Gaming & Learning

Glenn Wiebe and Dave Warlick have both recently posted on Digital Vaults, a new website by the US National Archive that brings elements of social networking to primary history and social science resources.

Digital Vaults is an interesting concept and one I think works well with it’s logical tag organisational structure. The digitisation of sources and Web2.0 twist makes the wealth of knowledge highly accessible and even allows the user to create their own collections.

Read Glenn Wiebe’s post and Dave Warlick’s post for more information.

One educator demonstrates that blending face-to-face and online instruction can lead to better student grades and understanding.

“Hybrid courses,” or courses that deliver part of their instruction in a traditional lecture manner and part in an online environment, are becoming increasingly popular among schools and colleges. Proponents of the concept say it capitalizes on the benefits that both face-to-face and online learning can provide—and now, there is some evidence to suggest that hybrid courses can help students learn more effectively.

Brian McFarlin, a professor at the University of Houston’s Laboratory of Integrated Physiology, decided to conduct an experiment in one of his classes to observe the strengths and weaknesses of hybrid courses.

Author: Meris Stansbury, Assistant Editor, eSchool News, 3rd April 2008

Full article available here.

To be fair to Barbie Girls it isn’t the only virtual world for kids that worries me - with its not-so-implicit goal of training children to be good little consumers. Reinforcing the concept in children that rewards come from playing games, watching shows (themselves somewhat promotional, I’d guess) and from buying products does not seem a good one, and I was despairing of seeing a model other than this. So while I’ve yet to delve deeper, Handipoints appears to be the first imaginative alternative.

Author: Daniel Livingstone, Learning Games Blog, 7th April 2008

Full article available here.

I believe technologies that engage and motivate students by offering opportunities for self-direction, inquiry, discovery, and creativity are the best way to meet the needs of all students. One of the most significant things I’ve heard said about 1:1 laptop programs is that when you walk into the classroom, you can’t tell who the Special Ed students are or who the GATE students are… because everyone is fully engaged and working at their own level.

Some technologies that might be readily available to most teachers and which might help provide this sort of individualized engagement include commercial off the shelf videogames with educational value (such as the Sims series, the Tycoon series, or the “Age of…” series of games), read/write web tools (such as blogs, wikis, and podcasts), and multimedia creation programs (for editing images, audio, and video). These things are nearly free and ubiquitous and ought to be used creatively in support of the base program.

Author: Mark Wagner, Educational Technology and Life Blog, 7th April 2008

Full article available here.

A 22 year old gives advice to teachers and parents on teens and young adults. Interesting post on how teachers can use onlines resources effectively to engage this generation with learning:

“Can schools keep up with their net-generation, text-savvy students? A lecture and a white board pale in comparison to online videos, cell phone games, interactive virtual worlds and 3-d animation. Already, schools have been incorporating more high-tech technology such as smart boards and projectors in the classroom. My old high school uses ipods to test and record listening comprehension. This is great–and really expensive.

I plan on writing a few blog posts on this topic, but I first wanted to review a few free resources teachers (and parents) can use in the classroom or for homework to keep kids interested in learning. Most of all, by employing new technology you will be speaking in this generation’s language, appeal to what already interests them and therefore make school really relevant to their lives.”

Author: Vanessa Ven Petten, vanessavanpetten.com, 16th March 2008

Full article available here.

Also great interview with Vanessa available from OpenEducation.net here.

Virtual Conference Explores New Frontiers in Language Learning

Barcelona Spain, 20 March 2008 - - SLanguages 2008 is a 24-hour multilingual conference to celebrate and investigate the use of 3D virtual worlds for language education. The event will be held in Second Life on 23-24 May 2008…

SLanguages 2008 is a 24 hour multilingual conference to celebrate and investigate the use of 3D virtual worlds for language education. The conference will be held within Second Life allowing the participants to exchange ideas and share experiences simultaneously around the world. The online conference is free to attend and includes talks, workshops, discussions and posters on language education using virtual worlds such as Second Life. The events will cover methodologies, teaching tools and experiences.

Second Life is a 3D virtual world that has attracted over 12 million residents worldwide and has become a mainstream phenomenon for education, business and entertainment. Throughout 2007 Second Life has become an important tool for language learning with many universities using the 3D world for language tuition, including Michigan State University and the University of Southampton. “Interest in using Second Life for education has increased exponentially over the last year” says Second Life educational consultant Gavin Dudeney, author of The Internet and the Language Classroom, Longman 2007.

The event is an opportunity for those new to virtual language teaching to learn about the opportunities virtual worlds offer. The conference also allows experienced language educators to share experiences and ideas. “3D virtual worlds such as Second Life offer a unique form of immersive learning not found elsewhere. The SLanguages 2008 conference is the perfect opportunity to see the recent developments in this area and to meet those involved in truly innovative educational projects” says Graham Stanley, who has established the British Council’s ‘Learn English Second Life for Teens’.

SLanguages 2008 will be hosted within Second Life on the tropical “EduNation” islands owned by The Consultants-E. The conference starts 10am (PST) Friday 23 May and ends 10am (PST) Saturday 24 May. The seminars will continue to also reach a much wider audience through archives of the event on the www.slanguages.net website.

To register for the conference or for further information, please contact Gavin Dudeney of The Consultants-E or visit the website www.slanguages.net.

About The Consultants-E:

The Consultants-E is an educational consultancy company specialising in online education, offering tailored consultancy in technology for education. Their consultants assist companies and educational institutions to integrate innovative technologies into their teaching practices. The company also offers courses in e-learning tools such as Second Life, wikis, podcasts and Moodle. The Consultants-E own and run three private islands in Second Life that foster education and training.

Contact:

Gavin Dudeney
The Consultants-E
c/ Cerámica 54
08035 Barcelona
Spain

gavin.dudeney@theconsultants-e.com
www.theconsultants-e.com

Dudeney Ge (Avatar in Second Life)

[Authorised press release from The Consultants-E]

Last night, Mark Wagner posted part of his dissertation in his blog, Educational Technology and Life. He’s asked for comments from readers and here are excerpts of my responses to MMORPGs in Schools: The Shift Ahead. Wagner writes:

I think it’s a good point that the learning theories that align and will likely rise out of video game experiences run counter in an era of standardized testing. However, I think it also runs counter to currently accepted pedagogies, which are based in part on behaviorism (Skinner’s pecking pigeons) and information-scarce landscapes. In learning environments based on biology (brain-research) and information-abundant information landscapes, video games may likely prevail and become a dominant mode of formal learning.

Author: David Warlick, 2cent Worth Blog, 31st March 2008

Full article available here.

“Second Life,” the online world that brings players together from across the globe to socialize, shop and even fly, is developing a second career as a hot spot for learning English as a second language (ESL).

It’s a classic innovation–a novel way to use a tool created for an entirely different purpose, namely to have a good time. That’s still the reason why most players come to “Second Life,” but English-language instructors who spend time with students there say they’re combining fun and learning–and getting excellent results.

Author: Bonnie Ruberg, Forbes Innovations, 19th March 2008

Full article available here.

One of those days… if I had another 6 hours, I still wouldn’t be done. So in brief, some links and very little comment:

INTUITION, SRI Virtual Worlds survey, The Myth of the Media Myth, and VLE vs PLE again again. More below.

INTUITION

INTUITION is a Network Of Excellence focused on virtual reality and virtual environments applications for future workspaces. It is funded by the European Union, and operates under the 6th Framework of the European Commission (IST). The Network includes 58 partners and it is being coordinated by the Institute Of Communication And Computer Systems of the National Technical University of Athens in Greece.

SRI Business Intelligence Virtual Worlds Consortium

Author: Daniel Livingstone, Learning Games Blog, 26th March 2008

Full article available here.

“Like many educators new to the use of technology in the classroom, using Google as a search tool quickly became a staple in my classroom. Over the past year, Google has stretched their search capabilities to include an abundance of open source web applications tailor-made for teachers. In fact, they’ve called this new suite of tools Google for Educators.

The web application found within Google for Educators allow teachers and students to:
- collaborate with their colleagues
- monitor and participate in discussions
- publish videos
- create PowerPoint presentation and web sites
- manage photos
- monitor online data. Google has gone the extra mile by providing teachers’ guides and exciting examples of classroom teachers using Google Tools to support the use of technology as a mindtool. Those best practices demonstrate how Google applications, when are used alongside meaningful classroom instruction, can literally change the face of classroom instruction.”

Copyright © 2008 Education World

Author: Brenda Dyck, Education World®, 29th February 2008

Full article available here.