Category Archives: Conferences
My Presentation at The California Educational Research Association
I presented my research on Higher Order Thinking Skills in 3 iPad Games, at the California Educational Research Association in Sacramento California. My room was full of people who asked many thoughtful questions about games and learning.
EdGamer Explores a Virtual Tour of a California Mission in Minecraft
From the EdGamer shownotes;
EdGamer 128: Humble Bundle
This week on EdGamer 128 we have some catching up to do! After calling in sick last week, we come right back at you with a plethora of gaming and learning news. From game packs for under 10 bucks to conferences for kids run by kids. This week’s EdGamer has everything you need to satisfy your edugaming needs. Tune-in and level-up!
Humble Sid Meier Bundle (pay what you want and help charity)
Someone Made A New Portal 2 Campaign… Without Portals
Moving at the Speed of Creativity | 4th Grade Virtual Tour of a California Mission in Minecraft
Interview with Woz: To innovate, get personal | Consumerization Of It – InfoWorld
Fun, Friends, and Feedback with Student Response Systems
Gaming with the Histocrats: January 2014 Games of the Week
Unfazed, Houston Pushes Ahead on 1-to-1 Computing – Education Week
Lenovo Aims New Rugged ThinkPad 11e Laptops at Students
Chromebooks can now run Windows desktops, via VMware
Show Host: Zack Gilbert
Show Contributor/Producer: Gerry James
To browse the EdGamer archives click here;
http://edreach.us/channel/edgamer/#
Panel Discusses Games and Assessment at SXSWedu
Chris Curran to developers seeking funding: “Even if it is small-scale and anecdotal, you should have evidence of efficacy.”
“On Tuesday, March 4, Lee Banville moderated “Lost in Translation: Applying the Latest Research” at SXSWEdu with Bjorn Jeffery (Toca Boca), Chris Curran (Education Growth Partners), and Sujata Bhatt (The Incubator School). This post originally appeared in gamesandlearning.org. There are research reports that highlight the efficacy of games as assessment tools, studies that show certain games can help students suffering from dyslexia and market analyses of the projected overseas learning games market. But how much of this research actually makes it into games you find in the App Store remains a mystery.
Representatives of three different sectors – game developers, investors and teachers – weighed in on the matter at a session Tuesday at SXSWedu and their answers raised as many questions as they likely answered.
The designer dilemma
Björn Jeffrey, the CEO of youth app powerhouse Toca Boca, stressed that one of the major problems is that “the bar is extremely low” to be considered an educational app in the App Store and so discerning between claims and actual educational value is impossible.
“There is no way to gauge if it is really educational,” he said, adding that many apps promote what he called “faux assessment.”
But the solution, Jeffrey said, is not as easy to identify.
He said he hoped a third party rating firm could offer parents, teachers and others a better sense to what products actually have some research and evidence behind them.
The danger, he said, is without more efforts to create a qualitative measure the battle for the trust of parents may be lost.
The investor’s questions
For those deciding whether to sink their money into a given educational technology, the question of research is often answered by the simple question: how much money is at risk?
Chris Curran, managing partner at Education Growth Advisors, stressed that private equity firms that are considering a major investment will scour thousands of pages of reports or conduct their own research, “to identify every possible risk or opportunity before they make the investment” of what could be tens of millions of dollars.”
To read the full article by Lee Banville click here;
Is Gaming “Losing the Culture War”?
Brian Crecente writes that;
“A culture war is raging in the United States right now and video games are losing.
That’s according to Gilman Louie, former video game developer, founder of a venture capital firm that works with U.S. intelligence agencies, and advisor to the CIA, NSA and Defense Intelligence Agency. Louie, who founded and ran Spectrum HoloByte before leaving the business of game development, was named one of fifty scientific visionaries by Scientific American in 2002.
‘The anti-gaming establishment owns the vocabulary and have done a very successful job of convincing many that interactive games are harmful (especially to children) and that screen time is to blame for most of the social ills,” Louie tells Polygon. “Whether it be the awful events that took place at Sandy Hook or bullying in schools, video games have been the easy target for those who wish to pass blame.'”
Crecente continues;
“Louie recommended that 0.1 percent of the $93 billion video game market be invested in various institutions and nonprofits to work to promote the positive aspects of gaming and how gaming can provide a competitive advantage for children.
The battle for the hearts and minds of the public continues.
“I was advocating the need for more research,” he said, “a closer affiliation with the education industry, a significant increase in scholarships for those pursuing career fields related to gaming…”
To read the full article by Brian Crecente on Polygon, click here;
EdGamer Discuss the Playful Learning Summit
From the EdGamer show notes –
EdGamer 121: Playful Learning, SimCity, Mathbreakers, and Pension Theft!
The title says it all! This week on EdGamer 121 we discuss the Playful Learning Summit in Whitewater, SimCity is trying to get into the classroom, Mathbreakers looks like a promising math game, and a little side of pension theft just for holiday spirit! Its another can’t miss episode of EdGamer. Tune-in and level-up!
Playful Learning in Whitewater
Show Host: Zack Gilbert
Show Contributor/Producer: Gerry James
To browse the EdGamer archives click here;
“The Gender Gap in Gaming is Closed”
Chris Riedel of THE Journal writes;
“According to the latest data, video for homework is on the rise; mobile computing is “beyond the tipping point”; and most kids don’t use traditional computers to connect to the Internet at home. Those are just three of the major trends revealed in the 2013 Speak Up Survey from Project Tomorrow, which CEO Julie Evans revealed at the FETC 2014 conference last week.
The 2013 results represent more than 400,000 surveys from 9,000 schools and 2,700 districts across the country. Respondents included 325,279 students, 32,151 teachers and librarians, 39,986 parents, 4,530 district administrators and, new to this year’s survey, 1,346 community members.”
Riedel continues;
“8. Gaming is Growing, and the Gender Gap is Closed
Another interesting area for Evans was student gaming. This year’s results showed 60 percent of students using laptops as a gaming device. Cell phones and game consoles tied with 54 percent use, while tablets clocked in at 44 percent.
Of particular note is students’ interest in taking gaming technology and applying it to learning difficult concepts, as well as their interest in using games as a way to explore career opportunities. Evans also noted no gender difference in students’ interest in games, with younger girls actually showing more gaming activity than their male counterparts.”
Read more at http://thejournal.com/articles/2014/02/03/10-major-technology-trends-in-education.aspx#QO1SgEJ0lFwEpiMJ.99
EdGamer Reviews the Illinois Computing Educators Conference
EdGamer 90: Illinois Computing Educators (ICE) Conference Review
On episode 90 of EdGamer we review two of the best conferences of the year for technology and education. In the last two weeks EdGamer has attended the ICE and SIT conferences and we have a plethora of new things to share with you! Plus, you get to hear all of the wonderful antics as a result of Zack spending a few days at Gerry’s house. This you can’t miss! Tune-in and level-up!
Alternate Title- The Best Seat on the ICE
Minecraft Pre-Conference Build – Olympic Pool
SIT MINECRAFT ENTRY!
ICE has melted
Best part of the ICE conference – Node Chairs by Steelcase
Show Host: Zack Gilbert
Show Contributor: Gerry James
To listen to the Podcast click here;
http://edreach.us/2013/03/02/edgamer-90-ice-conference-review/
Games+Learning+Society Conference – June 13-15, 2012
The University of Wisconsin-Madison is excited to announce the Games+Learning+Society (GLS) Conference 8.0 to be held June 13-15, 2012 at the Memorial Union on campus.
The GLS Conference is the premier event in the field of videogames and learning. Now in its eighth year, this grassroots “indie” event is evolving to include innovative content formats and new programming. The GLS Conference is one of the few destinations where the people who create high-quality digital learning media can gather for serious discussion about what is happening in the field and how the field can serve the public interest. Our event is well-known for its exceptionally high quality of content yet “community event” feel. Each year, we foster in-depth conversation and social networking across diverse disciplines including game studies, education research, learning sciences, industry, government, educational practice, media design, and business. Our continued commitment is to reinvent learning both in and out of formal schools through the promise of games and simulations.
Unfortunately, the deadline for submitting papers for the conference was Feb. 7, 2012! Well, maybe next year.
Gaming and Education 