Last spring I had the privilege and fun of spending a whole class period with middle school students talking about their favorite uses of technology. Of course there were about as many preferences as there were students, so I'll just zoom in on one student whose interest I felt best illustrated how very individual and diverse digital tech use is. He loves shoes. I can't remember the brands, but … [Read more...] about Unboxing learning
gaming
The power of online community at a sad time
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's tribute to Sean Smith – dad, online gamer, and Benghazi-based State Department computer expert – was "nothing compared to the memorials that were offered up by many of the 400,000 paying subscribers" of the space fantasy game EVE Online," Tri-CityHerald.com reports. It said the memorials "flooded social media and gaming [discussion] boards [and] many gamers … [Read more...] about The power of online community at a sad time
Virtual, tangible, interactive & mobile ‘toys’
Remember Pokemon cards? My kids were crazy about them when they were little, and I didn't mind supporting that passion because the cards were part of what seemed like a whole field of child anthropology. At a very young age, kids were learning about the traits, customs, physical abilities, relations, culture, etc. of an imaginary species – and sharing that knowledge in collaboratively designed … [Read more...] about Virtual, tangible, interactive & mobile ‘toys’
What Net safety can learn from digital game design
Internet-safety experts should talk with game designers. Last week was for me a three-day-long, powerful confirmation that we need to de-silo the public discussion about young people's well-being online and offline. I attended the GLS (for Games+Learning+Society) conference at the University of Wisconsin and absorbed a lot of wisdom about learning in digital games and worlds. One key lesson … [Read more...] about What Net safety can learn from digital game design
SxSW, Part 2: Rheingold & Salen on how to play with social media
In addition to the panel mentioned in my previous post about Hope North and the one I participated in, "Reaching Teens on the Digital Streets," here – in Part 2 – are some takeaways from featured speakers at South by Southwest (SxSW) last week (Part 1 is here): * From Howard Rheingold, help in making social media work for you Social media is overwhelming to a lot of us parents and educators. … [Read more...] about SxSW, Part 2: Rheingold & Salen on how to play with social media