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Based on a survey by the Joan Ganz Cooney Center

I think vocational schools give students the means for making time spent in school relevant and useful to them. They pursue an interest and see it connected to a relevant future. In the current age where interdisciplinary work is the norm, jobs are mutable, and careers are evolutionary, vocational education is no longer preparing students for a job or career; just their first one.

I completely agree! I have a good friend who dropped out of high school, earned his GED the same week, and went on to a technical vocational school to study IT/systems management. Turned out that once he got to the vocational school, he became the top student in most of his classes, and well-known for staying after class to engage instructors in intellectual debate. I find it disappointing that our society tends to devalue vocational schools; it seems to me that we should instead be focusing on what fits each student best.

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.

Does this teach academic skills?

Students learn how to make educational web games. Globaloria is sponsoring some of the events for the Digital Learning Day (posted below) and are "opening their Globaloria game design classes to parents, friends, educators, administrators, policy makers and media. Visitors will get to experience first-hand the innovative, hands-on "game design studio" that these classes engage in daily. They will see students developing original STEM learning games, collaborating with peers and their teacher, using a digital curriculum, and receiving support through an online learning network."

Here is an overview of several theories of motivation, with some tables and simple animations and games illustrating concepts. It addresses a mix of articles and ideas that have come up in class and ones we haven't touched on yet.

Wow! Stephanie, what a fantastic resource! Thanks so much for sharing this with us.

Comments in class sparked me to look this up...it's pretty good, though not the same as what was described. You can also get a different version of the test as an iPhone app...

research shows that people prefer equity in situations. fairness affects one's emotions about a situation

Avatar stuff...mentioned in class

Thanks so much for finding and posting this!

More about project Natal which is based on the technology that Mordechai talked about in class

cutting back on wireless access in Higher Ed. classes because students think they are great at multitasking, but aren't.

This game does a great job of incorporating the social aspect of gaming. In addition, Sokikom uses classroom management techniques to reward postive behavior through "class cash." It would be interesting to look at what behaviors are actually transferred into the classroom.

Coursera tapping into the K-12 space 

Some very interesting deliberation on the meaning of the Khan phenomenon. I found some resonance with Prof. Dede's comments on the radio.

This is a fairly old paper (1980), but is a comprehensive look at a lot of ideas we covered in class.

story of a third grade class in Chicago using a computer-based memory game to improve their "fluid intelligence." article focuses on the work of Susanne Jaeggi and Martin Buschkuehl of the University of Maryland