Video Games for Learning: Resource Roundup

Resources by Topic:

• Games in the Classroom
• Tips and Tools
• Using Games for Learning and Assessment
• Virtual Reality
• Innovative Programs
• Games for Social Good
• Edutopia Discussions: Education and Gaming

Games in the Classroom

• Game-Based Learning Units for the Everyday Teacher

  A game-based unit includes structures, themes, and mechanisms for trial and error.

• Get Your Game On: How to Build Curriculum Units Using the Video Game Model

  Blogger Andrew Miller shows educators some specific techniques for building a game structure across different subjects.

• Simulation Nation: The Promise of Virtual Learning Activities

  Inventive computer sims can turn dull lessons into hyperreal experiences -- if we can get educators to use them.

• Sims vs. Games: The Difference Defined

  Ever wondered? Here's your answer.

• Let the Games Begin: Entertainment Meets Education

  Video games, once confiscated in class, are now a key teaching tool -- if they're done right.

• See all Edutopia blogs about Game-Based Learning.

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Tips and Tools to Get Started

• Wii Love Learning: Using Gaming Technology to Engage Students

  Put today's hottest game console to educational use.

• Teaching Tools: Using Online Simulations and Games

  Gaming remains new territory for most schools. But educators on the frontiers are eager to share what they're learning.

• Using the Video Game Model in the Classroom

  Blogger Mary Beth Hertz shares her experience in applying gaming concepts to her classroom practices.

• Making Lessons Come Alive in the Classroom with the Xbox Kinect

  Guest blogger and middle school teacher Dan Jones shares how he uses the popular video game platform to increase student engagement.

• Serious Tips for Using Serious Games in Class

  Experts on issue-oriented computer simulations offer advice on how to do it right.

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Using Games for Learning and Assessment

• Comment on this video, download, and more

• James Gee: What Do Video Games Have to Do with Project-Based Learning?

  A conversation between John Larmer and David Ross of the Buck Institute for Education about project-based learning, video games, and the work of James Paul Gee.

• Big Thinkers: James Paul Gee on Grading with Games

  An Arizona State University professor sees a bright future for video games in the learning process -- in and out of school.

• Serious Gaming: Computer Games Become Potent Student Motivators and Evaluators

  A new generation of video games sneaks into assessment tools.

• A Neurologist Makes the Case for the Video Game Model as a Learning Tool

  The popularity of video games is not the enemy of education, but rather a model for best teaching strategies.

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Virtual Reality

• Get a Life: Students Collaborate in Simulated Roles

  Virtual reality provides a shared online universe in which students can play to learn.

• The School of Second Life: Education Online

  Creating new avenues of pedagogy in a virtual world.

• Avatars Teach Teens About Self-Image

  Even as the national beauty obsession grows, a new virtual world has emerged to give kids another perspective about image.

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Innovative Programs

• The Games Pupils Play

  Quest to Learn, a publicly funded school in New York, teaches entirely through games and hopes to open more of these Institutes of Play in the near future.

• Big Thinkers: Katie Salen on Learning with Games

  Katie Salen, executive director of design for Quest to Learn (Q2L) and professor at Parsons The New School for Design, talks about the value of games and technology and the empowerment of play.

• Beyond Blowing Up Enemies: The Future of Games for Learning

  Former staff writer Grace Rubenstein's write-up on the Games For Change conference.

• Student Mentors Teach Game Design

  In Be The Game, high school students mentor peers and use game design as a tool for teaching science, technology, engineering, and math, and the program's high tech bus travels to locations where tech facilities are not available.

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Games for Social Good

• Computer Games Explore Social Issues

  The fluid, interactive nature of simulations makes them ideal for tackling complex subjects.

• Playing Civic-Minded Simulations May Encourage Social Action

  Recent studies explore whether serious games affect teens when they're offline.

• Top Issue-Oriented Computer Simulations

  Check out these serious games to see what the buzz is all about.

• Sustainability-Themed Computer Games Come to the Classroom

  Educators hope gaming will animate pressing environmental issues.

• Learning World Affairs Through Digital Media

  Global Kids uses media and technology to foster civic participation and global awareness. In its Online Leadership Program, students make games, create animated movies, and produce videos that explore global issues.

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Edutopia Discussions: Education and Gaming

• Angry Birds, YouTube, Club Penguin Meets Personalized Education

  How do you use online games to craft curriculum for students with different skill levels?

• Using Dance Video Games to Teach Global Lessons

  Have you tried teaching dance with interactive video gaming consoles like the Xbox 360 and Kinect?

• Video Games in the Classroom Environment

  Have you facilitated learning with video games?

• Using Video Game Technology to Teach Science

  Recommend some of your favorite video gaming sites that focus on interactive science education.

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