Week 1: How Games Make Kids Smarter This article shows how kids improve their problem solving skills and multitasking abilities from gaming.
Week 2: Daphne Raveler: Your Brain on Video Games This video explains how fast-paced video games affect the brain. It explains research that supports how video games, even action-packed shooter games, can help us learn, focus and, fascinatingly, multitask.
Week 3: Gaming for understanding The author tells how personal experiences, whether tragic or inspirational, are great ways to develop ideas for gaming and help others at the same time. "She describes the surprising effectiveness of this game, and others, in helping the player really understand the story."
Week 4: There's No App For Good Teaching 1. Keep learning goals ahead of the technology. 2. Opt for the open-ended.3. Don’t let tech make learning easy.4. Take feedback seriously. 5. Stay skeptical of individualized learning. 6. Bring in student interests, authentically. 7. Start conversations. 8. Make it open, make it better.
Week 5: To Understand the Problems of Inequality, Let's Play a Game This artist makes analog games with the complexity of political and humanitarian affects. Mexican workers, the slums of Haiti and Native American issues.
Week 6: What Makes a Hero? This video explains the process all humans go through to solve a problem, learn something, new or just play a game. A great theory for game layout.
Week1: The Learning Revolution Project In this forum classroom teachers talk about integrating gamingtechnology in the classroom, teachers who work in computer labs give their viewpoints of how to teach through gaming.
Week2: Video games Start to Shape Classroom Curriculum Some educators compare game play to the scientific method: Players enter a phenomenon that doesn’t make sense, observe problems, form hypotheses, and test them while being mindful of cause and effect.
Week 3: Game Based Learning in the Classroom The post in this blog states the difference between “Gamification” and “Game Based Learning.” The latter term focuses on teacher based strategies.
Week 4: Computer Games and simulation Are Going To Revolutionize Our Future & Education -by Lance Winslow Winslow talks about how job training will all be simulated training on the computer. Games and education are making close connections.
Week 5: Research: Action Video Games and the Brain This video shares action research that supports video games developing the brain. Reaction time, concentration and discrimination are just a few ways to prove how video games benefit learning.
Week 6: Coding and Games with Kids: Hopscotch, Scratch & Minecraft Great webcast that helps to compare between the three softwares. Says Scratch has more complex capabilities.
The Conversation - Gaming Technology
Week 1: Beyond the Beat-um-up: Video Games Are Good for Young People This article talks about the research that has been done to prove that "playing video games positively influences young people’s emotional state, vitality, engagement, competence and self-acceptance. And that it’s associated with higher self-esteem, optimism, resilience, healthy relationships and social connections and functioning." Read more...
Week2: Video Games Should Be A Teacher's Best Friend This article provides many links to teacher resources for creating games in the classroom. The suggested resources enable students to create worlds, manipulate rules and allows opportunities for students to discover.
Week 3: Flappy Bird and the Eight Secrets to Optimal Gameplay 1.Clear goals; 2. Acting decisively; 3. Action; 4. Concentration; 5. Sense of control; 6. Loss of consciousness; 7. Altered sense of time; 8. "Autotelic" worth doing for its own sake.
Week 4: How Swedish Children Learn English Through Gaming In one study, ten year olds playing computer games have a positive affect on learning and using English language. Another study with 12 year olds showed that games were positively linked to improved comprehension and vocabulary acquistion. Multiplayer games are part of this positive affect.
Week 5: Edu-games Hit the Market, But Not All Are Created Equal More and more academic theories and research is put into designing games for education. Educational games will usually include extended lessons and assessments. Good educational games include personalized learning, teacher controlled goals, formal and informal learning opportunities and social networking.
Week 6: Eye Tracking is the Next Frontier of Interaction Good for gaming. Replaces the mouse to interact with characters, weapons and navigation. Future uses may include T.V., appliances, etc.
Scratch Resources
Scratch Educators Show & Tell Videos: March 2013 Meetup Elementary aged. A projects made in Japan & Australia about the underwater world. Creatures created by students. Recordings that allow students to critique each other's work. Remix of Space Invader's Game. Talks about the value of cloning, Interesting to know Scratch came out in the 1.4 version and then 2.0 version. The 2.0 version takes less time and manipulation to code.
Scratch Across the Curriculum Great concept map of endless uses for scratch. Click Online Resources link to view the slide show. Also touches on the convenience of remixing.
Greedy Dog This is a great example of story telling. A retell of a published book. Text match the pictures is simple but effective concepts kindergarteners need to learn and know.
Partnership for 21st Century Learning This site outlines the 21st century learning outcomes and support systems that are being used in today's classrooms. "The Framework describes the skills, knowledge and expertise students must master to succeed in work and life; it is a blend of content knowledge, specific skills, expertise and literacies."
International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) This site will help guide me and prepare a lesson in scratch. Its guiding standards address 1) Creativity and innovation; 2) Communication and collaboration; 3) Research and information fluency; 4) Critical thinking, problem solving and decision making.
A Tinkering Workshop: Making Interactive Landscapes Click here to read details about making landscapes that connect to the computer. This workshop is geared for middle school grades. Students create their games through two different media.
Educational Technology and Mobile Learning This site provides many of the new programs and updates on old programs. It gives lots of tips about using Google programs and templates.
Pluckers This site offers free download to phones and iPads. The technology allows for the audience to participate with the teacher. I learned about this site through a middle school teacher at my school. She recommends it for Do Nows, quick checks and whole group responses.
Jeopardy Rocks This site allows teachers to make lessons in the jeopardy format. The website has many more features that are easier to use than Smart Notebook.
Cootie Catchers This site allows you to download a cootie catcher template and type in the words or pictures to create your own. This is a great tool for reviewing a concept.
Valuable Technology Websites
Mapping Websites:
http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2012/06/18-free-mind-mapping-tools-for-teachers.html
http://mashable.com/2007/11/02/mindmapping/
Websites/Resources for Grants:
http://technology-grants.com/page/k-12-education
http://www.k12grants4teachers.com/cat/Technology/cat_12.aspx
http://www2.cpsb.org/Scripts/abshire/grants.asp
http://www.emergingedtech.com/2012/02/7-online-resources-for-finding-grants-for-educators/
Coding Websites
Teach Students how to Code http://code.org/learn
