Podcast Series: Innovations in Education

Explore the full series of eSchool News podcasts hosted by Kevin Hogan—created to keep you on the cutting edge of innovations in education.

Using games to measure student skills

Game-based learning has broad implications for assessing student skills, researchers say

game-gamificationGame-based learning is one of the most popular trends in education today, and for good reason–a well-designed game engages students, boosts their interest in the topic it addresses, and immerses students in an educational and challenge-driven environment in an almost seamless manner.

But this is just scratching the surface. Many researchers and educators say games have a positive impact on student learning and that they help students develop skills such as problem solving, critical thinking, and collaboration.

What if game-based learning could help educators measure skills such as these–skills that aren’t always measured by traditional assessments?…Read More

How can developers make meaningful learning games for classrooms?

Though many educators are excited about game-based learning, the movement is still very much in a state of transition, Mind/Shift reports. Commercial game developers have quickly discovered it’s easier and quicker to develop mobile apps aimed at parent consumers than it is to create an easy-to-use yet robust product to make a meaningful impact on classroom learning. Meanwhile, the education sector is focusing on how to use assessments with games, because although test scores certainly don’t paint the whole picture, they remain the main data point for administrators and policymakers assessing schools and teachers. As game developers look at a complicated education marketplace studded with persistent challenges, a few guidelines have begun to emerge to help make it easier for teachers to use and see value in educational games…

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Top 10 ed-tech stories of 2013, No. 7: Gaming

eSchool News counts down the ten most significant developments in educational technology during the past year. No. 7 touches on gaming’s place in the classroom.

gaming-Top10In school systems from coast to coast, tech-savvy educators experimented with augmented reality, educational gaming, and other techniques designed to enhance teaching and learning.

These are only some of the key ed-tech developments affecting K-12 schools in the past year—and we’ve got a full recap for you.

Here, the editors of eSchool News highlight what we think are the 10 most significant ed-tech stories of 2013.…Read More

More educators turning to educational gaming

Engaging forms of educational gaming offer real-time data, individualized learning opportunities

ed-gamingEducational gaming has been present in classrooms and schools for more than a few years, but is gaining more recognition as school leaders search for ways to engage students and gather data that offers meaningful insight on student learning.

Educators often have different definitions for educational gaming, ranging from a gaming-focused educational software to an immersive, multi-player environment. And while gaming isn’t the only way educators can reach students and tailor instruction accordingly, it can be an engaging and unique option for school leaders to explore, some experts say.

“Educational gaming is good for most kids, for some things, some of the time,” said Dan White, CEO at Filament Games. “It’s not going to be a silver bullet, but [can be beneficial] used in conjunction with other things.”…Read More

Gaming with a purpose – financial literacy

Okay, so one thing is clear: Youth are hooked on technology. Computers, smartphones, tablets, social media, video games… the list goes on, the Huffington Post reports. Mostly this connection is talked about with concern. ‘Should our children be spending so much time…?’ or ‘How does technology affect our youngsters?’. And this concern is of course something that always should be taken into account for this subject. We also want to raise a question from another angle: ‘Could youth’s hook on technology be used for a purpose?’ One of the goals of the Child and Youth Finance Movement is to ensure financial, social, and livelihood education for 100 million children and young people in 100 countries by 2015. And why do we want to do this, you might ask? Well, although the trend of education has been very positive (Girls and boys in developing countries are enrolling in secondary school in greater numbers than ever before), less than 1% of the worlds 2.2 billion children have access to financial education…

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Learning grammar with a joystick and math with a mouse

When his young daughter was learning to read, Michael John, Game Director at the Games, Learning and Assessment (Glass) Lab—and known to friends and colleagues as MJ—met with her teacher, according to Impatient Optimists, the blog of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The teacher explained a concept called “scaffolding,” in which she would push each student a little bit with a new reading challenge, allow her to cement new concepts, and push her again. To John, this was more than familiar – it was exactly what he did for video game players every day as a game designer for Electronic Arts. MJ was astonished to find how easily techniques in the classroom translated to techniques in game design…

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ISTE keynote: Gaming has huge educational potential

Opening keynoter Jane McGonigal addressed gaming’s educational potential.

Gaming–educational gaming in particular–has supporters and skeptics. During the ISTE 2013 opening keynote, speaker Jane McGonigal, a gaming researcher and author of Reality is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World, laid out a vision for how gaming can help boost student engagement.

Calling game designers “happiness engineers” and experts in making difficult tasks engaging, McGonigal said that educators and policy makers should leverage game designers’ wisdom as they try to address important challenges in today’s world.

The number of gamers worldwide recently topped 1 billion, McGonigal said, and while skeptics might “think about games as being a waste of time, to avoid being a productive member of society, 1 billion gamers is actually the best news you’ll hear all week—it’s good news for parents and teachers, for learning and education, and good news, most of all, for anyone who wants to help pitch in and solve some of the world’s most epic challenges.”…Read More