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The rise and fall of Second Life as an educational venue

""For all intents and purposes, this is an economy that has activity equal to a small country in real life," Guðmundsson says. "There's nothing 'virtual' about this world.""

Schell's talk ends with a simple but important question. How can we design games to not only motivate us in life but to help us be better people?

Strong claims (with no evidence) about games and learning

This post discusses downsides of gamification in the classroom, and it links to many interesting resources.  "I'm increasingly concerned about approaches that I think will suck the life out of gaming and play..."

States use simulations to assess science skills and students seemed to "enjoy playing with the computers and took quickly to the assessment." A costly option, but goals to have all students complete computer-based tasks as part of Common Core assessments by 2014. NOTE: This article just scratches the surface of actual results, but for more commentary about this year's results take a look at: "NAEP Reveals Shallow Grasp of Science" http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2012/06/19/36naep.h31.html?tkn=VLPFYOoO%2Fh6K0gBMoWRnkBNKB%2B3NDBvfmvWl&cmp=ENL-EU-NEWS1 It will be important to watch if/how computer simulations help students explain or justify their responses and apply concrete knowledge to real-life scientific scenarios.

This article discusses the gamification of life, and how it can be a good thing. But can gamification really bring about world peace? How gamified do you want your life to be?

Here is an ethnographer's in-depth look into World of Warcraft. From this site you can read the full book online, read an interview with the author, or listen to a podcast. The author "introduces us to her research strategy and the history, structure, and culture of Warcraft; argues for applying activity theory and theories of aesthetic experience to the study of gaming and play; and educates us on issues of gender, culture, and addiction as part of the play experience."

"Ninety-five percent of the energy that life on Earth requires are fueled by photosynthetic processes." Scientists are building virtual simulations to better understand how these processes work.

This SOB used Facebook to explain his reasons for taking his son's and his own life. Make no mistake this guy has some serious issues. Still, it is noteworthy that Facebook and other social media outlets (youtube, flickr) have been used by the public and authorities to intervene and prosecute people that broadcast their criminal actions and intent. Think about it, George Orwell's vision of the future had the authorities constantly policing and monitoring citezens, but this has not been the case. Instead, we the people, ourselves are the ones monitoring each other via ubiquitous content creation and social media sharing.

a research project collecting short stories about how people experience mathematics in everyday life

Healthcare facilities are discovering that practicing in the virtual world can have major benefits in real life. Doctors, nurses and students are using online community to learn how to cope with crises, boost clinical skills and make their facilities more efficient.

Will our lives be on display in the future?

Animal-assisted activities (AAA) provide opportunities for motivational, educational and/or recreational benefits to enhance a person's quality of life.

Two players who met in the World of Warcraft virtual world, wound up falling in real-life love.

Wearable technology seems to be gaining popularity... Here's a link to the NYTimes profile of Memoto, the new life-logging camera featured at SXSW. The company was founded in 2011 and has raised close to a million dollars in financing through Kickstarter and from European investors. http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/03/08/meet-memoto-the-lifelogging-camera/?ref=technology

An intriguing essay calling for an end to the demarcation between online (digital) and offline (face-to-face). This author argues that the two do not exist in a vacuum, but rather are enmeshed completely in our lives, such that online activity, used appropriately, should not detract from offline use, but rather give it meaning.

Although the idea of an iPad for every student may struggle to come to fruition for a few years, Augmented Reality textbooks are paving the way for a smooth transition. Japanese publishing company Tokyo Shoseki is producing textbooks that support AR apps on smartphones, bringing characters to life for students to listen to.

Seems like a good EMF design.