Tag Archives: video games

In the part two of a roundtable discussion on teaching with games, Sandhya Nankani talks to Paul Darvarsi and Aleksander Husoy about what teachers look for in learning games and explore some of the qualities that make the teaching games successful. See part 1 here. Teachers on games for learning   Sandhya: A recent study found that 91 percent of children in the United States ages 2-17 play video games! What an opportunity they present as a tool for learning, right? It makes sense, therefore, that…

I recently met Paul Darvasi and Aleksander Husøy at the annual UNESCO Forum on Global Citizenship Education in Ottawa, where we were on a panel hosted by the Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development. The subject of our panel was a debate on the topic, “Innovative pedagogies for ESD and Global Citizenship Education: Is game-based learning the future?” Both Paul and Aleks use games in the classroom often when they’re teaching and I’ve been creating them for the past nine years, so frankly, there wasn’t all that much debate…

When I was a kid, one of my favorite parts of the week was the recurring Friday night game session at my house. It usually consisted of my dad stoking the fire, my sister watching TV, and my mom and me embroiled in a fierce competition of Chinese Checkers or Othello. There may have been times I fumed while resetting the board pieces (I was not a good loser), but I always enjoyed those game nights and still hold onto those…

The newest Digital Games and Family Life infographic from the Joan Ganz Cooney Center puts “Mario” in big navy blue letters. It seems Nintendo’s classic is the video game franchise that parents are most likely to enjoy playing just as much as their kids do. I’m not surprised. My children (two boys, 9- and 11-years-old) and I have been enjoying the new NES Classic ever since Nintendo sent us a review unit in early November. The retro all-in-one mini-console delivers an…

On November 14, 2016, the National STEM Video Game Challenge celebrated its fifth year with an awards ceremony and reception in Washington, DC at National Geographic for all 24 student winners and their families, as well as leading educators, game designers, and policy makers from across the country. I’ve been involved with the STEM Challenge for the past three years, and was humbled by the winning games’ quality, the caliber of the speakers the students met, and the excitement that…

The Joan Ganz Cooney Center’s newest Digital Games and Family Life infographic looks at the game genres and titles that kids and their families play. Not surprisingly, there seems to be a generational gap. There is also a curious gender distinction. When it comes to age, puzzle/strategy games, first person shooters and role-playing games have universal appeal. They seem to be equally popular among parents and their children. I’d like to imagine that it is because families are playing Halo…

As part of our Families and Media Project, the Joan Ganz Cooney Center conducted a survey of nearly 700 parents whose 4-13-year old children play video games. We are pleased to present this data as a series of infographics, each featuring a particular facet of video games and family life. Here, we explore the genres and titles of digital games played by children and their parents. Stay tuned for more installments of this series over the next few months. Learn more about the…

Once a novelty restricted to arcades, video games have become a deeply embedded part of our lives. As digital game platforms have become increasingly more affordable and more accessible over the past forty years, it has become clear that games aren’t just fun to play, but can motivate people of all ages to learn more deeply and to improve productivity. As part of our Families and Media Project, the Joan Ganz Cooney Center conducted a survey of nearly 700 parents…

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…

When Derek Lomas learned that 50% of 8th grade students in the United States can’t put a series of fractions in order from least to greatest—a skill that’s generally taught to students in 4th and 5th grade—he knew that something needed to be done. “Fractions are often the mathematical sticking point for kids because it’s the area where math truly gets hard for the first time,” Derek explains. “Without a firm grasp of fractions, students have a hard time learning…