Group items tagged

"Game jams have been growing in popularity. In a game jam, teams are challenged to design a game in a short period of time. In essence, game jams are a game about making a game. Students apply systems thinking, user empathy, collaboration, storyboarding, and iterative design, while also learning how to tackle broad, open-ended problems. Matthew Farber, author of Gamify Your Classroom: A Field Guide to Game-Based Learning, will discuss his use of game jams in his middle school social studies classes, as well as digital game jams in the after school club he advises. He will share resources from the Moveable Game Jams he attended in the New York area this year, including Quest to Learn, in New York City, as well as the A. Harry Moore School Game Jam Day, in Jersey City, NY, which he facilitated."

"Study Jams is a Scholastic website designed to help elementary school students learn and review math and science information through songs and videos. To use Study Jams students search for a topic in the math or science category. Each Study Jam offers a short tutorial on that topic in the form of a video, slideshow, or song. When there is a song available Study Jams provides a karaoke format for kids to sing along if they like."

"Game jams have been growing in popularity across college campuses and in out-of-school programs. In a game jam, teams are challenged to design a game in a short period of time. Often, there is a theme, like making a game about math or environmental problems. This April, the Now I Get It Jam took place at Carnegie Mellon University. It had a "transformative" (social impact) theme that included teachers in the design process. Challenges for the weekend-long event included "Human-Centered Design for Teens" and "Common Core Math for Parents.""

"About a year ago I wrote an article about a simple exercise I created to help teams solve problems without discussion. It was called "Lightning Decision Jam" and it became a surprisingly huge hit! Since I wrote that article, people from companies all around the world have been contacting me and telling me how much it's changed how they work for the better. Lighting Decision Jam (or LDJ) was perfect for groups of any almost any size from 4 to 120. It just works! There was one glaring problem with it, though… it doesn't really work for an individual. That's right, identifying and solving your own problems in a systematic way just hasn't been possible… UNTIL TODAY!*"

"The messaging app Snapchat allows motorists to post photos that record the speed of the vehicle. The navigation app Waze rewards drivers with points when they report traffic jams and accidents. Even the game Pokémon Go has drivers searching for virtual creatures on the nation's highways. When distracted driving entered the national consciousness a decade ago, the problem was mainly people who made calls or sent texts from their cellphones. The solution then was to introduce new technologies to keep drivers' hands on the wheel. Innovations since then - car Wi-Fi and a host of new apps - have led to a boom in internet use in vehicles that safety experts say is contributing to a surge in highway deaths."

"Whether your kids' summer days are jam-packed with activities or left wide open for leisurely exploration -- or something in between -- chances are some of those days will involve a smartphone, tablet, or other device. Now more than ever, you can use these powerful tools to enhance the activities that kids are already doing -- or to help create brand-new experiences. We've chosen the best apps, games, and websites for learning while doing this summer. Get ready to have the Best. Summer. Ever!"

"Pity the summertime. All year, we long for better weather, using this season as a repository for our plans. I'll paint the house in the summer. I'll plant a garden in the summer. I'll reorganize the garage in - you guessed it - the summer. But all those plans jamming up our calendar doesn't leave much time for anything fun. These seven apps can help you keep track of your various household chores and projects, so you can spend more time getting things done and less time keeping track of them."

"Move away from the drib drab of everyday lessons and get more interactive using a free web-based tool called ThingLink. ThingLink can transform the way you teach, and not only that, but the way your students learn. Enough already? You want to know how this work? ThingLink is free image platform that converts an image into a rich and interactive experience by adding music, video, text, images, and more. The best part about ThingLink is you can jam pack everything onto one page and one image. By tagging your image with content from all over the internet  - YouTube, Flickr, Facebook, Twitter, or  linking to a PDF to further explain something…you get the idea. "

"In the last few years, Netflix has completely transformed the way many Americans watch movies.  Long gone are the days of driving to the video store, browsing through the aisles of endless new releases. Now,  you can do it all, right from the comfort of your home. From romance to dramas, there's something for everyone. Lucky for us, the streaming site is jam-packed with educational shows on Netflix."