• Predatory Learning | Boston ReviewThat something, if not explicitly religious, is, fundamentally, spiritual and forward-looking—qualities that are in short supply in the many hundreds of American communities like Racine, where teachers, parents, and students are surrounded by decline. That motivation is rooted in a belief that almost all children and young adults can grow and develop. It builds new institutions, or reorganizes existing ones, around those core values. It places a high value on the direct public relationship—the back and forth, the interaction—between teachers and learners. And the dynamic of teaching and learning that occurs in those schools, at their best, is a kind of secular liturgy. We can’t buy this kind of motivation from the market. No tool or program can spark it. And the elites at the top of the current educational heap—who advanced their careers while the educational culture declined—have no clue. What else is new? The next wave of educational change will be imagined, shaped, tested, and carried forward by the same kinds of pragmatic leaders who built scores of new colleges on the prairie and planted a generation of high schools and then a generation of community colleges in every corner of our country. All nations need building—or rebuilding—including ours.tags: learning education moocs elearning predatory
• Video gamers really do see more: Gamers capture more information faster for visual decision-makingVideo Gamers Really Do See More: Gamers Capture More Information Faster for Visual Decision-Making June 11, 2013 — Hours spent at the video gaming console not only train a player’s hands to work the buttons on the controller, they probably also train the brain to make better and faster use of visual input, according to Duke University researchers.tags: video gamers information visual study
• 10 Tips For Creating a Blockbuster Biomedical Game – Bridgeable10 Tips For Creating a Blockbuster Biomedical Game biomedical, bridgeable, education, experience design, games, Healthcare By Bonnie Scott Facebook Twitter Games have become the go-to technology for creating engaging and educational experiences. They have popped up in schools, museums, and corporate and conference events. Within all these new contexts, how can biomedical game designers climb the leaderboard to design the best gaming experiences possible? Our client, a major pharmaceutical company, came to us with a daunting challenge: build a video game to teach attendees at an international psychiatry conference about the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. In case the complexity of the topic wasn’t enough, we also had the task of making the experience fun and engaging in an exhibit space filled with other elements competing for attention. Our solution was a series of short, interconnected games that take a new spin on both quiz- and action-style games. After seeing its success at the conference this May, we wanted to share ten tips that can help YOU design a blockbuster biomedical game.tags: biomedical bridgeable education experience design games Healthcare
• Quest for Oil – The first oil drilling computer game ever – MaerskWelcome to Quest for Oil! In a unique online gaming environment, Maersk takes you on a quest for one of today’s most indispensable resources – oil. You will go on a subsurface journey, exploring the underground and getting to the heart of the world’s vital and challenging business: the oil industry. Knowledge is power You test your wits against an artificially intelligent digital opponent dedicated to making you lose. Your ability to understand the key challenges of the oil industry is crucial: how to read earth layers, how to detect where to find oil reservoirs and how to know when you’re wasting your time. The analytical decisions you make will determine whether you win or lose. How well do you understand the industry? What is the importance of the seismic phase? How were the earth’s different layers formed? Which of these might yield oil? You will learn the answers to all these questions and then use this knowledge to beat the digital opponent who is constantly trying to beat you.tags: quest oil drilling serious game
• 7 financial terms every serious entrepreneur should know | VentureBeatThere are brilliant technologists and business leaders in today’s tech world, but while startups have their own, great talents, we’re seeing one common weakness: lack of understanding elementary financial concepts. This impacts long term financial strategy as well as ability to negotiate and set up basic cost structures within the company. Blame it on business school drop outs, or general lack of exposure to financial principles for building that great idea. It’s a growing trend and even professionals outside financial institutions working with startups have taken note. Angel Investor and chairman at HDI company, Mark Schwartz told us, “Most companies don’t have people that are finance savvy other than knowing what to put in a term sheet for an initial capital raise.” Startups forgo hiring a controller to manage the books and create financial reports because of “lean principles.” But even if you aren’t a finance major or don’t employ one, it is every chief executive’s responsibility to understand basic finance principles and how they can affect your business’ bottom line.tags: terms entrepreneur know startup
• The Little-Known Surprise That Improves Learning in Serious GamesErik Van der Spek conducted a study which was published within the British Journal of Educational Technology. Van der Spek and his peers at the University of Utrecht used a model of the game Half Life 2 to develop a training scenario. The most memorable films and books tend to be the ones that involve intricate plot twists and turns. The endings we remember are the most surprising ones, such as Bruce Willis’s character in The Sixth Sense discovering his own shocking identity, or Darth Vadar revealing that he is Luke’s father in The Empire Strikes Back. We like to be wrong footed by the unexpected in cinema and television.tags: surprise learning games stud y DGBL serious
• 27 Stunning Works Of Art You Won’t Believe Aren’t Photographs27 Stunning Works Of Art You Won’t Believe Aren’t Photographstags: works art photographs
• U OF O WATCH: The cross-examination of Professor Rancourt continues: Blog articles and student spy report introduced into evidenceU OF O WATCH This site is devoted to transparency at the University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada. UofOWatch exposes institutional behaviour that is not consistent with the public good.tags: professor bullying academic mobbibg
• Outdoor Time and Personality: Organic GardeningOutdoor Time Makes You a Better Person Studies show that even brief exposure to nature seems to make people more caring and community oriented. By Megan Othersen Gorman ||||| Printer-friendly version exercising in nature will do wonders for your personalityA little outdoor time may have positive effects on your personality, even if you’re not aware of it. Research published just this month in the journal Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin found that even the most minimal exposure to nature—even something as simple keeping houseplants around—makes us demonstrably more caring people.tags: nature outside rural life
• A Neurologist Makes the Case for the Video Game Model as a Learning Tool | EdutopiaThe popularity of video games is not the enemy of education, but rather a model for best teaching strategies. Games insert players at their achievable challenge level and reward player effort and practice with acknowledgement of incremental goal progress, not just final product. The fuel for this process is the pleasure experience related to the release of dopamine. Dopamine Motivation The human brain, much like that of most mammals, has hardwired physiological responses that had survival value at some point in evolutionary progression. The dopamine-reward system is fueled by the brain’s recognition of making a successful prediction, choice, or behavioral response. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that, when released in higher than usual amounts, goes beyond the synapse and flows to other regions of the brain producing a powerful pleasure response. This is a deep satisfaction, such as quenching a long thirst. After making a prediction, choice, or action, and receiving feedback that it was correct, the reward from the release of dopamine prompts the brain seek future opportunities to repeat the action. For animal survival, this promotes life or species-sustaining choices and behaviors, such as following a new scent that leads to a mate or a meal and remembering that scent the next time it is present.tags: video game model learning tool edutopia

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