Gamestar Mechanic Gaming in education: 'We don’t need no stinking badges' Educators and game designers say gamification is not about adding games to classes, but designing classes as games When video game designer and writer Lee Sheldon designed a physical fitness class called “Skeleton Chase,” he didn’t ask any students to climb into a sewer drain. Yet, one student, who saw it as the best means to attain his goal, did so, anyway. Sheldon showed a photograph of the student climbing into the tunnel to a small gathering of politicians, educators, and industry leaders May 16 on Capitol Hill. Sheldon was one of a handful of game designers to speak about gaming in education as part of the launch of Excelsior College’s new Center for Game and Simulation-Based Learning. Nearly 60 percent of Americans play video games, according to the Entertainment Software Association. At Friday’s event, Sheldon stressed that gaming in education does not mean simply adding video games into a classroom. “It’s not a game added to a class,” Sheldon said.
Why (And How) To Start Teaching Coding In School Fueled by an incredible demand in the workforce for proficient programmers and the need to teach critical thinking skills, the coding movement in schools has exploded. Furthermore, we all communicate through technology, so we should at least know the basic premise of coding because the gadget sitting in our pocket, or on our desk, should not be a mysterious black box to us or our students. Just like writing, multimedia, art, and music are mediums to show ideas, coding can be another form of expression. Learn To Code, Code To Learn We need to think beyond the syntax of a programming language and focus on how using coding as a learning tool will not only give students a key 21st Century Skill but also allow them to demonstrate their learning through another creative outlet. In his TED Talk, Resnick talks about learning in context. Expanding Reach According to a Pew Internet Research study, 97% of students play games. Its Not About Syntax
Games and Learning | Through coverage of the market, research and up-to-date analysis, Games and Learning reports on the opportunities and challenges facing those seeking to unlock the educational power of games. Gamestar Mechanic Scratch 2.0 WeDo extension is now in beta! - Discuss Scratch Today's update to Scratch adds support for the LEGO WeDo - a first for Scratch 2.0! LEGO WeDo is a robotics kit that you can use to connect your Scratch projects to the physical world. If you have a LEGO WeDo, you can add the WeDo extension by clicking the more blocks palette, and then select “add an extension.” Select LEGO WeDo and follow the instructions to install the plugin. What are Scratch Extensions? The WeDo extension is just the first of its kind: It will soon be possible to connect other kinds of hardware to Scratch. I want to make a Scratch extension so I can… (program my 200 foot tall My Little Pony robot / monitor my pet Nar-Nar’s temperature / whatever else you can imagine ) You can find more information about Scratch extensions on the wiki page. Scratch On!
4 Ways To Teach Computing To A New Generation Of Kids Programming conferences are unlikely places to find teachers. But at the recent PyCon UK conference, in the Coventry Technocentre owned by Coventry University, teachers and programmers were working together and sharing their relative expertise. Why? Because they care deeply about teaching computing to young people. The UK government recently mandated that computer science be taught in British schools as a replacement for the much maligned IT curriculum that taught basic (and severely outdated) secretarial skills, with not much room for anything else. This has resulted in an explosion of innovative ways to teach computing to kids and teenagers. Python Few programming languages are quite so well suited for teaching beginners and children as Python. Python is a language that embraces simplicity and readability, and the Python developer community is infamous for being welcoming, conscientious and helpful. Raspberry Pi They’re cheap too, costing a paltry $25. Minecraft Or, is it? Scratch
Research: Online Gaming Expands the Social Life of Gamers Gaming Research | News Research: Online Gaming Expands the Social Life of Gamers By Dian Schaffhauser04/10/14 People who play massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs) may notprefer the company of avatars to live humans after all. Researchers from North Carolina State University and Canada's York University and University of Ontario Institute of Technology found that online social behavior doesn't replace offline social behavior in the gaming community. "Gamers aren't the antisocial basement-dwellers we see in pop culture stereotypes; they're highly social people," said Nick Taylor, lead author of "Public Displays of Play: Studying Online Games in Physical Settings" and an assistant professor of communication at North Carolina State. Taylor and his fellow researchers examined the online and offline behavior of gamers with an emphasis on how they communicated with each other. In fact, he added, a player could be "ruthless in a game and still socialize normally offline." About the Author
Code Monster from Crunchzilla <h2>Code Monster gets kids excited about programming. It is a combination of a game and tutorial where kids experiment with learning to code. <p> Code Monster use Javascript. Please enable Javascript if you want the play with the Code Monster. Otherwise, Code Monster will not be able to play with you. </p><p></h2> I'm Code Monster! Getting Started Lesson 1 BACK How to Play | Lesson Sections | About | FAQ | Terms of Use | Privacy | Contact | © 2015 How to Play Code Monster teaches kids and adults a little about Javascript programming! It's easy to play. Click on the Reset button if you really mess up your code and want to start over on a lesson. Code Monster saves what lesson you are on, so feel free to stop at any time and come back later. Have fun! About Code Monster from Crunchzilla is an interactive tutorial for kids that focuses on action. Projects start with simple boxes and colors, rapidly progressing into exciting experiments with simple animation and fractals. Sure! Terms of Use Oh my.
The Augmented Web: Simplifying Augmented Reality In Education The Augmented Web: Simplifying Augmented Reality In Education by Maria Politis, Head of Content and Community at buildAR If you spend time on twitter looking at the #augmentedreality and #edutech hashtags you will know that there is quite a lot of discussion going on about Augmented Reality, and how it can be used as an educational tool. And with good reason. The web is full of innovative examples of how Augmented Reality is used in classrooms around the world every day. The ability to overlay digital content and information onto the real world, using triggers like images and locations opens up a world of rich learning opportunities. There is a wide range of Augmented Reality applications for the classroom currently available and real, practical uses of the technology are easy to find. Misunderstanding The Complexity Yet there still seems to be a widespread belief that Augmented Reality is difficult to implement. How Does Browser-Based Augmented Reality Work? Want To Learn More?
Innovative ways to get kids coding By Laura Devaney, Managing Editor, @eSN_Laura Read more by Laura Devaney Coding grows in popularity as advocates show students the fun side of programming Along with an increased call for more science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) funding is a movement to boost computer science’s visibility, due in part to the demand for qualified educated computer science professionals to fill a growing number of vacant spots in the field. Computer science fields, including coding and computer programming, are some of the fastest-growing field. But coding and computer science still struggle to attract women. (Next page: How to get more students coding)
Education Week Rae Fearing, Educational Technology Coordinator and STEM Coordinator for Del Norte County Unified School District in Crescent City, California was quoted in CUE's spring publication, OnCue as saying, "Anyone can AND SHOULD know how to code. It is the universal language of our digital future." In May, 2013 Mitch Resnick, LEGO Papert Professor of Learning Research, wrote an article for EdSurge entitled, Learn to Code, Code to Learn: How Programming Prepares Kids for More Than Math. In addition to learning mathematical and computational ideas (such as variables and conditionals), they are also learning strategies for solving problems, designing projects, and communicating ideas. Gary Stager helps teachers create learning environments that support personal computing and adapt to the changes in curriculum and...