by Annie | Aug 8, 2012 | Education
Back when I first started down the bumpy road into educational games, I had heard about a new school in NYC that was starting to make games front and center in the classroom. Quest to Learn is now a few years along and seems to be transforming the traditional teaching model and the way students interact and learn. Called the Hogwarts of the real world, Quest is creating an environment that actually gets students excited about learning. Who wouldn’t want a science class called “The Way Things Work,” a math class called “Codeworlds,” and “boss level” exams? Pretty exciting stuff, to say the least. Quest is definitely a school to keep an eye on in the coming years. Here’s a great article about recent goings-on at...
by Annie | Feb 6, 2012 | Education, Game Design
As a teacher, I used a lot of games in the classroom. However, it wasn’t until I left the classroom that I realized the untapped potential of existing games in transforming the educational landscape. Most people are starting to come to terms with the effectiveness of games in teaching. However, educators often overlook popular titles in favor of “educational games.” Though these educational games are certainly a step up from textbooks, they often fail to create a truly captivating experience. Thus, the dilemma. Educators know that games can engage students, but even the best educational games out there can’t compare to Angry Birds and Call of Duty. Oh dear, what to do? The answer is closer than you think. In fact, it’s staring you in the face. Instead of trying to create educational games like Angry Birds, why not just use Angry Birds itself? Every game has the potential to be a powerful educational tool. Don’t believe me? Here are some examples: Fruit Ninja: Line Graphs Have students use line graphs to determine the value of different combos in the game. Angry Birds: Perspective Have students think about the conflict between the birds and the pigs from the pigs’ perspective. Paper Toss: Wind Speed Have students analyze the trajectory of the ball and build an apparatus to measure wind speed. Doodle Jump: Ratios and Scale Have students put themselves in the game by measuring jump height and designing a level to scale. Canabalt: Parallax Effect Have students analyze the parallax effect in the background of the game, the principles of which are used by astronomers to measure far away...
by Annie | Oct 29, 2010 | Game Design
It’s a fairly common sight these days to see a toddler with an iPhone or iPad learning basic math and sight words with the latest edutainment titles available in the App Store. The increasing availability of intuitive touch technologies has made gaming more accessible to the youngest minds and fingers. Warner Bros. recently launched two Sesame Street-themed titles – Elmo’s A-to-Zoo Adventure for the Wii and Cookie’s Counting Carnival for the DS, and SouthPeak Games announced plans Wednesday to introduce a new line of interactive education games. So while edutainment might not seem like the most popular or exciting genre, the opportunities are certainly...
by Annie | Oct 12, 2010 | Game Design
As more and more people realize the potential that games and technology have in changing the face of education, funds are increasing and opportunities are expanding. Just yesterday, the Gates Foundation announced a $20 million project to fund educational technology ventures. It may not seem like a sum large enough to fix America’s education crisis, but if it can change just one student’s life through improved education, it will have been a huge...
by Annie | Sep 22, 2010 | Game Design
What would happen if the school curriculum were entirely built around video games? New York school Quest to Learn is on a mission to find out. To learn more, read the NYTimes Magazine article “Learning by Playing: Video Games in the Classroom.” Definitely a worthwhile read guaranteed to change your outlook on the future of schools and...
