On 02/22/2013,
in art, creativity, engagement / engaging students, hearts -- matters of the heart, society,
by Daniel Christian
On 02/20/2013,
in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, 3D, A/V -- audio/visual, active learning, Daniel S. Christian, digital learning, educational games / serious games, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, more voice more choice more control, motivation, multimedia, online learning, participation, simulations, social learning / networks, technologies for your home, television, transmedia, TVs,
by Daniel Christian
Excerpt:
It’s not unusual for a science fiction television show to spin off a video game. What is unusual is linking the show and the game together on an ongoing basis, with plot elements and characters from each crossing over to the other. In April, gaming company Trion Worlds and the Syfy cable television channel will unveil Defiance, the first such crossover massively multiplayer online game (MMO) and TV show.
From DSC:
Transmedia.
Multimedia.
Interactivity.
Participation.
Gamification.
Sounds like there must be something here for the next gen of learners — and learning from the living room.
Also see:
- Six fascinating, informative, and just plain good lectures on videogames in iTunes U — from forbes.com by Carol Pinchefsky
On 02/12/2013,
in architecture, Australia, engagement / engaging students, Europe, future, learning ecosystem, learning spaces, learning theories, love of learning,
by Daniel Christian
Excerpt:
This image gallery from Fielding Nair International, a group of architects working in education, shows lots of images from new and innovative schools around the world.
Addendum on 2/13/13, also see:
- Colorful & Multifunctional Learning Spaces at The Vittra School, Stockholm — Vitra School Brotorp Rosan Bosch Architects
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On 02/12/2013,
in engagement / engaging students, hearts -- matters of the heart,
by Daniel Christian
Engaging students in a habit of gratitude — from facultyfocus.com by Deborah Miller Fox
Excerpt:
I teach at a private Christian liberal arts university, so I enjoy a freedom to integrate my faith with my teaching, a freedom that many of my colleagues at secular institutions do not enjoy, no matter what religious faith they may practice. This freedom prompted me to address an attitude that I see as an impediment for anyone who wishes to learn, whether that person is 18 or 80: entitlement. Many of my students, though certainly not all, come into college from a life of relative comfort and prosperity. Very few of them have even witnessed, let alone experienced, the kind of demeaning, debilitating poverty that starves the life and kills the spirit of millions of people around the world.
I have come to believe that prosperity is its own kind of impairment. In an effort to address the sense of entitlement that prosperity and comfort breed, I decided to call my students into a posture of humility. Inspired by Ann Voskamp’s book, 1000 Gifts, I started a list on the first day of the semester and invited all of the students in all of my classes to contribute expressions of gratitude to this list every time we meet. I arrive early enough to open the Word file and project it on the screen in the classroom, and then I start our class sessions with this question, “For what are you grateful today?”
On 02/09/2013,
in attention, Augmented Reality (AR), corporate / business world, creativity, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, innovation, interactivity,
by Daniel Christian
On 02/06/2013,
in creativity, digital learning, digital storytelling, digital textbooks, education technology, elearning, engagement / engaging students, interactivity, online learning, platforms, UK,
by Daniel Christian
FrogOS video walkthrough – The future of learning technology — from frogtrade
Excerpt:
Well here it is, two years in the making, 1000’s of man hours and finally we can proudly show you the new software we have been showcasing at Bett 2013.
What better way to whet your appetites than to give you a simple video walkthrough that shows you just how easy it is to create a site in FrogOS.
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On 02/05/2013,
in biology, chemistry, engagement / engaging students, lifelong learning, physics, science, social learning / networks,
by Daniel Christian
Also see:
- Science cafes offer a sip of learning — from reuters.com by Barbara Liston — with thanks to Annie Murphy Paul (@anniemurphypaul) who used twitter to ask: Americans resist studying science in school, but they flock to “science cafes” on their own time. What gives?
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Excerpt:
(Reuters) – Americans may be turning away from the hard sciences at universities, but they are increasingly showing up at “science cafes” in local bars and restaurants to listen to scientific talks over a drink or a meal.
On 02/04/2013,
in digital learning, educational games / serious games, engagement / engaging students,
by Daniel Christian
Games for a Digital Age: K-12 Market Map and Investment Analysis — from joanganzcooneycenter.org by John Richards, Leslie Stebbins and Kurt Moellering
January 28, 2013
Download the report (5 MB)
Download Executive Summary (270 kB)
On 02/01/2013,
in 21st century, A/V -- audio/visual, active learning, adult learning, blended learning, Bring your own device (BYOD), cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, collaboration, communities of practice, convergence, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, Daniel S. Christian, digital audio, digital learning, digital video, education technology, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, experimentation, face-to-face, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, interactivity, interface design, internet, K-12 related, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning spaces, lifelong learning, machine-to-machine communications, mirroring and/or multiple devices, mobile learning, mobile technologies, more voice more choice more control, multi-touch, multimedia, Near Field Communication (NFC), online learning, online media, participation, platforms, presentations, productivity / tips and tricks, project-based learning, real-world assignments, second screen apps, smart classrooms, social learning / networks, tablets, technologies for your home, technology (general), tools, training / L&D, transmedia, TVs, user experience (UX), user interface design, using teams, vendors, videoconferencing, web-based collaboration, webinars, workplace,
by Daniel Christian
From DSC:
As a team of us have been charged with putting together a new collaborative workspace/conference room, I’ve been thinking about some ideas for a new type of interface as well as some new types of Human Computer Interaction (HCI) to be used in group collaboration/web-based collaboration. I was thinking it would be good to not only display files from various devices but also to be able to share files/URLs/other resources with each other. (Some type of storage device that processes files — and scans them for viruses would be needed in addition to a large display or an interactive multitouch surface/wall.)
People within the same room could contribute files/items to a variety of “areas” — and so could others who joined in via the Internet. Here’s what I had wanted to be able to do and I had pictured in my mind:
ADDITIONAL NOTES:
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- People could select which files/URLs/resources that they wanted to contribute
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- People could select which files/URLs/resources that they wanted to download to their own devices (during and after the meeting)
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- Could be powerful in the next generation of our Smart Classrooms as well as in corporate training/learning spaces
. - Could be powerful in the what I’m envisioning in “Learning from the Living [Class] Room”
. - Could be powerful in conference room situations
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It’s very similar to what Tidebreak has created/envisioned in their product lines.
Check out their innovative work/products/concepts!
Transforming learning spaces: 3 big ideas — from Tidebreak
Also see:
On 01/25/2013,
in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, analytics, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, assessment, Daniel S. Christian, data related items, education technology, educational games / serious games, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, experimentation, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), innovation, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, interactivity, internet, K-12 related, learner profiles, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, mobile learning, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, multimedia, new media literacies, personalized/customized learning, real-world assignments, simulations, social learning / networks, technologies for your home, tools, trends, TVs, using teams, vendors, virtual tutoring,
by Daniel Christian
From DSC:
In real estate, one hear’s the mantra:
Location. Location. Location.
In higher education, I have it that we’ll be hearing this for a while:
Experimentation. Experimentation. Experimentation.
Consider the following reflections on Steve’ Kolowich’s solid article, The new intelligence (from InsideHigherEd.com)
Excerpt:
And for the largest public university in the country, it is hardly fiction. Arizona State University has become ground zero for data-driven teaching in higher education. The university has rolled out an ambitious effort to turn its classrooms into laboratories for technology-abetted “adaptive learning” — a method that purports to give instructors real-time intelligence on how well each of their students is getting each concept.
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From DSC:
Besides being used in blended learning environments…some predictions:
- These technologies will become integrated into what MOOCs eventually morph into and provide a significant piece of the assessment/guidance puzzle
- Such tools will be a part of one’s future learning ecosystem
- Such tools will be part of interactive, massively open online educationally-related games
- Such tools will be integrated into personalized learning agents — spiders/recommendation engines that scan the web for relevant items that one needs to complete one’s cognitive gaps in a subject/topic
- They will be accessible from your living room as well as from your mobile devices
- They will integrate into web-based learner profiles
It’s the sort of thing I was trying to get at with this graphic from 3 years ago:
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Please don’t misunderstand me, the human mind is far beyond the complexity of an engine. But I still think that there will be more tools & technologies developed that will help the teachers/professors in their efforts to guide students into the knowledge of a discipline.
I beseech the corporate world to get involved more here — and not with the end goal of earning profits — but rather, with the aim of making the world a better place and giving a huge gift to the generations yet born.
I urge the corporate world to reach into their deep pockets (1.X trillion in cash at this point in time) and team up with our youth/teachers/professors/instructional designers/programmers/etc. to develop sophisticated, educationally-related, engaging games that are relevant to the world that our youth will be growing up in; and/or create interactive simulations that provide more choice/more control to the learners.
I urge more of the corporate world to join Knewton and Pearson and allocate some significant resources to help develop the next gen learning tools. I’ll bet that we’ll be amazed at what can be produced! Your daughters, sons, granddaughters, and grandsons will really appreciate the work that you did for them!!!
On 01/21/2013,
in A/V -- audio/visual, Adobe, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, immersion, innovation, K-12 related, learning spaces, multimedia, new media literacies, participation, smart classrooms,
by Daniel Christian
Specialty classroom technologies — from centerdigitaled.com
- Kristy Chapman | Special Education Director | Union County | Board of Education, GA
- Kyle Li | Full-time Game & Learning Instructor | School of Art, Media, and Technology | Parsons, The Newschool for Design, NY
- Moses A. Ojeda | Principal (I.A.) | Thomas A. Edison Career & Technical Education High School, NY
- Denise Spence | Magnet Lead Technology Teacher | Academy for Technology Excellence | Academy for Digital Excellence | Academy for Game Design and Programming Excellence | Dunbar High School, FL
Session was moderated by Tom Ryan, Ph.D. | Sr. Fellow, Center for Digital Education | Former CIO, Albuquerque Public Schools
Resources
- View the recorded session
- View the final presentation (no audio)
- Visit www.centerdigitaled.com/events for more event information.
Example slides:
On 01/16/2013,
in attention, educational games / serious games, engagement / engaging students, Europe, ideas, memory, Microsoft, pedagogy, student-related,
by Daniel Christian
Grad student turns heads in Norwegian schools with technology-charged pedagogy — from beditionmagazine.com by DC Brandon; with thanks to brian k (@iEducator) for posting this on Twitter
Excerpt:
Salerno says using video games in the classroom is a sure-fire way to get students excited about learning. She used the example of a social studies unit that students are taught in Norwegian schools. In one particular unit, they usually read a textbook chapter about famous explorers. In the game-based version of the unit, textbooks may be used but are not relied upon.
So how does she incorporate video games into a social studies lesson?
She uses a Microsoft product called Kodu, although she says there are many other software products that could be used, like Minecraft and Little Big Planet.
She breaks the unit down like this (from the perspective of a student):
- Choose an explorer to profile
- Research the explorer’s history online and in textbooks
- Create game map (games require planning to be successfully built)
- Create game details and missions, mark out important plot points
- Build world
- Build in characters and plot in the form of missions
- Demo game to classmates on “gameday”
Also see:
- Using video games in a new language of learning — from beditionmagazine.com by Jane Marshall
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On 01/14/2013,
in analytics, attention, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, education reform, education technology, educational games / serious games, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, K-12 related, mobile learning, open courseware and systems, personalized/customized learning, play, United States,
by Daniel Christian
From DSC:
A solid infographic is out at Knewton.com — of which I want to highlight 2 portions of it (below).
This first excerpt is not to dog teachers but rather it’s meant to support them and to say that we need to change a losing game (at least a part of the solution in ed reform is to get out of the business of focusing so much on standardized tests and another part of the solution resides in the second graphic below):
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Also relevant see:
- Let children’s play (with technology) be their work in education — from Jackie Gerstein