Posts tagged ‘Blog’
The MySpace Effect
MySpace is public enemy number one in many school districts. But that doesn’t mean social networking tools should be banned outright.
Inside many schools across the country, MySpace.com is a dirty word. But does that have to be the case for all social networking Web sites?Many administrators have chosen to block access to MySpace, the Internet’s most popular social networking site, judging its content to be inappropriate for schools.
Now, as more social networking tools like blogs and wikis are developed for classroom use, technology directors face a difficult dilemma: how to balance the educational benefits of these new tools with concerns about student privacy and safety.
“We do believe that in the right environment these social networking tools do have instructional value,” says Ted Davis, director of enterprise information services for Fairfax County (Virginia) Public Schools, the country’s 14th largest public school district just outside of Washington, D.C.
Author: Christopher Heun, School CIO
Full article available here.
Be An Edublogger
Mark Baxter, Fit Brains and the Power of FUN!
Hello! My name is Mark Baxter, and I am a Co-founder and the Vice President of Product Development here at Fit Brains. I have a background in Psychology and have over 8 years of experience in the Games & New Media Industry creating top-quality games for broad audiences, including several hit titles on entertainment portals including Shockwave, Yahoo! and RealArcade.
I will be regularly blogging on a variety of perspectives related to Health and Entertainment, with a significant focus on Brain Fitness. As such, I will be exploring topics relating to Psychology & Mental Wellness, ‘Serious’ & ‘Casual’ Gaming, and Online Social Communities. Serious Games – defined as interactive content that uses entertainment for the purpose of education and/or training – has only recently gained wider acceptance with the advent of industry gatherings like the Serious Games Initiative in 2002. This genre is growing quickly and covers a wide range of topics, including: education, corporate training, health and environmental awareness, to name just a few.
Increasingly our society is becoming aware of a concept that has long been at the foundation of effective children’s education: fun can be a great motivator for learning and growth! Fortunately, at Fit Brains we very much believe that the value of fun as a motivator applies to adults as well. If we can make important aspects of our daily routine more accessible and engaging, we are more likely to do things we might not be as motivated to do – especially items like long-term health goals that are often difficult to maintain.
For instance, do you have greater interest in enjoyable physical activities like golf or rollerblading, or a prescribed fitness regimen? Are you more likely to stick to a diet with food that’s healthy but bland, or food that’s healthy and tastes good? For most, the answers to these questions are self-evident; any task that can be made more enjoyable will also be easier to integrate more consistently into our daily lives. In the coming weeks and months, I will be exploring a variety of ways that Serious Games are gaining mainstream acceptance, and also take a look at the growing body of research that demonstrates their value in our everyday lives.
We believe that entertainment is a great motivational tool for healthy living. Our goal is to provide you with a wide variety of entertaining games & activities that have a solid foundation in cognitive science. At Fit Brains, we harness the power of FUN to help you keep your mind healthy and sharp!
Author: Mark Baxter, FitBrains, 3rd December 2007
Gaming & Learning 