HGSET545

Roger Travis, Professor of Classics uses games to teach Homeric epics. The 1:1 mapping he used for learning objectives and play objectives led him to coin the term "practomime" from "praxis and mimesis," that is, a doing and representing.

I really liked the building points toward a grade concept and the idea that people were more willing to compose in Latin.

The classic on visual design for consistent "usable" windows-based interfaces.

Special section of Education Week focusing on virtual schooling

This article brings us back to an old unanswered question...how will we assess students to truly capture what they are learning? Online platforms tend to rely heavily on multiple choice. Online course developers will need to be more creative than plain old multiple choice in order to prove the rigor of the online environment.

A blog post by Dr. David Dockterman. In learning by playing videogames, constructivism and flow are significant.

Piazza is a Web 2.0 tool that allows students to ask questions and engage in dialogue on the Internet with teacher and each other.

This optimistic article covers a range of topics related to mobile learning and quotes Prof.Dede as well.

This article is fairly old, but I thought its topic resonated with our discussion in class last Monday--particularly the pink box of pink Legos.

Those "friendship adventure" games for girls don't sound like much fun - and I wonder if there's any replay value? I read through the game flow and it seems like something the kid finishes in an hour and doesn't touch again. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockett's_New_School However, it looks like the game (and sequels) were actually quite popular. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,63511,00.html

Teacher David Suarez has developed a three-tiered approach to teaching math in which student choose how much of a challenge they want in class. Especially interesting because it's one of the first time I've seen a classroom teacher discussing how they support and manage a differentiated classroom.

I came upon this resource last December and I agree that this is a well documented effort for how to differentiate and create commitment. I have encouraged as many teachers as possible to try it out since I don't have a class right now to practice with it. It has so many elements from our readings and the video of his classes is an excellent way to help teachers understand what differentiation looks like in practice. Thanks for sharing.

The Nature Conservancy and Discovery Education today launched Nature Works Everywhere, a partnership designed to help students learn the science behind how nature helps our everyday existence and the importance of environmental conservation.

This is a few years old, but it's interesting. I wonder how the coach/athlete relationship might relate to student/teacher relationships in the classroom.

I now know where the EMF Rater should live or at least get a link...

This is an interesting example of a video game targeting mental health. The designers created a 3D fantasy world with different realms in which players learn mental behavioral techniques used to combat depression. The game was found to be effective in reducing symptoms of anxiety and depression in teens with mild to moderate depression.

Such a great idea. In rural areas, the lack of mental health practitioners is a serious problem so we reserve referrals for children who are in dire circumstances. Children with moderate or mild depression almost never get services. This game has great potential!

That's such an excellent point Allison!

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.

An article about reasons that we shouldn't limit kids' computer play, or their total daily "screen time".

Three video case studies on teaching with games

As we students become graduates, Christensen's article is interesting both for perspective on career advice as well as it's broad references to extrinsic and intrinsic motivation in the workplace. As an HBS professor, he takes a very Business School approach to motivation.

A set of excellent TED talks on education

Interesting study on rewards and motivation: Some excerpts - Rewards worked much better if they were given to students before the test, not after. Researchers found students worked significantly harder to keep what they had than they did to win something new. But none of the incentives worked at any age if students knew they wouldn't get the reward for a month. "All motivating power of the incentives vanishes when rewards are handed out with a delay," the researchers concluded. "Especially among children, the difference between right now and tomorrow is a big difference," Ms. Sadoff said. "For all students it's important that the reward be immediate." That impatience creates a massive problem for incentive programs based on state test results, which can often take months to turn around.

Thanks for this Kasthuri! This gives additional strength to the immediacy of digital rewards and students having access to their own "stats" (both potentially available in games and simulations). The thought of actual green-back monetary rewards for study/learning gives me the heebie-jeebies. I appreciated Alexandra M. Usher's comment, that "it's really important to reward inputs, not outputs [and] to reward behavior that kids can control, rather than just telling them to get better grades."

This organization has recently be approved by Congress and the Dept. of Education to provide grants for the research and development of technology related to education.