"If I could play video games in school I would cry!"

            In the above picture you see kids in a non-charter, New York public school is just over one year old and focuses on teaching kids through game theory, which is systems theory based and coincides with New York City School standards.  The school is staffed with curriculum designers who design instruction with the use of video games and game based learning spaces.

            The children at the school are engaged because they use very popular medium to help them learn.  They play existing games, they build and mod other games.  They basically build their own worlds through collaboration.  These  children are being prepared for the world that they will inherit. The world they will run will be a global one, based on technology and filled with information that must be navigated and negotiated through higher order thinking and problem solving done collaboratively with a diverse workforce.

             The kids at this school are having fun, but they are learning to create, discover, research and work together in a "funner way" as Don Levins, one of the game designers says.  One of the children feature on the video for this article said that 'it would be great to play video games at school [so badly], it would make him cry!"  When was the last time a student said that about a worksheet?

Reference

Corrbett, s. (2010, September 15, 2010). Learning by Playing: Video Games in the Classroom. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/19/magazine/19video-t.html

Freedman, S. (2007). New Class(room) War: Teacher vs. Technology. The New York Times, 4

Games are the Future of Education says the father of Sociobiology

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=112203095

During an open mic segment on NPR, Will Wright (Creator of the Sims & Spore) takes the host chair and interviews someone who inspired him in designing his first successful video game.  He is interviewing E. O. Wilson, biological evolution inheritor of Darwin’s mantle.  They talked about how games are important in education.  Wilson actually stated “Games are the future of education.” He said print textbooks will soon be left behind.  He envisioned being able to take students on virtual fieldtrips.  He mentioned how games were helping us to move away from wrong-minded teacher centered models that run counter to what has worked through human history and sociobiology. He said that the human brain is made to learn through participation, which was a pattern established in Paleolithic times.  He mentioned these virtual experiences created through gaming actually encourage kids to go out and have real experiences.  He mentioned his own experience as a child getting bitten by an ant at the age of 9.  He mentioned that he was able to spend a huge amount of his time in the fields that grew his knowledge and curiosity.

Tomorrow I will discuss the work being done at a New York School where gaming is the focus of education.  This school really echoes in reality what  E. O. Wilson imagined with his evolutionary and psychobiological expertise.

Wright, W. (Producer). (2009, September 1, 2009) E.O. Wilson And Will Wright: Ant Lovers Unite! Open Mic. retrieved from http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=112203095&m=112427309

History Education through Augmented Reality

The Civil War Augmented Reality Project is a great demonstration of what is capable when this technology is put in the hands of educators.  This team has taken what would normally be an uneventful field trip to a national park and made it leave for the visitors.  What would normally be a tour of empty battlefield once filled with action are now active scenes filled with activities that engage the students in play and transport them back in time almost.  Student in an environment are engaged physicall, emotionally and mentally.

The ability to achieve something like this is well within the grasp of this project team with the purchase of the needed equipment and money.  This concept could be widely applied to museums and similar parks.

References

Solon, D. (Producer). (2009, October 13, 2010) Civil War Augmented Reality Project. Twenty Minutes for Tech.

Seeing the World through New Eyes

The Augmented Reality Event 2010: "Seeing" - Keynote by Jesse Schell from Ori Inbar on Vimeo.


            On the hills of a very popular TED speech during his keynote at Augmented Reality Event, Jesse Schell reveals his remarkable insight into the concept and reality of Augmented Reality.  Jesse Schell likens AR to the wearing of glasses. Augmenting the reality around us and helping the wearer to enhance what he sees.  He talks about the shadow of what's possible and the likelihood of what will be, in terms of augmented reality.


             Take note of Jesse's take on vision and what's possible.  I believe, as Jesse does, that AR will fundamentally change how we deal with the huge amounts of information we've amassed and the social networks that are being made digitally available to us.  In this blog I will  seek to provide information and perspective on how we can use AR to better engage students and leverage the vast amount of information available to us.

References

Cadmus, J. (2010). Augmented Reality Event 2010 to Feature Qualcomm as Lead Sponsor. Business Wire.