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Fox's IGN Entertainment purchases "What they Play site" that uses the ESRB (Entertainment Software Rating Board" data to provide a family guide to video games

Can social networks be an instructive technology? Since social networks are so popular, if their features can be used in education, there would be interesting results. However, nowadays, most of them are for entertainment uses.

Scientist discusses positive effects of action video games, suggests entertainment industry should join scientists to create engaging educational games.

Thanks for sharing Brandon. I like two things she said in particular 1) General wisdom often carries no weight 2) Like red wine, video games may be good when used appropriately. I'm convinced myself in the power of game-based learning but do agree that more work needs to be done in bringing good ones to the class.

People have posted about the Star Wars sale before, but here is an analysis of what the impact means on "Tech Education"--kind of talks about it is more efficient to separate entertainment and education, but using the sale money to directly fund education is a good move.

Interesting examples of how some games are used for more than just entertainment including crowdsourcing for scientific progress, helping support research, and bridging the language gap.

Hi Adrian, thanks for sharing this. I think that the crowdsourcing potential for online games is great for solving real-life problems. Maybe educators could actually use such a platform for engaging students in school too, like crowdsourcing to solve problems in school.

Minecraft is an interesting example of an entertainment game that is big in the education sector.

Why is extrinsic motivation needed to make these subjects interesting, and why use an entertainment game rather than an educational game?

I was speaking with Chris yesterday and we agreed that it was going to be the entertainment industry that would pioneer this technology. At this point, it looks as if Vuzix core market and strategy for growing their AR library is business (training) and academia. The fact that you can see through the lens but ALSO see the 'broadcast' image is huge. Yesterdays AR demo would have been soooo much more immersive had we been able to keep one eye on the R (reality...cars, appraoching hornets, etc) and one I on the AR.

This site lists educational games by category. There is no feed for updates (at least, I haven't found one) and games listed vary greatly in quality and educational merit. The site is hard to navigate due to poor design and doesn't seem to update very frequently

Cool Site! What an easy way to see what has been explored and was in the works. It seemed as though Health and Language acquisition were big topics.

This is a company created to help kids learn foreign languages through activity based play in an online environment.

Interesting take on virtual meets real, atoms and bits living together in harmony; all in the name of entertainment--and hopefully education.

Newest Disney attraction called - Sum of All Thrills where kids get to design their own virtual roller coaster. It uses virtual-reality technology. "Disney hopes the interactive nature of the ride would also help kids learn that math and science can be fun."

While I would not consider this incredibly expensive ride a 'distruptive innovation' or even an emerging ed technology, what Epcot has done by bringing this DIY-VR concept to the masses (if you are one of the masses that can A- afford Disney and B-have the patience to wait in line for `5-6 hours) is very important to future ed tech innovation strategies. The progression/invention of such cost prohibitive entertainment tools will fall squarely on the high-end theme parks and consumer venues. The challenge has been set by Epcot and now others must either compete directly or develop a better or more accessible solution. Off the top of my head, I can think of a few cost saving innovations that might be developed in this 'race'- Artificial G-Force Engline: variable air pressure, smart-chairs, fans

Founded in 2004, Games for Change facilitates the creation and distribution of social impact games that serve as critical tools in humanitarian and educational efforts. Unlike the commercial gaming industry, we aim to leverage entertainment and engagement for social good. To further grow the field, Games for Change convenes multiple stakeholders, highlights best practices, incubates games, and helps create and direct investment into new projects.

A point of view challenging the rapid transition to digital textbooks. 

These op-eds and blogs keep popping up, but I have yet to read one that is at all compelling. It was particularly entertaining when this author referenced how digital photography put Polaroid out of business. Hard to understand why one would use that reference when defending the textbook. The funny thing is that textbooks were never a fantastic learning tool to begin with. The real danger is that digital textbooks will not not make the dramatic improvements that they may be capable of when it comes to teaching the material.

Some of the city's "turnaround" schools, including the one where this teacher works, are listing knowledge or willingness to learn about using a blended learning instructional models as a criterion for hiring teachers. An interesting and entertaining blig post about implementation & buy-in of blended learning in NYC schools.

used iLearn http://www.ilearn.com/web/AboutGains.asp

New AR capabilities in Sony's about to be released PlayStation Vita. Very cool

I've never seen something that can take objects form the real world and make it part of the game experience for characters to jump off and bullets can ricochet off of real worl items.

Fantastic possibilities for entertainment and gaming. I can imagine doing a Parcour in my living room :-) It will be interesting to see who will invest the money and effort to bring this incredible technology to the educational area on portable gaming devices.

From the Orlando Sentinel, 1985: Although they have not solved how to keep students interested in certain subjects, computers are proving to be highly acceptable motivational tools in all grades at Seminole County schools. Unlike video games that provide only entertainment, computers in the classroom are used as a teaching resource to reinforce development skills for elementary and middle school students and for those with learning deficiencies....

The unholy marrage of violent gaming and hightened advert recall...Clearly there are educational implications to be considered here.

I would be for this. I could not believe a place so big on recycling (Harvard) murdered so many trees with the printing of course packs. I like this idea if you could get the material from other sources than just the school (say the author or publisher directly or something like Amazon). Otherwise, there is no opportunity for competition or bargaining.