Gaming and Virtual Worlds in Education

Called "the Sundance of Video Games" , the Games for Change Annual Festival brings together leaders from government, philanthropy, civil society, academia, and the game industry to explore the increasing real-world impact of digital games as an agent for social change. The Festival is also a showcase for some of the most innovative new games in development. The 7th Annual Festival was held in May 2010 in New York City and was headlined by The Honorable Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and U.S. Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra. It attracted over 600 participants.

Video of Professor James Paul Gee discussing the importance of situated learning, where images, actions, dialogues and experiences immerse you in this. Where you can marry words to worlds whereas verbal understanding in traditional education is worthless (to understand words you get more words or definititions). Gaming gives you a new tool that will let you surmise new possiblities so you can look at the environment in a new way. Every word is married to an action in a game: WOW, Sims2 or Yugioh. How do you give people a passion? Mentoring and to mentor others - knowledge is dispersible and distributed. Learning is your own responsibility and collaboration and help are essential to learning.

Using QR codes to link books to digital content

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A MMO for primary classrooms."You're a young wizard being trained in the ways of magic at the Ravenwood School of Magical Arts under the care of headmaster Ambrose. As you learn to use mystical powers, you are tasked with saving the school from the evil Malistaire Drake. Sounds like Harry Potter? Well, it is a lot like Harry Potter; but set in a game system that is a lot more like World of Warcraft."

New ISTE SIG for Education in Virtual Environments

Researchers show that gamers have bigger brains!

There are a growing number of teachers and schools using game design to enhance student learning and provide an engaging, motivational tool to assist them in achieving this outcome.

Kodu is a new visual programming language made specifically for creating games. It is designed to be accessible for children and enjoyable for anyone. The programming environment runs on the Xbox, allowing rapid design iteration using only a game controller for input.

Information on Hypergrids and Hyperlinks

Lure of the Labyrinth is a great game to teach pre algebra

A very comprehensive list of all things virtual