http://www.edutopia.org/blog/video-game-model-unit-andrew-miller
The nine golden rules of using games in the language classroom I think you might want to download these activities so you can use them later… so here’s a handy PDF file of this blog post! I’ve long been an admirer of the use of games in teaching. Indeed, one of my most popular posts ever here on the Teach them English blog is the rather misleadingly titled ‘Why I don’t use games in the language classroom’ which, if you’ve got a spare ten minutes, gives you as good a background into the role of games in the language classroom as you’ll ever need (no need for me to be modest!).
Increase Student Engagement by Getting Rid of Textbooks Editor's Note: Today's guest blogger is Shelly Blake-Plock a high school classroom teacher from Maryland, who blogs at teachpaperless.com. Drool in the textbook. That's one of my most lasting impressions of high school. I can't tell you the number of times that I fell asleep -- face down in my textbook -- during various history and foreign language classes. 100 Awesome Classroom Videos to Learn New Teaching Techniques With so many good teachers out there, it’s fortunate they can share their knowledge via video on the Internet. From the funny to the poignant, these glimpses into the lives of teachers and their students will keep you entertained while learning a little something as well. Whether you are a new teacher storing up tips and tricks or an experienced teacher who could just use a fresh perspective, you are sure to find something helpful among these videos. The Basics Reading, storytelling, math, and science all get coverage with these videos that show how some Teaching Storytelling in the Classroom.
Games and Simulations Thrill of the Catch Description: learn about water quality, create custom fish, and go virtual... Spark Games, Simulations and Virtual Labs vs. Game Based Learning in Education As the debate and discussion for games and learning continue in the field of education, there needs to be some clarification in terminology. Educators and Advocates may think they are speaking the same language, but this is not certain. When I read the many blogs, articles, and resources on the subject, I see some lack of clarity, as well as oversimplification, when it comes to Gamification of Education and Game Based Learning. So let’s start with the terms: Gamification is the process of using game thinking and game mechanics to solve problems and engage users. Game based learning & Gamification Lots people want to get started with game based learning, gamification and serious games in their training. We’ve been curating game related content for over a year and a half while conducting our own research and case studies. Here are 100 articles related to games and learning. Some of them are research-based, while others just offer an interesting perspective to spark discussion. Take what you need and share this with a colleague. Game Based Learning Mobile Games for Adult Learning: What’s the Appeal?
Ten Steps to Better Student Engagement Tristan de Frondeville As a teacher, my goal was to go home at the end of each day with more energy than I had at the beginning of the day. Seriously. Now, as I travel the country coaching teachers on how to successfully use project learning, my goal remains the same. And I try to teach educators the strategies they need to achieve this goal in their own classrooms. A teacher in one of my workshops said, "When my students and I are in the flow, then I don't feel like I have to work as hard."
Getting to Know a Digital Textbook by Terence W. Cavanaugh When I switched to open source digital textbooks, I created a series of activities to help students better learn how to use the textbook in digital form. I added a textbook item to the course menu. Epic Guide To Game Based Learning Games are fun. We can use them to teach. It isn’t that hard. Game based learning excites learning in my classroom. It can ignite your classroom too. In this post, I’ll share what I’m doing in my classroom. Gamification: Defined for Educators “Gamification is the use of game thinking and game mechanics in non-game contexts to engage users in solving problems” -Zichermann“Gamification is a business strategy which applies game design techniques to non-game experiences to drive user behavior.” -Gamification.org“Gamification is the infusion of game design techniques, game mechanics, and/or game style into anything.” -Gamification Wiki All of the above definitions are valid. Gamification is a huge field of study which is growing every day.
Submrge Garry’s Mod A physics-based “sandbox” in which users can do almost anything, with a wide selection of assets (3D models, sounds, actions). Read More Spaceteam Allows multiple players using the same wifi to control a spaceship by executing various technical commands. Online video lessons flipping classrooms left and right In soothing tones, he explains everything from chemistry to credit default swaps, from algebra to economics, to about 2 million students a month, imparting roughly 200,000 lessons a day. And Salman Khan never loses his voice. As an educator, he's just now finding it, as the improbable creator of a free, Web-based video library whose pitch-perfect approach to bedeviling concepts has vaulted him into the education reform conversation — in Colorado and worldwide. "It's weird for me," says the 34-year-old Khan. "You don't expect people to recognize you, especially when you make math videos on YouTube." That task has expanded a bit since he first lashed together an online algebra lesson to help a cousin.
Games: Exploring the World in Your Class In the past several years, the National Endowment of the Humanities (NEH) has supported and funded digital games, including Mission US: City of Immigrants, a game about the immigrant experience. You play as Lena Brodsky, a Jewish immigrant in 1907 New York. It’s a great teaching tool: Students quickly realize how difficult it can be to assimilate to a new country. The game includes an Educator Guide with lesson plans and primary sources. I recently spoke with Marc Ruppel, senior program officer at the NEH. Ruppel’s vision of games in classrooms happens to align with my findings in field research: Games—particularly those in the humanities (social studies, English language arts)—can be the hub, or centerpiece, of learning in a classroom.
Alice.org Alice is an innovative 3D programming environment that makes it easy to create an animation for telling a story, playing an interactive game, or a video to share on the web. Alice is a freely available teaching tool designed to be a student's first exposure to object-oriented programming. It allows students to learn fundamental programming concepts in the context of creating animated movies and simple video games.