.” Here we argue that games are good learning engines because they are first good assessment engines. Key points Why should schools and other learning sites use the learning principles that are embedded in good video games? These good principles for learning are even more important in the 21st Century, where students need to learn to work with others and with digital tools to produce and not just to consume knowledge. So what stands in the way? The answer is simple: assessment. Our standardized tests, coupled with our accountability policies, force teachers to teach to out-of-date tests. In other words, we’ve been looking in the wrong place because we’ve been designing games for learning when we should have been designing games for testing. 1. 2. 3. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Citation: Gee, J.P. and D.W.
How to Become a Game Designer You’ve been called a “gamer” for as long as you can remember, so you might as well make a career out of it, right? Well, it might all sound like fun and games, but game design has evolved from the days of scribbling a great idea on the back of a napkin into an elaborate process involving a specialists trained in a variety of disciplines who collaborate and sometimes work long hours to create great computer or video games replete with state-of-the-art animation and visual effects. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 59 percent of multimedia artists and animators, which includes computer and video game designers, are self-employed, often working from home but also in offices. It goes without saying that it is helpful to possess artistic ability and talent, but people lacking in those areas may compensate with robust technical and computer skills, preferred by some employers. Infographic source: Schools.com