On 08/28/2012,
in creativity, digital learning, digital storytelling, educational games / serious games, engagement / engaging students, interactivity, multimedia, UK,
by Daniel Christian
On 08/20/2012,
in 3D, digital learning, digital storytelling, educational games / serious games, engagement / engaging students, history, immersion, transmedia, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning,
by Daniel Christian
In each game episode, you play as Dak, Sera, and young Hystorian Riq as they travel back in time to fix one of the Great Breaks. Use your Hystorian’s Guide to discover what has gone wrong in history. Then, the story continues as you explore the open environment and play mini games such as lock picking or white-water rafting. Along the way you will also complete side quests and speak with historical characters who will aid you in — or perhaps deter you from — your quest.
The Infinity Ring game boasts an immersive open-world environment in which players are free to explore a 3-D representation of sites around the globe and throughout time. The game is available on desktop computers. Coming soon for mobile and tablet devices.
Also see:
Scholastic goes global to promote its latest transmedia epic — from digitalbookworld.com
NEW MULTI-PLATFORM TIME TRAVEL ADVENTURE SERIES infinity ring™ LAUNCHES WITH global promotional campaign
FROM SCHOLASTIC
KIDS CAN PREVIEW THE INFINITY RING ONLINE GAME ON WWW.INFINITYRING.COM STARTING TODAY
Scholastic (NASDAQ: SCHL), the global children’s publishing, education, and media company, today announces a massive worldwide campaign to promote INFINITY RING™, a new multi-platform time travel adventure series for children ages 8-12, launching on August 28th simultaneously in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand with “Book 1: A Mutiny in Time” by New York Times bestselling author James Dashner. As the pioneering force behind the groundbreaking and international bestselling The 39 Clues® series, Scholastic expands its innovative multi-platform publishing program with Infinity Ring, a fully immersive reading experience which combines books, an interactive “Hystorian’s Guide” map, and an online game experience where readers travel back in time to “fix” history.
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20 schools innovating with digital tools — from Getting Smart by Tom Vander Ark and Sarah Cargill
Excerpt:
Hans Renman in Stockholm (@tankom_hans) asked on Twitter, “Do you know any US schools that are REALLY using digital tools in an INTERESTING way for communication, marketing, or learning?” That tweet kicked off a few days of snooping around. Here is the list of 20 we came up with. We look forward to your additions!
On 07/18/2012,
in attention, digital learning, digital storytelling, educational games / serious games, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, ideas,
by Daniel Christian
4 ways to gamify learning in your classroom — from tophatmonocle.com
Excerpt:
This post explores the role of gamification in education and provides four examples of how you can bring the learning method into your classroom.
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Top Hat Monocle closes $8M to bring gamification to university classrooms — from betakit.com
Excerpt:
Today another student engagement platform, Top Hat Monocle, announced it has closed $8 million in Series A funding led by Emergence Capital Partners and iNovia Capital, with participation from SoftTech VC, Version One Ventures, and Golden Venture Partners. The Toronto- and San Francisco-based company, which raised $1.5 million in seed funding in November 2011, launched their product in 2010 and has been used by 65,000 students at over 150 global universities.
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Gamified courses from Course Hero and Bunchball boost student engagement — from gigaom.com by Ki Mae Heussner
Excerpt:
In some circles, the phrase “gamification” may have gone out of fashion, but Course Hero and Bunchball are intent on showing that it can still pack a punch in education.
In April, Course Hero, which uses free online resources to offer students digital study guides and other tools, launched a series of full-length online courses infused with game mechanics from Bunchball’s gamification platform. The companies Tuesday revealed some of the initial results from the partnership.
On average, users spend three times more time on the gamified courses than on all of CourseHero.com and total time on the platform has increased five percent since the Bunchball integration, Course Hero reported. The company also said that social sharing of achievements, which are awarded as students progress through the courses, has climbed nearly 400 percent since the Bunchball partnership.
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From DSC:
- There is enormous power when resources are reallocated to teams of specialists that come together in order to create engaging, multimedia-based, interactive learning materials! The products of these endeavors should prove to be highly beneficial — especially when they can be integrated into more hybrid/blended teaching and learning situations. That way, we can utilize the best of both the face-to-face and virtual worlds.
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Addendum on 7/19/12:
- Leveling up in your gamification — from GettingSmart.com by Adam Renfro
On 07/12/2012,
in attention, colleges, digital learning, educational games / serious games, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, Michigan, United States, universities,
by Daniel Christian
10 best colleges for game-based learning — from bestcollegesonline.com
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Excerpt:
If you were busy playing Call of Duty and you missed it, July 8 was Video Games Day. While most people’s experience with gaming involves mindless destruction or sports competition, educators have begun to see the value in the medium for helping students learn. While the research is still developing and some professors are still skeptical, these 10 colleges represent your best bets for learning while playing video and other games.
On 05/22/2012,
in educational games / serious games, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, participation,
by Daniel Christian
Games for Learning — part of the Games for Change Festival
Excerpt from Jennifer Levine:
For 9 years, the Games for Change Festival has brought the advocacy of social impact games to the industry’s attention. It’s where educators are exposed to new initiatives to bring games for learning to new frontiers. This year, the Festival will devote two entire days focusing on how educators can use the impact of games in formal and informal classroom settings.
Join long time investor in tools for teaching game designer, AMD, as they present an entire track of programming and workshops dedicated to teaching game design in the classroom. And don’t miss the Games for Learning Institute track which highlights research into games-based learning in a series of engaging talks including talks from Constance Steinkuehler, James Paul Gee, and creators of Portal, Valve Software.
Beyond that, there’s a wealth of impressive discussions, roundtables, demos and more at our full program here.
With less than a month left to register for the festival, what are you waiting for? Register now and don’t forget that groups of 5 or more who register together get 25% off! (#G4C12 and/or @G4C on Twitter)
On 05/22/2012,
in analytics, Augmented Reality (AR), Australia, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, collaboration, education technology, educational games / serious games, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, expectations, future, game-changing environment, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), learning ecosystem, mobile learning, mobile technologies, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, multimedia, new media literacies, online learning, open courseware and systems, publishing, teaching & learning, technology (general), telepresence, trends, videoconferencing, web-based collaboration,
by Daniel Christian
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On 05/01/2012,
in 21st century, A/V -- audio/visual, architecture, change, collaboration, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, creativity, Daniel S. Christian, design, engagement / engaging students, innovation, learning spaces, smart classrooms, videoconferencing, web-based collaboration,
by Daniel Christian
ExoPC and Panama team up to bring ‘tablet desks’ to students— from HuffingtonPost.com and The classroom of the future: Panama wants to give students “tablet desks” — from tabtimes.com by Doug Drinkwater
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The teacher controls the interactive board using an user friendly interface
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Adobe Photoshop Controller for EXOdesk
Adobe Photoshop TM Controller for EXOdesk makes it possible to control Photoshop TM from an EXOdesk in order to boost your productivity.
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What’s happening in the workplace? — from metropolismag.com by Jan Johnson
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The evolving office in 2012, equipped with Allsteel’s collaborative furniture collection, Gather
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Marriott Hotels & Resorts, Steelcase, and IDEO Collaborate to Innovate on the Future of Meetings and Work
Marriott Hotels & Resorts Launches “The Future of Work Innovation Co-Labs” To Offer Enhanced Hosted Work Experiences for Gen X and Gen Y Global Travelers.
Excerpt (emphasis DSC):
Los Angeles, Calif. – The nature of work is changing: it’s mobile, fast-paced and global. While most people demand choice and control to work when and how they want, wherever they are, working remotely doesn’t always offer consistent options when it comes to access, comforts and convenience. Marriott Hotels & Resorts, the flagship brand of Marriott International (NYSE:MAR); Steelcase, the world’s leading workplace experience provider; and global design and innovation consultancy, IDEO, today announced a collaboration to design, create and test innovative concepts and solutions for the future of work and meetings in hotels. The collaboration comes to life this week as a showcase of these potential solutions is unveiled at the Marriott Hotels & Resorts Global General Manager Conference in Los Angeles.
Also see:
Also see:
Also see:
- North Entrance of library brings new student workspace — from nineronline.com Elizabeth Bartholf
- .The Pitfalls of sitting too close — from sales-jobs.fins.com by Kelly Eggers
It sure sounded like a good idea. When Tuft and Lach Law, a small law practice in St. Paul, Minn. opted for open, shared office space, they didn’t expect to hate it. After all, numerous academic studies have shown that workers are more productive in open offices and, in the trendsetting tech industry, open plans are standard. For the law firm, it didn’t work out that way. “We had a receptionist and secretary sharing a workstation,” said Thomas Tuft. “The one with the biggest voice could be heard on the other’s phone calls and in attorney offices by clients on the phone with the attorneys.” If two people had to take a call simultaneously, they were forced to whisper..
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- Creating Learning Spaces Through Collaboration – The Library is a 3rd Place to Consider — from Aaron Cohen Associates
. - Space-saving dome shaped bookshelf built into workspace ceiling – – from PSFK.com
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A sample image from University of Exeter item re: learning spaces
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The refurbished Forum Library
opens 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Addendum on 5/24/12:
- Designing the Office to be less and more — from HermanMiller.com by Randall Braaksma
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On 04/13/2012,
in 21st century, creativity, digital learning, educational games / serious games, engagement / engaging students, K-12 related, reading,
by Daniel Christian
On 04/12/2012,
in Australia, communities of practice, creativity, education, engagement / engaging students, faith, K-12 related, pedagogy, real-world assignments, teaching & learning, UK, United States,
by Daniel Christian
Excerpt:
This site is for teachers who want their classrooms to be places with a Christian ethos whatever the subject or age group you teach. It explores what teaching and learning might look like when rooted in Christian faith, hope, and love. It does this by offering 100+ concrete examples of creative classroom work and an approach which enables you to develop your own examples.
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‘What if Learning’ is a “distinctively Christian” approach developed by an international partnership of teachers from Australia, the UK and the USA. It is based on the premise that a Christian understanding of life makes a difference to what happens in classrooms. Its aim is to equip teachers to develop their distinctively Christian teaching and learning strategies for their own classrooms.
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Addendum on 4-17-12:
- The U.S.-based site is now available at http://www.whatiflearning.com/
On 04/12/2012,
in 21st century, analytics, assessment, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, digital learning, education technology, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, innovation, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, online learning, online tutoring, personalized/customized learning, publishing,
by Daniel Christian
McGraw-Hill report demonstrates power of adaptive learning technology to personalize education and support needs of 21st century students — prnewsire.com
Report illustrates how personalized learning is the key to engage, retain and graduate students and prepare them for the global workforce
Excerpt:
NEW YORK, April 12, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — A new report released today by the McGraw-Hill Education characterizes adaptive learning technology as the lynchpin in personalizing education in today’s K-12 and higher education classrooms. According to the report, adaptive learning technology, also known as a computer-assisted smart tutor, helps teachers tailor instruction for every student in the class, effectively creating a “class of one” and significantly improving learning outcomes.
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The authors highlight three of McGraw-Hill’s adaptive programs:
- LearnSmart is the leading interactive study tool for higher education that adaptively assesses students’ skill and knowledge levels to track which topics students have mastered and which require further instruction and practice. It then adjusts the learning content based on students’ strengths and weaknesses…
- Power of U is a revolutionary, digitally rich personalized middle school math pilot program that uses real-time assessment data to group students in ways that allow them to learn at their own pace, in their own style, using the medium that works best for them…
- ALEKS®, one of the pioneer products to use adaptive learning technology, is a web-based assessment and learning system created by the ALEKS Corporation and exclusively distributed by McGraw-Hill Higher Education to colleges and universities.
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From DSC:
These are the types of technologies that will make their way into courses that you can take from your Smart/Connected TV (i.e. “learning from your living room” and “The Forthcoming Walmart of Education” trends continue to develop and are moving one step closer to reality).
On 03/08/2012,
in educational games / serious games, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, health, human-computer interaction (HCI), K-12 related, Microsoft,
by Daniel Christian
“Capturing students’ interest and making concepts come alive is an educator’s greatest challenge. Engagement is the key to unlocking the magic that lies within each student. With Kinect™ for Xbox 360® from Microsoft, educators are enhancing traditional lesson plans, physical education, school communications and after-school programs with extraordinary immersive, body-moving experiences that help students get engaged and stay on task.”
See also:
On 02/29/2012,
in engagement / engaging students, motivation,
by Daniel Christian
Excerpt from ClassConnect > About Us (the quote I’m referencing in the title of this blog posting is in bold text below)
As a student I was your worst nightmare.
I couldn’t stay focused in school, I wasn’t interested in homework, and I wasn’t motivated by grades.
This dismayed my parents and frustrated my teachers. Then, during my junior year of high school (almost two years ago), my chemistry teacher pulled me aside and asked the question that changed the focus of my life: “What would make you interested in learning what I’m teaching?” I was stumped. She didn’t ask me to try harder, she didn’t ask me to stay after for help or study more – she asked me to figure out how she could grab my interest. No one had ever bothered to ask me that before. A few moments later I replied, “let’s get everyone working together on computers – I’ll even build the software for us to use”.
And that was the start of ClassConnect. For the next two years I designed, tested, and redesigned the software, getting teacher and peer input along the way. Suddenly, I couldn’t learn enough about how teachers teach and how students learn. Education, once my nemesis, became my passion. I became obsessed with trying to figure out how to share knowledge more efficiently. I realized as students we learned better when we worked together using videos and websites – and we even enjoyed it!