Using Games In Education

Posted on November 7, 2011 by shughes


Can students learn by building their own video games? That idea is being investigated by Quest to Learn by viewing games as “learning spaces.” Students create games in teams where they can assume the roles of a writer or a director. One of the questions that is being investigated is, what makes games so engaging? And how can learning games be designed to be just as engaging?

Posted in Computer Games, Effective Teaching, Future of Learning, Video Games | Leave a comment

Science – Analyzing Angry Birds

Posted on October 22, 2011 by shughes

This is a screen capture video from the game Angry Birds, which almost everyone has played, seen, or at least heard of.

In this video, one of the blue birds turns into three birds after being launched into the air. A science teacher might ask their students if there is anything that seems wrong about this happening, leading to a discussion about the conservation of mass, energy, or momentum.

Would the use of this video be motivating for students? Effective as a teaching tool? There are more videos and more teaching ideas for using them on the Angry Birds link.

Posted in Art of Technology, Computer Games, Effective Teaching, Science, Video Games | Leave a comment

A Vision for 21st Century Learning

Posted on October 22, 2011 by shughes

The idea of using 3D video game technology to foster learning by motivating learners sounds great in theory. But I believe it will take a lot of resources, hard work, and crawling up a steep learning curve to make it happen. So far, we spend millions to develop game oriented video games, while spending almost nothing on learning oriented video games. This idea will only come to fruition if we push to allocate the dollars and manpower to make it a reality. Here’s hoping.

Posted in 3D, Art of Technology, Effective Teaching, Future of Learning | Leave a comment

Using Science Videos Effectively

Posted on June 4, 2011 by shughes


Turns out that students watching science videos may easily miss the point of the video due to their own strongly held misconceptions.  Including  these misconceptions in the video may help solve the problem.  Can teachers circumvent this dilemma by discussing these student preconceived notions during class before showing the movie? Much more can be found on the Veritasium link.

Posted in Effective Teaching, Science, Videos | 7 Comments