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This article addresses how to foster motivation in a child - including being interested in the child's interests, pinpoint the source of frustrations, encourage the child at every step, focus on the child's strengths, and take time to overcome the frustrations.

Beautiful article Jing Jing. Thanks for sharing. Too often we push children through "our" timelines and curriculum without bothering to consider their interest or their development level. This article is a nice reminder that some kids are on their own clock and page.

My reaction to this article was "aren't these five principles common sense? Why doesn't everybody follow them?". And I realized that I haven't followed them either. Not all of them. Not all the time. Seems to me that either as a parent bringing up a child or as a society tasked with shaping the next generation we usually know the right things to do, but don't do them.

Interesting article discussing music games, including how they can influence the types of music people listen to and whether they can affect interest in learning and appreciating music.

report documenting measurement of STEM interest

Interesting idea: engaging parents to help motivate their kids in school. It includes several of sources of "intrinsic motivation": curiosity, challenge, context, and motivation. I would be interested in seeing a more independent assessment on how successful this system is.

This is a really interesting article about the story of one of the most popular web-based games of last year. The interesting part is that the creator of the game designed it as a joke, trying to poke fun at other wildly popular games like Farmville. He made the game as simple as possible, compelled users to log in regularly to "Click a Cow," and had them earn points when other people clicked their cows. The message was supposed to be, "these types of games are manipulative in their tactics to keep people playing, and they are mindless and painfully stupid." However, his design stumbled on something that people really enjoy, and as a result, people didn't get that the game was meant to be a joke, and it became a huge hit. I think this shows that flow-inducing actitivities, or ones that keep the user engaged and provide quick feedback, are highly desirable for users.

The URL just takes you to wikipedia... but anyone interested in joining a listserv about teaching/learning with wikipedia should read on. I just received this email and share it with all of you: Greetings, You're invited to join a new listserv that's been created to discuss teaching with Wikipedia. Dr. Robert Cummings of the University of Mississippi is leading this email group. This is a list for teachers of higher education who are interested in teaching with Wikipedia or researching teaching with Wikipedia. The goal is that list members will find support with pedagogy issues and find potential collaborators for scholarly research around teaching with Wikipedia. It's a list for teachers, by teachers. At the moment, there is no web interface, so the best method of joining the list is to send an e-mail to: md@listserv.olemiss.edu with the body of the message being: subscribe teaching-with-wikipedia You don't need a subject line or to include your signature or anything else. If you're interested in Wikipedia pedagogy, we highly encourage you to join the list and collaborate with others who share similar interests. The Wikipedia Education Program Team

Venture capitalists are taking an unprecedented interest in the K-12 education marketplace, largely due to an increased interest in education technology.

Interesting game on getting kids interested in aviation and math.

First off, I really stopped playing the major video game titles after I beat Super Mario Bros. II. It took me like 4 months to best Bowser, but once I did and the world pretty much remained the same I lost interest. Still, I cannot say all the new games that have come out recently don't peak my interest. The problem, I have been out of the gaming loop for so long now that I am at a serious disadvantage whenever I play. The controllers have become so complkicated and sensative that I spend most of the initial induction just trying to figure out what the hell I am supposed to do, and what combonation of clicks and toggles prompts the desired effect. Nintendo's Wii however seemingly streamined the learning curve as my body was the primary controller. Sony is now prepping to launch an entirely new controller protocol that uses the functions of the handheld even less. It might even eliminate the need for a controler all together...all body, all movement are calibrated and support the players avatar.

Those of you working on TESLA may be interested in this article! (Or anybody interested in the gender gap in students following STEM careers.

Hey Guys, this is an Atlantic article a friend sent me awhile ago and I thought some of you might think it's interesting. It's about Jonathan Blow a video game designer with a unique taste. He's in the process of creating The Witness a game that is more artistic, contemplative, and zen-like than FPS type games. This is a long article and to be honest I didn't read all of it, but if you're interested there's a video half way down that gives you an idea of what The Witness will look like. He says users will really have to observe, pay attention and think in order to play the game. Seems interesting to me!

Really cool!

I agree! It really makes me want to play Braid and keep an eye out for The Witness (which rings a bell--I wonder where else I heard about it...). This article paints a vivid picture of the game designer and the type of art he makes. Thanks for sharing!

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...

An interesting post on games in education that links to many examples for learning to code and mentions some other online educational environments that use gamification.

Hi Stephanie - This article also seems to highlight the extrinsic rewards of points and badges -- calling it "gamification." And given our last conversation in class, I wonder if all the points and badges will kill the intrinsic desire to play the games. Interestingly, there was a comment with a link to another article http://www.hideandseek.net/2010/10/06/cant-play-wont-play/ where the writer notes that some games just use "pointification," and that the best games are the ones that have rich cognitive, emotional and social aspects, with choice and skill... but not dependent on points/badges. In light of our "motivation" conversations, it will be interesting to watch how gaming in the classroom plays out if they are largely point/badges driven.

This takes rewards to a whole new level. Do you think people contribute to this website because the are motivated by the cash rewards or because they are genuinely interested in problem solving?

Interesting approach to the MOOC concept

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.)

An interesting argument to be made and something I think we should be aware of

Wonderful Talk. Very interesting notion of 'meaningful work' that makes us value our work more.

Interesting read -- I wonder if giving the teachers the ability to modify the game enhances the engagemnent of students as much as allowing the students' modify the game.

Hi Maria! Thanks for this posting! It was really interesting to read. I totally agree--it's important to give our girls the same praises that we give our boys in the classroom so that they both feel empowered and capable. This is also an interesting site to check out--- http://www.forbes.com/sites/deniserestauri/2013/05/01/why-the-ripple-effect-for-change-starts-with-educating-girls/