No need to leave connected learning to the imagination. Well, sort of – plenty is left to students' imaginations! Teacher Jacqui Murray in southern California spells out in a blog post exactly how she uses Minecraft for students to work on reading comprehension, writing and problem-solving. She agrees with New Jersey K-8 teacher Marianne Malmstrom on what makes Minecraft so great for learning: … [Read more...] about A teacher on what teaching in Minecraft looks like
games
Digital citizenship, the ‘lived curriculum’: Part 1
Have you ever heard of taking a cooking class that didn't include a kitchen or learning how to swim in a classroom not a pool? It can be helpful to watch instructional videos on YouTube, but mastery of anything usually requires practice with the tools and within the context of whatever a person wants to master. Especially digital citizenship. But students are being taught this "subject" largely in … [Read more...] about Digital citizenship, the ‘lived curriculum’: Part 1
Mobile learning & edugames taking off worldwide
Whether it's the chicken or the egg – the device or the edugames – fueling the growth isn't completely clear, but "tablets are proliferating everywhere across the planet," said Sam Adkins, head of research for market research firm Ambient Insight, at the Serious Play Conference in Redmond, Wash., last week. He was referring to mobile learning – especially on tablets, where school's concerned – and … [Read more...] about Mobile learning & edugames taking off worldwide
Apple’s settlement with parents
Interesting: On the one hand, I hear a Nickelodeon executive saying kids are hard-pressed to spend $10 in the Apple App Store, and on the other I read that Apple reached a settlement with an untold number of "parents who sued the company for making it too easy for kids to rack up charges by buying add-ons to games and other apps." That's according to the Washington Post. Parents won't be able to … [Read more...] about Apple’s settlement with parents
App developed by a 7-year-old at school
Talk about authentic learning! A first-grader not only gets to learn how to develop a cellphone app, she creates her own game, presents it a showcase event at a nearby university and then – when it's insinuated that maybe her older brother helped her – she reconfigures her code on the spot, demonstrating she's a master of the Bootstrap programming language. The 7-year-old in question (literally) … [Read more...] about App developed by a 7-year-old at school