Blog Archives
Mindcraft declared “Ultimate Multi-Tool” for teachers and learners.
PBS Idea Channel’s Mike Rugnetta, declares Mine Craft to be an “Ultimate Multi-Tool.” For the past few months me and my 4 year old son have been building amazing worlds in Minecraft. We both love this game! It offers so many opportunities for creativity and learning. Minecraft is “constructivist” in more ways than one. To learn more about the power of Minecraft for engagement in learning watch the video below. Thanks to Dr. Christopher Quinn for sending me the link to this video. Enjoy!
BrainPOP’s Allisyn Levy on video games in education, BrainPop’s goals with animation, and top quality educational games through GameUp
“In a world filled with boring educational games that are only purchased by grandparents, Allisyn Levy is part of a company that is creating games that are not only educational, but are also entertaining. Levy received her Bachelors of Elementary Education, Art, and Art History from Skidmore College, and earned a Masters of Education in School Administration and Technology from Western Washington University. This published scholar has coached a Lego Robotics team, developed documentaries with students, was an elementary educator for 11 years, and has received grants from Donors Choose and Nike. Now as BrainPOP’s Senior Director of Educator Experience, Levy is using her extensive background in education to help teachers better integrate technology into the classroom. We recently had the opportunity to talk with Levy about her thoughts on using video games in education, BrainPOP’s background and goals, and its latest feature, click GameUp.”
To read the full article by Clelia Rivera click here.
Gamification at Khan Academy
According to Karen Bryan, the Khan Academy employs some of the elements of gamification to keep learners engaged and motivated.
“Khan said that when he began to make his videos public, he expected that they would attract only the highly self-motivated learners. What he found, though, is that it’s become popular with a wide variety of students, from high achievers to students who are on the verge of failing their classes. On the surface, the skill trees are a type of extrinsic reward, and there’s incentive to keep watching videos and taking assessment tests just to see the next box fill in on your tree. But at the same time, users are intrinsically drawn to the site, and their primary motivation for using Khan Academy is actually the method of instruction itself. Millions of people have viewed the videos, and as the staff continues to translate the tutorials, even more people will be able to access the content on the site.”
To read the full article by Karen Bryan, click here.
Gaming and Education 