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Getting into Virtual Reality Part 1: Creating Virtual Reality Worlds https://t.co/2Ma6CGhwNJ #vr #ar #ai #3d #gbl… https://t.co/jl3D8kEIgR

"If I had written this article two years ago, it would have been very different. Back then, I would have made (or felt like I had to make) a compelling case for why we should even consider the idea of incorporating video games into classroom instruction. Back then, I would have expected most readers to incredulously click to the next article. But today, Game-Based Learning (GBL) and Gamification are gaining some real traction in the teaching community. At the recent OETC conference, the organizers dedicated an entire wing of the convention center to the subject, and educators weren't shy about their interest. When I presented on the subject at Common Ground 14, I had the dreaded "last-presentation-of-the-day" spot, but I was very pleased at the turnout and interest."

"Third graders played for just 10 minutes per day, 3 days a week, for four weeks. The comparison group's class received the same materials and the same instruction, but didn't play the game. The result of playing was a staggering 20.5% improvement after just two hours of self-guided play."

"Inside a classroom, opportunities to learn about common viruses arise when illnesses cycle through, like the cold, flu and some conjunctivitis. Those ailments often come and go with students spending a couple of days recovering at home. However, the types of communicable diseases that capture the nation's attention tend to be more deadly, such as Ebola. While students can learn about how these diseases affect the human body and communities through news, books and movies, another platform has proven itself useful as an educational tool: games. By playing games about how relationships and outcomes are tested by more deadly viruses, players are pushed to work together to ensure survival."

"One of the world's most popular video games has made significant inroads into K-12 classrooms, opening new doors for teaching everything from city planning to 1st graders to physics for high schoolers. The game, of course, is Minecraft, a 21st-century version of Legos in which players use simple 3-D digital blocks to build and explore almost anything they can imagine."

When Will Educators Get Serious About Gaming?: http://bit.ly/gVBonT from Harvard BR

"Is Gaming the New Essential Literacy?"

"How can games unlock a rich world of learning? This is the big question at the heart of the growing games and learning movement that's gaining momentum in education. The MindShift Guide to Games and Learning explains key ideas in game-based learning, pedagogy, implementation, and assessment. The guide make sense of the available research and provide suggestions for practical use. The post series will evolve into a downloadable guide, and can be used as a touchstone for thoughtful consideration of best practices for teachers and parents."

"Game-based learning, and the developers who identify with it today, have come a long way since then and gotten much closer to closing the gap. And there's still a need to communicate core content through games, a need that the consumer market just doesn't have incentive to fill. Yet at Common Sense Graphite, when we evaluate games for learning, what we find is that many of the highest scoring 'learning' games aren't aimed at the educational market. They're more at-home, consumer-oriented games. Because these games are free from the constraints of school standards and traditional curriculum, they flourish, featuring rich cross-disciplinary and truly 21st century learning experiences. Here are just a few favorites that reviewed well on Graphite this year:"

"A few weeks ago I presented at a teachmeet at the the Sydney Powerhouse Museum, AKA the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences. The topic was STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) + X (STEM+X). The idea was to share some of the things you have done and/or are doing in your classroom or workplace around integrating STEM with other KLAs, for example, a STEM and PE project would be STEM + PE. When I was asked to present, I thought it would be a great opportunity to share how I've been using Minecraft in my classroom over the last few years and how it really can be used across all subject areas. Just like the 'play' within the game itself, what you do with it in the classroom is only limited by your own creativity and that of your students. Below I will share some of the cool things that my students and i have done and how they link to KLAs across the curriculum."