Blogs on Game-Based Learning

Tis the season for holiday shopping, and I thought it would be perfect to share some very great gift ideas for that special nerd in your family, the one that can be a bit tough to shop for this time of year. Take a look at these five items to warm your favorite Nerd in this cold weather.

Readers of this blog know that students are learning all the time, whether or not they're in school. Indeed, the vast majority of learning happens outside of school -- in homes, playgrounds, workplaces and so on. Play has a fundamental role in this learning, as great minds in education from Plato to Dewey, Piaget and Vygotsky have recognized over the years.

Game-based learning (GBL) is getting a lot press. It is an innovative practice that is working to engage kids in learning important 21st century skills and content. Dr. Judy Willis in a previous post wrote about the neurological benefits and rationale around using games for learning. She also gives tips about using the game model in the classroom. James Paul Gee has long been a champion for game-based learning in speeches, blogs, and books. Quest to Learn, located in New York City, infuses technology with game-based learning, where entire units utilize missions, boss levels, and the like for learning important standards. Here is the next step: taking these great rationales and examples and making it work for the everyday teacher.

When children look under the hood of a car, their perspective is one of pure curiosity. They immediately want to identify the parts, find out the location of major features, start to ask questions about how the various elements work together, and search to understand the organization of the car as a whole.