A Neurologist Makes the Case for the Video Game Model as a Learning Tool The popularity of video games is not the enemy of education, but rather a model for best teaching strategies. Games insert players at their achievable challenge level and reward player effort and practice with acknowledgement of incremental goal progress, not just final product. The fuel for this process is the pleasure experience related to the release of dopamine. Dopamine Motivation The human brain, much like that of most mammals, has hardwired physiological responses that had survival value at some point in evolutionary progression. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that, when released in higher than usual amounts, goes beyond the synapse and flows to other regions of the brain producing a powerful pleasure response. No Pain, No Gain The survival benefit of the dopamine-reward system is building skills and adaptive responses. Awareness of Incremental Goal Progress Individualized Achievable Challenge Game Entry Point is a Perfect Fit Through Pre-assessment and Feedback
7 Tools for Building Review Games This week I received at least a half dozen emails from people who were looking for suggestions for creating review games or practice quizzes for their students. The following are the tools that I suggested in reply to those emails. One teacher's needs are little bit different from another's so this list covers a fairly wide range of options. TinyTap is a good iPad and Android app for creating your own review games based on pictures and diagrams. ClassTools.net offers a handful of templates for building your own educational games. Socrative and Kahoot continue to be my two favorite platforms for hosting fast-paced review quizzes. If a Jeopardy-style game is what you're after, eQuizShow, Jeopardy Rocks, and FlipQuiz are worth giving a try. Survival Tips for Building a PLN For the past 4 years, I have researched the what, who, how, and why of Personal/Professional/ Passionate Learning Networks (PLNs). We have seen the benefits of the people we choose to connect, collaborate, and problem solve with through social media. The educators, subject matter experts (SMEs), authors, and mentors we choose to derive knowledge from help us self-reflect on our methodologies and beliefs. They support us, remember our birthdays, celebrate our accomplishments, and stir within us a passion to improve the status quo. Within one year of connecting with a PLN, I jump started many projects at my school and in the past 5 years I’ve organized many free incredible professional development events with the help of my PLN. My PLN helps me be a better educator and prepare my students and trainees. Below are several resources I have collected about the history of PLNs, how to build a PLN, and the tools needed to build a PLN. Connected Learning- My interview with Harold Rheingold
All Fun & Games? Understanding Learner Outcomes Through Educational Games Over the past several years, there has been tremendous interest among educators in the use of digital games as serious learning. Advocates of game-based learning for K-12 students cite the value of digital games to teach and reinforce skills that prepare students for college and career, such as collaboration, problem solving, creativity, and communication. Not as often discussed is our ability to use students' in-game actions as evidence for the assessment of skills and knowledge, including those not easily measured by traditional multiple-choice tests. The Potential of Games as Invisible Assessments Traditional assessment methods often require teachers to interrupt classroom learning and administer tests. In contrast, invisible assessments make use of technology to record information about the ways students interact with learning material in a seamless manner, without interruption. Game or Gamification? A Look Toward the Future
5 Gamification Features Every Teacher Wants “The value of technology for transforming learning is lost if it is only used to digitize traditional materials (e.g. scanning worksheets makes them digital, but doesn’t improve the learning experience). Instead, think about innovative approaches that allow students to engage with content differently,” EdTech Developer’s Guide (ETDG) Before your EdTech tool makes it into the hands of an excited student, it has to pass through the teacher first; the teacher who’s looking to engage their students and inspire further exploration into lessons. That means, when designing your app or tool, you must consider what features make your product worthy of classroom integration. As Bill Gates said, “Technology is just a tool. In terms of getting the kids to work together, and motivating them, the teacher is most important.” Focus on winning over the facilitator of your game, the teacher, with these five features, and you’ll be one step closer to creating a valuable EdTech tool. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Ian Livingstone applies to create 'gaming' school 9 October 2014Last updated at 10:20 ET By Dave Lee Technology reporter, BBC News Ian Livingstone is known to some as "father" of Tomb Raider Lara Croft British games industry veteran Ian Livingstone has formally applied to launch a free school with lessons built using video gaming. Mr Livingstone told the BBC he wanted to use games-based learning rather than relying on "relentless testing". "I'm passionate about children who have been born into the internet. The school, which could open in 2016, would be based in Hammersmith, west London. The application to the Department for Education, submitted this week, was backed by Mr Livingstone's several trustees including Barnaby Lenon, former headmaster at Harrow, and Marion Gibbs, head teacher at James Allen School for Girls in East Dulwich. Also on the board is David Cramer, who owns international rights for the Rubik's Cube. "The application process is very competitive and all proposals are rigorously assessed before they are approved."
Game Jams in the Classroom After I deliver a lesson in my middle school social studies classes, I make notes of what worked and what did not. Aside from formative assessments and checks for understanding, I ask students for feedback on how lessons were delivered. Were the directions clear? Did it seem more like work or more like play? Students Designing Their Own Learning In 2014, I created a project connected to the American Revolution. This year, inspired by the idea of “game jams,” I updated the project. To get students to be game designers, I created a mini-lesson on core mechanics in game systems. The challenge was to design a game that was fun and about the American Revolution. A couple of days into the project, one student asked, “How do you expect us to make an educational game that is fun to play in just two, 45-minute class periods?” One student team created a paper prototype of a game they called “Revolutionary Race.” Lesson plans, like game prototypes, go through an iterative cycle. By Matt Farber
Radical new economic system will emerge from collapse of capitalism | Guardian Sustainable Business At the very moment of its ultimate triumph, capitalism will experience the most exquisite of deaths. This is the belief of political adviser and author Jeremy Rifkin, who argues the current economic system has become so successful at lowering the costs of production that it has created the very conditions for the destruction of the traditional vertically integrated corporation. Rifkin, who has advised the European Commission, the European Parliament and heads of state, including German chancellor Angela Merkel, says: No one in their wildest imagination, including economists and business people, ever imagined the possibility of a technology revolution so extreme in its productivity that it could actually reduce marginal costs to near zero, making products nearly free, abundant and absolutely no longer subject to market forces. With many manufacturing companies surviving only on razor thin margins, they will buckle under competition from small operators with virtually no fixed costs.
When Turning Your Class Into a Game Is the Only Option Beth Box is a lifelong resident of Okeechobee, Florida. She's also a 7th grade civics teacher at Yearling Middle School. She describes herself as "always in love with the Okeechobee school system." Beth, facing a daunting civics test, took a big risk: She switched her instruction to mastery-based learning and made the whole class into a game. This week on the podcast, we've got the news and the story of Beth Box. P.S.
Prizewinning Educational Games from the Nobel Foundation Marie Curie, Martin Luther King Jr, Albert Einstein, Sir Alexander Fleming, Mother Teresa; all of these amazing individuals have one thing in common – winning the Nobel Prize. The Nobel Prize is one of the most highly regarded awards given to people working in the fields of literature, medicine, physics, chemistry, peace, and economics. But the Nobel Foundation is more than just an award giving Foundation, and has branched out into creating educational content related to the hard work done by Nobel Prize winners. Not only does their website contain video clips, documentaries, literature and history related to the winners, but it has over 29 interactive educational games for students to learn about key scientific, economic, literature and peace concepts. Peace Prize Games The Nobel Foundation has four compelling Peace Prize games that touch on important political and human rights issues such as nuclear weapons, prisoners of war, conflicts and democracies. Science Games Literature Games
The Difference between Gamification and Game-Based Learning By Steven Isaacs Have you tried to gamify your classroom? Do you incorporate game-based learning into your curriculum? Gamification and game-based learning have become buzzwords in education yet some general confusion still exists regarding what each is and what each is not. Gamification Gamification is the idea of adding game elements to a nongame situation. In the classroom, gamification has been integrated in a more authentic manner as some classrooms have become a living, breathing game. Over the past few years, I have gamified my classroom experience using 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. My experience has been extremely positive, as evidenced by student engagement in my course. Game-Based Learning