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"Games are being used much more widely in schools than they were when I first started writing about them 2 or 3 years ago. As of fall 2013, 74% of K-8 teachers were using digital games. 55% of these teachers have students playing digital games at least weekly, 9% daily. The games they are using are mostly designed to be educational, with only 5% playing commercial games, and 8% playing hybrids (commercial games adapted for education like MincraftEDU or SimCityEdu). These insights come from Joan Ganz Cooney Center at the Sesame Workshop, who recently released a study surveying K-8 teachers in order to understand how they are implementing digital games in their classrooms."

"Play 'integral' to childhood development"

"The first time linguist and game studies theorist James Gee played a video game, he failed many times over. But instead of giving up, he merrily persevered, choosing to exercise "learning muscles" he hadn't worked out since his grad school days. "Lots of young people pay lots of money to engage in an activity that is hard, long, and complex," he realized. Games were evidence that humans love learning. But why do they seem to love it more during Minecraft than in the classroom? A game, most simply defined, is nothing more than a set of problems that a player must solve in order to win. And whether played on a board, cards, a computer, an iPad, or a console, games have the ability to intrinsically shape the way we teach and learn language and literacy. "

"If Minecraft has taken over your kids and you hardly know who they are or what they're talking about anymore, you're in good company. But, although you may love that the game helps build 21st-century skills such as creativity, innovation, and collaboration, your kids' obsession can be overwhelming. Perhaps most puzzling is that every waking moment they're not playing Minecraft, they're in front of YouTube watching Minecraft. For fans - and they are legion - Minecraft YouTube videos are a huge part of their enjoyment of the game. There are tutorials (for ideas on new things to create), "Let's Play" videos (footage of people playing the game), challenges (new gameplay ideas to try), mod showcases (which show off cool thing kids can download to modify their Minecraft worlds), and more."

"Jean Piaget once said that "play is the answer to how anything new comes about." As educators in the digital age, it is important that we embrace the power of play in our classrooms. One of the ways that we can redefine our practice is by using game education in our schools. Game education is a powerful way to engage 21st century learners in a variety of cognitively complex tasks that lead to deeper levels of understanding. Educational games help students to learn about certain subjects, expand their thinking on specific concepts, and reinforce skill development while they play while increasing engagement, empathy and excellence in the classroom."

"Anyhoo… just last week I had the opportunity to try something with a group of kids who attend a school that caters for those for whom the mainstream education system simply doesn't work. Some of these students (currently all boys in Years 6-8) have severe behavioural issues, some have wellbeing issues and most have a combination of the two. I'm fortunate that I get to spend time with these boys on a semi-regular basis and so have been able to establish a bit of rapport with them. I determined that it might be interesting to play Minecraft with them… and just see what happens. I hypothesised that many behaviours that Dweck describes as being Growth Mindset behaviours would be evident whilst the boys played Minecraft: seeking out and embracing challenge persisting in the face of setbacks revelling in the struggle taking on feedback and being inspired by the success of others I then wanted the boys to reflect on this after playing… but first the set up!"

"LEGO Bricks are toys. They're items that students willingly seek out to play with and get excited to receive as gifts under the Christmas tree. That's one of the things that make them so useful to teachers. Lessons taught using LEGO Bricks don't feel like dull schoolwork. On the contrary, students might feel like they're getting away with something. They actually get to play with LEGO Bricks in class? The idea that students can learn something valuable from play isn't new, or even controversial. A sizeable body of research has been conducted to back up what many teachers already knew to be true.  Fun and learning don't have to be mutually exclusive, and it really works better for everyone involved when they're not. As such, making LEGO Bricks part of your lesson plan can help you teach concepts that students might otherwise find tedious, in a way that doesn't feel like work to them. Many educators have already been putting this idea to the test with success. Here are a few ideas to get you started."

"Every educator knows that children, especially those 4 to 7, learn a great deal through play. Harnessing that power for classroom learning can be tricky, though. Teachers may, for example, hesitate to let go of control and allow students to follow their own learning paths; they may worry that the learning that takes place during play will be difficult to assess. And they must respond to growing institutional pressure to meet standards. But it is possible. Here are some suggestions for how to incorporate play in the classroom."

A recent post by George Couros (author of The innovators Mindset) posed an interesting question about the role that culture plays in shaping the trajectory of an organisation. The traditional wisdom is that culture trumps all but George points to the role that individuals play in shaping and changing culture itself. Is culture perhaps less resilient than we are led to imagine and is it just a consequence of the individuals with the greatest influence? Or, is something else at play here?

"Music Crab is simple and free iPad designed to help students learn to read music. The app features a little crab that students move by playing virtual piano keys in the app. To move the crab students have to play the correct notes. If they play too many incorrect notes in a row, the game is over and they have to start again."

"What games do you play with sight words? Sight words are words that we all need to be able to read quickly and automatically in order to be strong readers, and the more we allow emerging readers to interact with these words, the better!"

"Even though older adults might still carry a negative association with video game consoles and devices, today's technology is vastly different than it was 20 years ago. Apps have exploded on the scene, and while there are plenty of time wasting games available on the market, today's offerings also include a wide range of affordable apps that enrich learning and allow for quick on-the-go play. Whether your child is waiting for the doctor or relaxing on a long car ride, the following apps are some of the best games that pack an educational punch."

"New U.K. research from has found that make-believe fantasy play could boost children's creative thinking. Carried out by researchers from Oxford Brookes University, the team presented their findings at the British Psychological Society's Developmental Psychology Section annual conference in Belfast, Northern Ireland."

"Today I'm sharing what is easily the BEST playdough recipe ever. Once you have the recipe, you'll want to find out about the 3 essential play dough tools (that you probably already have). If you've been here for the recipe before, scroll down for a July 2016 update -  you will LOVE it, I promise. My plan was to make a simple batch of play dough to replace the sparkly dried out purple stuff that happily met our cookie-making, glitter infusing, practice cutting, snowman-making needs over the past two months. I asked my daughter what color she would like this time around, and she answered with…"

"Pokemon GO, an augmented reality (AR) mobile game that requires players to venture out into the real world to play, has courted many catastrophes. In search of rare Pokemon, players have stumbled into dangerous neighborhoods, fallen off ocean bluffs, and been robbed; all because they were completely immersed in the game. If not used carefully, Pokemon GO can be dangerous."

"You can play YouTube videos in the background of iOS and hear the audio while you perform other tasks on the device, just like you can with any other music player on an iPhone or iPad. If you've tried this before and discovered the audio stops once YouTube is in the background, you just need to complete one additional step, here's how:"

Wesley Fryer is the author of "Playing with Media: simple ideas for powerful sharing" (July 2011) and a contributing author of "What School Leaders Need to Know About Digital Technologies and Social Media" (September 2011). Wesley co-authored Chapter 3 of the book, "Podcasts and Webinars," with Steve Dembo. "Playing with Media: simple ideas for powerful sharing" is available in 3 eBook formats and as a paperback! Additional resources are on playingwithmedia.com. See and contribute student media examples on share.playingwithmedia.com. Learn about workshop and videoconference opportunities on learn.playingwithmedia.com.

"l Work and No Play: Why Your Kids Are More Anxious, Depressed"

"There are aspects about learning to play piano where the iPad can help, and there are others where it can hurt. The following will look at both sides and hopefully make learning a bit easier."

"There has been plenty of hand-wringing in recent years about the "overscheduled child." With after-school hours increasingly dominated by piano lessons, soccer practice, and countless other planned activities, many of us have a nagging sense that kids are missing out on something important if they have no time for unstructured play. New research from Germany suggests these fears are justified. It finds people who recall having plenty of free time during childhood enjoy high levels of social success as adults."