SimCityEDU | Create & Share SimCity Learning Tools The Radix Endeavor Digital Games Transforming K-12 Assessment and Learning Many teachers are searching for new ways to engage their digital-native students. They are looking for, write researchers at Florida State, “alternative ways of teaching – ways that increase student engagement and yield a rich, authentic picture of the learner(s).” These researchers say more educators should take a look at the latest in digital games. Games that are designed not only to teach, but to help educators assess learning as it’s happening. GlassLab, a new nonprofit educational game design initiative, has just released its first game— SimCityEdu—based on the popular Simcity brand and called SimCityEDU: Pollution Challenge! The Games, Learning, and Assessment Lab, or GlassLab is a unique partnership between the nonprofit Institute of Play (known for their Quest to Learn schools), the game-design firm Electronic Arts, and others. “One of the things that we all get frustrated with is that kids get assessed in the spring and they get that data and feedback back in the fall.
Stencyl Build Worlds If you're used to graphics editors like Photoshop, you'll feel right at home in the Scene Designer. Familiar features, such as a selection tool, zooming, grid-snapping and flood fill, will help you quickly craft complex worlds out of Actors, Tiles and Terrain. Create Actors Drop in graphics from your computer to create Actors on the fly. Then use Stencyl's Actor Editor to tweak your Actors' appearances, behaviors and physical properties, and to get them ready for showtime. Browse Game Assets When it comes to game development, most of us aren't Jacks of all trades.
34 Smart Ideas For Using Smartphones In The Classroom 34 Smart Ideas For Using Smartphones In The Classroom 34 Ways Ideas For Smartphones In The Classroom By Category by John Hardison first appeared on gettingsmart.com In continuation of last week’s article, Part 1: 44 Better Ways to Use Smartphones in Class, here is a new list of thirty-six additional ideas to help leverage the power of these tech gadgets in the learning environment. In this blog post, I have attempted to avoid any redundancies. 34 Smart Ideas For Using Smartphones In The Classroom To Collaborate 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. To Communicate 6. This method encourages educators to abandon the time-consuming and inefficient task of periodically calculating the data. 7. 8. To Create 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. To Curate/Coordinate 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. Still not convinced? Image attribution flickr user davelawler
What is 3D GameLab? - 3D GameLab | 3D GameLab 3D GameLab™ is a gamified content creation and student tracking platform where teachers can design and share quests and badges to create personalized learning for their students. Students “level up” through the curriculum, choose quests they want to play, and earn experience points, badges, and awards. Quests can be aligned to standards, including Common Core and NGSS, for real-time achievement reporting. Class is literally turned into a game, providing the opportunity for true mastery learning. Teacher Camp Badges 3D GameLab® is also an educator learning community where we connect in the guild site, and at online and synchronous events during teacher camp, experiencing and creating engaging quest-based learning. The Power of Quest-Based Learning™ Using 3DGL’s game mechanics, teachers learn to design, aggregate and track non-linear learning activities and pathways across multiple platforms and experiences, whether virtual, classroom-based or during informal learning events.
6 Great Note-Taking Tools for Students and Teachers One of the best things about education technology is that it has allowed students and teachers alike to turn to online annotation and records, making hastily scrawled, illegible scribbles and coffee-stained pages a thing of the past. From university students keeping track of lectures to young students making plans and mind maps, there is an online note-taking tool to suit everyone… 1. Study Blue A great site that allows students to create online flash cards, study guides and quizzes. 2. A brilliantly simple online interactive whiteboard, Scriblink allows notes to be shared as they’re created. 3. Perfect for individual students, Penzu is the online version of the old-fashioned notebook or journal in which you build up your body of lecture or class notes. 4. Pretty much does what it says on the tin! 5. inFocus.cc lets you highlight any section of a live webpage and generate a shareable URL. 6. Do you know any great note-taking tools? Images courtesy of Flickr.
Minecraft Modding Classes - ThoughtSTEM Beneath the world of Minecraft is an equally fascinating world of hardware and software -- built upon 150 years of computer science history. This class introduces students to this new world by exploring client/server architectures, network security, operating systems, and computer programming. To explore this world, students will be guided in setting up Minecraft servers and building Minecraft mods – while also being taught key computer science principles. The class is taught in a project-based style – with minimal lectures – making it both fun and educational. A talk by ThoughtSTEM's CEO. Classmint.com - Online Cornell Notes, Flashcards and Study Groups
Gamestar Mechanic The Hat - Random Name Generator Current version: 3.0.9.0License: Freeware "I'm first!" "No I'm first!""No, I called it!" "Well I'm second!"" Sound familiar? The Hat is a simple but handy little utility that offers a fun and easy way to automatically determine a random order from a list of any amount of names. Note: The Hat is completely free but comes bundled with optional partner offers during installation. Recent changes:Key FeaturesGreat for Parents! Just like pulling names from a hat to determine a random order for a group of people, The Hat generates a random order from a list of any number of names. Names can be entered in several different way. The list of names can be optionally be remembered between sessions so that the next time you open the program, the same list of names is already entered. Great for raffles and sweepstakes! The Hat also allows you to pick individual names one at a time. Great for teachers to assign partners or split classes into random groups! Click here to download your free copy today.