Group items tagged

"Location data from mobile phones has indicated that 93 per cent of human movement is predictable... the researchers, from Boston, USA and China, believe that it could be useful for mobile networks' data load management, city planning and anticipating the spread of viruses."

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

Jeremy Bailenson from the Virtual Human Interaction Lab (Stanford) talks at the Berkman Center about how the use of avatars fundamentally alters communication styles both in virtual and real world settings. (Includes video and slides)

The way players form into groups in online games reveals that hierarchies are an inevitable product of the human condition, say complexity scientists.

http://www.thersa.org/events/rsaanimate/animate/rsa-animate-drive This RSA animate featuring Daniel Pink focuses on motivation. Although not Pink's thesis, to me it provides the explanation for why bonus pay to teachers (or students) for student achievement, particularly on tests is wrong-headed and damaging to educators and schools as professional environments in the long run. You can't pay people to care but you can organize school environments in which meaningful learning can be achieved. Teachers generally want to succeed and simply need a well-managed opportunity.

Thanks Uche for sharing this talk. I found Dan's insights interesting especially when he said that management is a technology that cannot lead to engagement. It struck me that it was a delicate balance between managing from the outside and developing self-management from inside.

Cute story about a renewed interest in table hockey. One quote: "In videogames, there is no humanity."

Priming the pump with STEM games and building human capacity for design

I'm still not sure if I agree with David Foster Wallace, but his quote did made me wonder: Does the idea of being "smart" tap into some essential human need? Might we add "smartness" to Ryan & Deci's list of intrinsic needs?

Too engaged in digital media? Not engaged with humankind? Here is a national unplug day invite. March 20th people all over the world will be quiting their phones,computers or whatever other device of choice keeps them from spending time interacting with other humans and enjoying the analog beauty that is all around us.

I can't do this and I'm pretty old! Can't imagine young people being able to.

A book that argues video games are the key to human happiness?

Andy Robertson explores new ways to let games sustain us and broaden our understanding of what it means to be human.

Augmented reality is dazzling when used appropriately. The Science Museum in London's exhibit on the Making of the Modern World looks to be a wonderfully educational experience about how specific technologies have propelled human history forward.

Virtual Education Oasis... humm? Where do you think we will be in 2044? Author Ernest Cline, is interviewed about his novel Ready Player One, where "schools are built like palaces on the violence-free planet Ludus, and students take daytrips through both the Louvre and the human heart. These are but some of the benefits offered by the OASIS, a massive, multiplayer online game where most people in 2044 choose to spend their existence, away from the troubles of the real world. The OASIS combines the scope of a galaxy with the immersion of the Matrix; it is a near-perfect virtual reality."

I found the recaps of these seminars (and the handbook linked from this page) very interesting. Seminar 2 specifically focuses on the role of narrative--at what point it should enter the design process, how it can increase motivation and enjoyment or serve as a distraction, issues with traditional narrative in an interactive medium, etc. This quote from the Seminar 2 overview reminded me of relatedness from SDT Theory: "It was agreed that a quality necessary for engagement with narrative was that of identification with characters or a situation (an example was given from a mine disaster simulation with junior children, where the degree of engagement with the narrative content due to the identification with the victims drove the experience forward). Authenticity could also contribute to engagement. Whilst hard to pin down, it could mean authenticity for the children in cultural terms or in terms of being a 'human' story, one of a kind which resonates for them."

A popular article that argues play is a universal feature among animals and serves valuable functions

A new online game uses crowdsourcing to find out how to save humans from extinction.

Virtual reality field trips!