gaming-TED

7 TED Talks about gaming’s potential


These TED Talks highlight promising and inspiring concepts, including gaming in education

gaming-TEDEvery educator needs some inspiration now and then, and these days, such inspiration can be found online in just a few seconds.

The internet brings inspiring and motivational speakers and experts to anyone with a connection and an internet-ready device.

TED Talks are some of today’s most popular examples of the internet’s power to expand learning opportunities to all.

Each month, we’ll bring you a handful of inspiring TED Talks. Some will focus specifically on education; others will highlight innovative practices that have long-lasting impact. But all will inspire and motivate educators and students alike.

Did you miss our most recent TED Talks features? You can find them here.

(Next page: 7 TED Talks about gaming)

1. Gaming can make a better world
Games like World of Warcraft give players the means to save worlds, and incentive to learn the habits of heroes. What if we could harness this gamer power to solve real-world problems? Jane McGonigal says we can, and explains how.

2. Gaming to re-engage boys in learning
In her talk, Ali Carr-Chellman pinpoints three reasons boys are tuning out of school in droves, and lays out her bold plan to re-engage them: bringing their culture into the classroom, with new rules that let boys be boys, and video games that teach as well as entertain.

3. Your brain on video games
How do fast-paced video games affect the brain? Step into the lab with cognitive researcher Daphne Bavelier to hear surprising news about how video games, even action-packed shooter games, can help us learn, focus and, fascinatingly, multitask. (Filmed at TEDxCHUV.)

4. Massively multi-player…thumb wrestling?
What happens when you get an entire audience to stand up and connect with one another? Chaos, that’s what. At least, that’s what happened when Jane McGonigal tried to teach TED to play her favorite game. Then again, when the game is “massively multiplayer thumb-wrestling,” what else would you expect?

5. How games make kids smarter
Can playing video games make you more productive? Gabe Zichermann shows how games are making kids better problem-solvers, and will make us better at everything from driving to multi-tasking. (Filmed at TEDxKids@Brussels.)

6. 7 ways games reward the brain
We’re bringing gameplay into more aspects of our lives, spending countless hours — and real money — exploring virtual worlds for imaginary treasures. Why? As Tom Chatfield shows, games are perfectly tuned to dole out rewards that engage the brain and keep us questing for more.

7. The game layer on top of the world
By now, we’re used to letting Facebook and Twitter capture our social lives on the web — building a “social layer” on top of the real world. In his talk, Seth Priebatsch looks at the next layer in progress: the “game layer,” a pervasive net of behavior-steering game dynamics that will reshape education and commerce. (Filmed at TEDxBoston.)

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Laura Ascione

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