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Filament Games is a game production studio that exclusively creates learning games. Our core competency is producing games that combine best practices in commercial game development with key concepts from the learning sciences. Accordingly, our senior staff is comprised of individuals who are equal parts game and instructional designers; a "dual literacy" that allows us to engineer authentic gameplay mechanics (rules and interactions that directly correlate with specific learning objectives). Filament Games was founded in 2005 by education technology expert Dan White, game designer Dan Norton, and software engineer Alex Stone. In the time since, Filament has developed over 30 educational games for clients ranging from National Geographic's JASON Science to Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's iCivics Inc.

"Game-based learning (GBL) is a seemingly simple concept - learning through the use of games. But wait, let's look a little closer. Most people see the term "game-based learning" and think of students playing some sort of educational computer game. But, there's more to GBL than just that. Let's take a look at GBL in terms of the game and pedagogical considerations:"

"Gamification" describes turning real-world situations into games. Gamification is a neologism -- a newly invented term that's becoming commonly used. The word gamification was likely born in the realm of casual conversation to convey the idea of turning something into a game. People like entrepreneur and author Gabe Zichermann, though, have given gamification its own unique definition. Zichermann, a respected authority on gamification and its applications, defines the term as "the process of using game thinking and mechanics to engage audiences and solve problems." In short, he describes gamification as "non-fiction gaming."

"Using games in the classroom - This is a presentation to pre-service teachers about the affordability and importance of game-play. Low-end."

"For those wondering what a game-based classroom looks like in a traditional school, take a peek into Ananth Pai's third-grade class in Parkview/Center Point Elementary school in Maplewood, Minnesota. Using his own money and grants that he applied for, Pai has managed to round up seven laptops, two desktops 11 Nintendo DS's, 18 games for math, reading, vocabulary, geography, and 21 digital voice recorders. "

"This might appear as tools that are not for games. That's because you're not thinking hard enough about games based learning. All of these things can be used in GBL - it's all a matter of perspective and design."

By now, we're used to letting Facebook and Twitter capture our social lives on the web -- building a "social layer" on top of the real world. At TEDxBoston, Seth Priebatsch looks at the next layer in progress: the "game layer," a pervasive net of behavior-steering game dynamics that will reshape education and commerce.

"When I was 10 years old I was hitting a digital puck across the screen with a digital paddle playing Pong. My son at age 10 was learning metallurgy and materials management in an online multiplayer game called Runescape! I knew nothing of the game at the time, and he soon showed me how he learned to collect items in the world in order to make new things that he needed to complete quests and gain experience. In particular, he showed me how he needed to collect certain metal ores, take them to a smelter to extract metals, and then take those to a forge to create tools or to a craftsman to make other things. This is one of the reasons that I am still excited about Minecraft."

Games based learning is supposed to be the next big thing. So when I revamped a unit of work for Year 10 based on designing scientific investigations, I decided to "gamify" the unit of work. I was inspired by a YouTube video by Seth Priebatsch on gamification, where elements of gaming can be added to education. After also seeing presentations by Dean Groom and Ben Jones I have  come up with my first "gamified" set of learning experiences.

The Hexagon Challenge is an educational Alternate Reality Game (ARG) in which students will attempt to solve a mystery by infiltrating a secret society, answering initiation questions regarding history, science, mathematics, world languages, and the arts. They will contact and be contacted by various fictitious characters via email, telephone, and instant messenger who will provide clues that enable them to continue their quest to discover the truth about a mysterious artifact known only as the Hexagon. Up to six extra credit points will be awarded along the way, which can be applied to your course if you so choose.

"Astro Empires is a strategy game played in real-time. Persistent universe with thousands of players. Browser based, no downloads or installs. Play for free."

"In the TPACK Game, you consider how Technology (T), Pedagogy (P), and Content (C) work together by randomly choosing two of the three (C,P, and T), and thinking deeply to find the third that makes them all work together in a pedagogically sound way to teach the content."

With its open-ended nature and robust creation tools, Minecraft has been used to create some amazing things. And as one teacher learned, those very same elements that make the game so compelling also make it a great educational tool. Around two months ago, Joel Levin, a computer teacher at Manhattan's Columbia Grammar and Preparatory School, decided to start using the game to teach an entire unit to his first- and second-grade students. The lessons took place almost entirely in the world of Minecraft. And it was a huge hit

"It doesn't seem to matter what age group or demographic that I talk to, kids (and adults) everywhere are fans of Angry Birds. As I was playing around with Angry Birds (yep I'm a fan too), I started thinking about all of the learning that could be happening. I have watched a two year old tell an older sister that "you have to pull down to go up higher". I have watched as kids master this game through trial and error. Being the teacher that I am, I started dreaming up a transdisciplinary lesson with Angry Birds as the base. I happened to be writing an inquiry lesson that has students look at inventions throughout time and thought: the catapult-that is an invention that has technology and concepts that are used even today. This is one of those inspirational moments that comes when you are drifting off to sleep and has you frantically searching for paper and pen to record as fast as the ideas come. So what did I do? I got myself out of bed and went to work sketching out a super awesome plan. Here is the embedded learning that I came up with"

"[In part 1 of this topic, I gave a very brief overview of Minecraft in comparison to SecondLife, and ended by noting how the creativity, exploration and collaboration elements of the game were catching the attention of educators. This is the subject I address further here.]"

"Welcome to MinyanLand, home of Hoofy the Bull and Boo the Bear. In our cool little town you get to play games and make friends, while you learn about earning, saving, spending and giving. Remember, MinyanLand is free for everyone to use! "

"MissionV is providing a highly creative, totally immersive, game based learning environment for primary and post primary students. We're putting the focus on 21st century skills, helping chidren to become original digital creators with 3D modeling and programming skills. MissionV allows high potential students from all backgrounds to connect, create and collaborate in a 3D world entirely of their own making."

"Vanished" is a two-month-long game, which debuted the week of April 4 and stems from an initial scenario revealed in recent video messages on the site. The premise is that people living in the future have contacted us in the present, to answer a question: What event occurred between our time and theirs that led to the loss of civilization's historical records? Students must decode clues in hidden messages, and in response find and provide information about Earth's current condition, such as temperature and species data, to help people in the future deduce what wound up happening. "

The game Chromaroma, developed by Mudlark Studios, answers these questions and more. It is basically foursquare for public transit-using London's Oyster Card system, users' trips are recorded and reported to Chromaroma. There is a lag time around 72 hours, after which a player's trips appear on their personal page and are displayed in a slick, 3d representation of the city. The recording aspect is only the beginning-players are assigned quests to go certain places or accomplish their commute in a different way, and can "capture" locations for one of four teams, which players join upon signing up.

A google custom search engine that returns results under a range of tabs including lesson plans, printables, practice, videos and games.