Category Archives: Blog

Video Games Are The New Textbooks

Can A Video Game Replace A Textbook?

From KQED Mindshift:

“Educators typically think of using digital and video games as the actual learning tool, but one teacher is using video games for something else entirely — as a replacement for the textbook…”

High School graduation day!

To bring it into the classroom, Jeff Mummert who is a social studies teacher and department chair at Hershey High School in Pennsylvania implemented this change.

Why Video Games?

According to Mummert, “…game designers put a lot of time and thought into developing aesthetically appealing games that they think will draw players into an imaginary world.

His interest in games in the classroom focuses entirely on asking students to think critically about the game in the same way they would analyze a text or work of art…”

Read the full article here.

3-D Animation & Motion Capture Technology In Medicine

3-D Animation & Motion Capture Technology Show Promise for Uses in Rehabilitation

“In the film and video game industry, motion capture technology is used to convert people’s movements into computer animations -With 3D animation, we can measure the joint angle, speed and smoothness of the arm motion, as well as which compensating motion patterns the stroke patient is using. This give us a measurement for the motion that we can compare with an optimal arm motion in a healthy person…The 3D animations have provided a completely new level of detail in terms of mobility in stroke patients — knowledge that can help patients achieve more effective rehabilitation…”

Thank you, Science Daily, for sharing this information.

Read the full article here, dated December 18, 2013

Video Games That Will Inspire Our Children

THE POSITIVES OF VIDEO GAMES

From Mind/Shift: Beyond Minecraft: Games That Inspire Building and Exploration  

There is no denying that our children are absorbed in game play. But let’s remember it’s not all a negative.

Many games foster critical thinking, problem solving, and creation skills & develop self-motivated learning.

Take a minute to review the list of games which “…have the potential to extend that learning, providing fresh outlets for self-expression in the digital world and beyond…”

For the complete article by by Tanner Higgin of Common Sense Education go, here.

Video Games & Empathy

Video Games, Empathy, and Education 

An Excerpt from NPR’s All Tech Considered, Aired November 20, 2013

“…Much of the modern education reform movement has centered around the drive for data. Standardized tests now gauge whether children are at grade level seemingly every few months. Kids are observed, measured and sorted almost constantly.

In Silicon Valley, a $20 billion industry does much the same thing — but for a different purpose.

Video game design has become a data-driven industry where games evolve depending on how they are played.

Now, some game designers are hoping to take these new skills and apply them back to education. But not in a classroom — they want to teach with a game on an iPad.

From Football To Feelings

More than 30 years ago, Trip Hawkins left Apple and founded Electronic Arts, the company behind EA Sports. The man who helped make Madden NFL a cultural icon now has a new vision for games: He wants to teach.

For sports video games, Hawkins brought game designers together with experts in the field — athletes and statisticians. Now he’s bringing counselors into the mix. He wants to give those counselors data about what kids are actually doing in the games they play.

The Parents’ Choice Awards

Wondering What To Buy For Your Children?

Wonder no more.

Here is a complete list to help you make an informed decision on purchasing products for your child?

The Parents’ Choice Awards highlight 10 categories to help you!

1. Audio
2. Book
3. DVD/Blu-Ray
4. Magazine
5. Mobile App
6. Software
7. Television
8. Toy
9. Video Game
10. Website

You will surely find top-notch winners in each category!