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Article focusing on emerging technology in the realm of facial recognition that may be able to bolster the non-cognitive abilities of adaptive learning environments, by recognizing a student's reaction to content by analyzing body language.

This is a really good paper that shows how to evaluate tools for education with learning curves. They use adaptive tutoring systems as an example but it can be applied to just about any educational tool, such as a website, tablet app, and so on. There is some math, but it is very approachable. 

A video talking about how Minecraft is exceptionally great for education because of its versatility and adaptability to many subjects and concepts.

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.)

Article talks about the state of voice-recognition and how we might better design interfaces and technology to adapt to how we need our devices to gather greater context about what we are asking.

This longer gamasutra article talks about Macro Flow and Micro Flow, complete with Csikszentmihalyi's flow diagrams. "Macro flow is the constant rise in difficulty to compete with the player's increasing skill level, maintaining the balance between boredom and anxiety. Macro flow refers to the entire gameplay experience from the beginning of the game until the end, and having a good macro flow will likely result in constant interest and intrinsic motivation on the part of the player throughout the course of the game." "Micro flow is short intense periods of flow that happen frequently, as well as the constant adaptation of the game's challenges to the player's increase in skill level. It is perpetuated by repeated successes in rapid succession, which provides positive emotional and tangible feedback encouraging the player to continue in the micro flow; this is known as a virtuous cycle."

Thanks for posting, Stephanie. I wonder if these instances of "micro flow' interfere with a gamer's chances of experiencing macro flow. I'm imagining instances of micro flow to be like interesting pit stops along a road trip, while macro flow would be equivalent to the exhilaration of cruising down an open road without any interruption. Not sure if that's the right way to think about it though...

Interesting promises here. My current school uses Podium which is not ugly but totally useless if you want a tool for classroom teaching.

Students earn virtual currency by completing math "missions" with third party content. This is a start-up incubated by Pearson. To unlock premium content, students would pay real money (this portion is modeled on Zynga's facebook games)

Nice to see the customization revolution well underway. Makes sense to focus on the upper teen segment who might be inspired to try something new to NOT dropout of HS or college. I wonder if their preliminary studies find changes in performance in traditional classes?

Some major textbook publishers are adapting their textbooks and other resources for the iPad and other digital devices.

I thought those of you who were wondering about other cultures using SIMS would like to see this site. The YouTube video is no longer there, but the description gives somewhat of an idea of how another culture has adapted SIMS. While most of them seem to be saris and salwars (Indian Clothing), I wonder what Aishwarya's "outfit" is. My guess is western since in most Bollywood movies you see a lot of western (and rather skanky) clothes.

is this the right approach?

Although learning game design is valuable in itself, the learning objectives are vague and feedback doesn't seem to be embedded in the process. Gamestar claims that the game is adaptable to all content areas, however, without learning objectives from the outset students may master game design without learning classroom subject matter.

This ~3min video is a description of how a school integrates the use of games (eg. guitar hero) into their curriculum. It utilizes this game as a starting point for multiple explorations in music. I am very unsure of the value of incorporating the game. Any thoughts ?

I'm not sure how I feel about the commercial aspect of this... it feels a bit like a marketing tool for Guitar Hero. But, I do think that it sounds like they're doing interesting things with the surrounding curriculum. When I was in grade school I remember participating in a special unit on the Oregon Trail where we did related activities in every subject: managing our money and supplies in math class, learning about atmospheric conditions/obstacles in science class, and negotiating through historically-situated group decisions in social studies. I found this particular unit so much more engaging than everyday coursework, as I was able to both employ my imagination and see real-world application for skills that I was building. The Microsoft program stuck me as a 21st century adaptation of this (albeit grounded in a commercial product), where students were building various skill sets across subjects that were all tied together by a common narrative.

Students at the Center Project Explores How Students Learn Best--Reports on Enhancing Literacy and on Math Instruction for Minorities also Released New educational technologies offer exciting ways to help teachers adapt classrooms to the interests, needs, and strengths of individual students, but they cannot replace the crucial creative and emotional work of teachers, according to a new research paper from the ambitious interdisciplinary project, Students at the Center: Teaching and Learning in the Era of the Common Core.

Big state investment in online (old school) testing- new ways to test old models.