It being summertime here in the global North, there may be a little extra videogame play going on in households with kids. So it may be helpful for parents to know about a mother lode of the latest wisdom on videogames' effects on kids' learning, social development and futures. It's MindShift's "Guide to Games & Learning," and here are a few nuggets: Gaming fuels motivation "We want our … [Read more...] about Breadth of videogames’ benefits to kids may surprise
videogames
Toward student-centered learning: Delete fear, add agency
"School," said University of Maryland student and game designer Erik Martin in a TEDx talk last fall, "operates counter to the interests of children. In school, we're not really taught to overcome a challenge; we're taught to fear the prospect of failure…. How on earth can you innovate in a system that fears failure so much?... Our education method … doesn't create resilient, inspired … [Read more...] about Toward student-centered learning: Delete fear, add agency
For digital summer camp, kid-source a game (or play this one!)
One year ago this month, its 3rd-through-6th grader designers launched the fifth and final iteration of Escape to Morrow, an open source digital game they designed in Minecraft for Minecraft players. The five iterations – including writing and rewriting backstories, creating maps, finding mods (Minecraft modifications out on the Web) and producing the trailer – took a year of work in summer camp, … [Read more...] about For digital summer camp, kid-source a game (or play this one!)
The videogame discourse: Default to open-mindedness!
My heart sinks when I see uncritical thinking in commentaries from Internet safety advocates about the media young people love – thinking that defaults (and contributes to a society-level default) to fear that new media's harmful and young users are either potential victims or up to no good. Take videogames, for example. We know that… "Videogame play is pervasive throughout our society," as … [Read more...] about The videogame discourse: Default to open-mindedness!
Students called heroes in this 6th-grade class
If your child is seriously into videogames – and Pew Internet research has found that 97% of US 12-to-17-year-olds are – it may help to read about New York teacher Peggy Sheehy's heroes, also known as students. The middle school humanities teacher calls them heroes because she co-created the WoW in School curriculum "A Hero's Journey" (WoW is short for the multiplayer online game World of … [Read more...] about Students called heroes in this 6th-grade class