Group items tagged

The focus appears to be how people learn online, and not just getting content up. MIT is obviously a great partner, and a natural one for Harvard, especially in a venture like this.

An attempt to crowdsource Harvard alums to contribute to the community of a new MOOC.

A powerful game that teaches students to understand the operation of the world! The creator John Hunter is coming to Harvard on Monday! (http://www.gse.harvard.edu/calendar/?trumbaEmbed=view%3Devent%26eventid%3D104615526) 

WOW... who knew?!

Harvard professor develops games about history

You probably received an email from Drew Faust about edX. Here's an article written after the announcement.

Can we get some of the $60 M to revamp iSites? :-)

Not bad.

This is a very interesting project, especially in light of our conversation about ways that physiological and psychological markers can inform learning systems (adaptive learning, responsive software, etc.)

Note the first listed winner in the (empowering) education category: involved with use of interactive games to enhance learning in math and science.

Harvard/MIT's response to Coursera. Very exciting!!!

Following increasing amount of disruptive technologies in Higher Ed, and announcement of MIT/Harvard EdX platform, author claims to check in with students. Does not really live up to the title (as he does not write enough about conversations with students), but it is a question that does need to be asked. Here is part one of "Did Anyone Ask the Students?" http://chronicle.com/blogs/next/2012/05/01/did-anyone-ask-the-students-part-i/

Close to home here at the Ed School...sounds like Moneyball for the education set.

This article talks about a study on the positive and negative effects of "challenge stress" and "hindrance stress" on motivation to learn and learning performance. I linked the citation here; to access the full text, I recommend using Harvard's E-Research site to search for the Journal of Applied Psychology and then getting to the article via the EBSCO link in the catalog record. (Or else find J Appl Psuchol through EBSCO and log in with Harvard LibX.)

Lecture on engagement and motivation of creative professionals

This article discusses play in virtual worlds (focusing on World of Warcraft) with an emphasis both on the learning that takes place and the engagement. You'll have to log in with your Harvard ID to get the article, FYI. "Our observation showed that players are motivated by the game's scope, rules, and scenario to create and participate in virtual communities, and share their knowledge with others, while newcomers are encouraged to engage in collective actions, and develop their skill base. We also found that although current MMORPGs have not been designed as instructional tools, they provide an excellent fantasy environment for intrinsically motivating learning, where players can experience the elements of challenge, curiosity, and control [30]." "People engage in pervasive games that use the best of two worlds, the virtual and the physical, in order to offer to its players the sense of maximum enjoyment."

An article about computer games in science education using "active prolonged engagement," as opposed to "planned discovery."

"Organizers say the contest is designed to 'captivate and engage the viewer by revealing the hidden meaning and intricate details of our world in visual form'."

Do cash awards motivate students for educational success?