Space 242 Secret Location Combines Gaming, Interactivity, and Telephony With Mysterious Film "The Sevens" When visiting the website of a creative company, the expectation is to find some contact information and selections of work and/or a demonstration of just how desperately social-media-savvy the proprietors are. When you visit the site of Secret Location and a phone starts ringing, however, you know something altogether different is going on. Clicking on the persistently ringing phone initiates a multi-layered narrative experience that seamless combines short film, interactivity, and gaming. Dubbed The Sevens, the experience is the centerpiece of Toronto-based interactive agency Secret Location’s relaunched website and is designed to surprise and entertain while showcasing the extent of the company’s skills. The Sevens begins and ends with a phone call and contains three puzzles for viewers to solve. James Milward, Secret Location founder and executive producer, says that the idea for The Sevens was born four years ago in the company’s first portfolio site.
Hasty Pudding How to Choose Learning Games That Don't Bore Kids Student voices shape the way we rate and review on Graphite. Common Sense Media intern Sophia Dalal recently interviewed her 14-year-old brother, Kavi, about what makes a game great for learning. She also ran focus groups with more than 20 teens to understand how they evaluate learning games. Q. Kavi, 9th grade: There are textbooks that try to teach you things like history or algebra just with the facts. Maya, 7th grade: It's important to have a balance between learning elements and how fun a game is. Joby, 8th grade: You need to have some influence over what happens in a game. Q. Kavi: What's really engaging for me is the story. Tess, 8th grade: Creativity is what I love in games because I like to make things. Katherine, 8th grade: I think humor makes games really engaging. Q. Lionel, 8th grade: Competition is important. Joby: The goal of a game should change over time. Steven, 8th grade: I like a game that's not going in a predictable sequence. Q. Kavi: Beauty is really important.
BCAE Games: A Textbook for Digital Best Practices shared from The Huffington Post by Michael Levine | Written with Alan Gershenfeld, Founder and President of E-Line Media The White House recently announced two major initiatives in learning and technology -- these "digital seed capital" efforts are "down-payments" to jumpstart innovation and break a two decade long cycle of snail-like reform. There is an important link between these two developments: in the migration from paper-based 20th century textbooks to 21st century digital "textbooks" there is a great deal the education sector can learn from the game industry. Education leaders can look to lessons of other key industries -- a list as diverse as music, health care and politics -- for guideposts on navigating the transition to digital, network-based solutions. The game industry certainly understands how to engage youth with digital media. The Literacy Challenge -- Foundational literacy skills such as reading are completely stagnant among low-income and minority students. Michael H.
Cambridge Forum 'Cult' Hero Mike Daisey