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Blogs on Game-Based Learning

Game-Based Learning

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Get tips, techniques, and tools that apply the principles of game design to the learning process -- engaging kids and helping educators assess learning.

K-5 iPad Apps for Remembering: Part One of Bloom's Revised Taxonomy

Diane DarrowAugust 8, 2011

Tags Game-Based Learning, Mobile Learning, Primary (K-2), Technology Integration, Upper Elementary (3-5), English Language Arts, Math, World Language Learning

It is Benjamin Bloom's belief that the entry point to learning is the acquisition of knowledge. He postulates that a solid foundation of terms, facts, theories, and skills is the educational base that will allow the mind to evaluate information effectively and inspire innovation. Our schools' emphasis on and devotion to standards-based instruction and high-stakes testing reflects a desire for students to become proficient at memorizing terms, and facts as well as and mastering various sets of skills.

Report from EduBloggerCon at ISTE11: Trends and Tools

Betty RayJune 26, 2011

Tags Classroom Technology, Curriculum, Digital Divide, Dropout Prevention, Game-Based Learning, Literacy, Multiple Intelligences, , Teacher Development, Technology Integration, All Grades

There's nothing like an 8-hour infusion of passionate, creative and focused problem-solving.

I am in Philly for the ISTE 2011 conference, and spent the day at the inspiring prequel to this annual edtech gathering: EduBloggerCon.

Making Lessons Come Alive in the Classroom with the Xbox Kinect

Dan JonesJune 1, 2011

Tags Classroom Technology, Curriculum, Differentiated Instruction, Game-Based Learning, Professional Learning Network (PLN), Student Work Examples, Teacher Development, Technology Integration, Middle (6-8), High (9-12), Geography, History

Something about movie magic intrigues me. It was fascinating, for instance, to find out that actors in my favorite movies often filmed entire scenes without ever leaving the studio. And when I watch the special effects in a movie, I wish I could use that technology.

Students Design Games and Software Tools to Tackle Real-World Problems

Suzie BossMay 27, 2011

Tags Arts Education, Game-Based Learning, Service Learning, Technology Integration, All Grades

At the recent U.S. finals of the Imagine Cup competition, student teams from across the country showed off not only their technical brilliance but also an eagerness to improve the world through gaming and software development. How so? How about using a portable device to help visually impaired students with note-taking, or a digital strategy game that challenges children to improve the environment through clean energy, or a game for your smart phone in which players fight deforestation to earn points.

Using the Video Game Model in the Classroom

Mary Beth HertzApril 19, 2011

Tags Classroom Technology, Curriculum, Game-Based Learning, Student Engagement, Technology Integration, All Grades

This post is cross-posted from my Philly Teacher blog, but I thought it fit this week's gaming theme and has a lot of applications for how we bring technology tools into our classrooms as well as for how we design tech-infused projects.

I have been thinking a lot recently about video gaming and what we can learn from it as educators. This is not a new concept or a new discussion. I've been seeing things happen in my classroom that really make me think there's something to this idea. My recent reflections and changes in classroom practice don't actually involve my students playing games to learn new skills or concepts (though there is research about the positive effects of this), but rather on the broader structure of games in relation to classroom practices. As I teach in a lab, this approach can definitely be applied to integrating technology in your classroom.

Using Farmville to Teach Standards

Linda DeneherFebruary 24, 2011

Tags Classroom Technology, Game-Based Learning, Lesson Plans, , Technology Integration, Middle (6-8), High (9-12), All Grades, English Language Arts, Geography, History, Math, Science

Today's guest blogger is Linda Deneher, a one-on-one tutor and student at an online Master of Educational Technology program.

National Educational Technology Plan: Your Questions Answered

Audrey WattersJanuary 25, 2011

Tags Achievement Gap, Classroom Technology, Digital Divide, Education Reform, Game-Based Learning, Media Literacy, Mobile Learning, Technology Integration, All Grades

Editor's Note: Today's guest blogger is Audrey Watters, is a technology journalist specializing in education technology news. She has read all 100+ pages of the National Education Technology Plan released by the U. S. Department of Education last November, and she has summarized it below.

Teaching Tools: Using Online Simulations and Games

Suzie BossMay 10, 2010

Tags Game-Based Learning, Project-Based Learning, Technology Integration

Students who are passionate gamers can talk a blue streak about the virtual online worlds where they invest their free time and energy. Usually, of course, they get to play only when they're not at school. But why not bring gaming into the classroom? Could teachers tap that same passion to spark learning?

The Games Pupils Play

Owen EdwardsOctober 19, 2009

Tags Game-Based Learning, Technology Integration, New York

There comes a time in every parent's life -- and in most teachers' lives, too -- when we discover that those we are raising and teaching are better at certain things than we are.