Tag Archives: games

Empow Studios brings technology, arts, and play together to help young learners discover and build on their creative talents. They teach classes in programming, robotics, video game design, animation, design, audio engineering and other creative skills for the 21st century at over 20 locations in Massachusetts. Many of the students enrolled in their summer programs are designing games that are eligible for submission into the 2016 National STEM Video Game Challenge. When 22-year-old Lynne Richman had her first taste of…

Steve Isaacs teaches video game design and development to middle school students in New Jersey, and has been recognized as an ISTE Outstanding Teacher this year. Here he shares his experience in developing a curriculum in game design at his school, and offers tips for educators interested in doing so at their own schools.   When I started teaching at William Annin Middle School (WAMS) in 1998, I offered an after school computer club that focused on Game Design and…

The synergy in Pittsburgh that extends across three rivers, regional institutions, learning spaces, and communities in support of local youth was in the spotlight during May 9-15, 2016. Remake Learning Days was a bold vision to bolster over 300 events that took place throughout Western Pennsylvania and West Virginia with a culminating family-friendly rally at PNC Park, home of the Pittsburgh Pirates. All week long, Pittsburgh partied. We learning party partied. School marching bands welcomed visitors to open houses, fab…

What do virtual reality innovators, the Pittsburgh Pirates, and Mr. Roger’s studio have in common? All three were part of an amazing weekend honoring the winners of the 4th annual National STEM Video Game Challenge! Ten students and their families celebrated their achievements this past weekend in Pittsburgh, PA, home of this year’s regional spotlight. The events aimed to show the winners how to channel their passions into purpose and how to use that purpose on a meaningful pathway to…

In an education setting, video games are often dismissed as mindless entertainment. This was the opposite in the National STEM Video Game Challenge Workshop hosted at the Science Museum of Virginia (SMV), where Barrie Adleberg and I helped students to critically think about the mechanics of a video game and apply them to their own passions. Students from all over Richmond filed into one of the Museum’s classrooms; they were clearly excited to find out what a video game design…

The Games for Change Festival (April 21-23 & 25), the largest gaming event in New York City, celebrates the positive power of games, again as part of the Tribeca Film Festival. From the most successful mobile games to cutting-edge virtual reality projects, this year brings the best Festival line-up yet. Beyond Games Nicholas Kristof, NY Times columnist, Pulitzer Prize winner, author of A Path Appears Sheryl WuDunn, Pulitzer Prize winner, author of A Path Appears Morgan Spurlock, Acclaimed Filmmaker, Super…

Part 11 of MindShift’s Guide to Games and Learning. Teachers have found many different ways of using digital games in the classroom. But what kind of games are these students playing? And how are teachers incorporating them in the classroom? Last year’s report from the Joan Ganz Cooney Center, “Games For A Digital Age,” made the distinction between “short-form” and “long-form” learning games. Short-form games are designed to be played during a single class period. “They focus on a particular…

Games in Education is a multi-day symposium which focuses on the topic of using video games to supplement and inspire in-classroom education. Participants span early childhood through post secondary educators in New York’s Capital District and surrounding regions who are interested in finding ways to use video games and related technology to enrich and inspire interest by students in core curriculum topics. The symposium has run annually since 2007 and is free for educators to attend. For more information, visit…

Part 5 of MindShift’s Guide to Games and Learning. Nobody likes high-stakes testing. The problems are well documented. But maybe games can help to change the way we approach assessment. At least since John Dewey, educational theorists and scholars have been clear about the inherent shortcomings of thinking about education in terms of standardized, quantifiable outcomes. In order for instructional strategies to be successful at a large scale, they need to take individual differences under consideration. Not all students are…

  The photo above was taken last night at NYU’s Skirball Center at the 11th Annual Games for Change Festival Awards Ceremony as these fourteen young people from all over the country were being honored for their achievements as winners of the 2013 National STEM Video Game Challenge. Gaming has touched the current generation of learners in a new way. The 2013 National STEM Video Game Design Challenge challenged enthusiastic students around the country to look under the hood of…