Navta Associates

MovingLearningGamesForward, by Eric Klopfer, Scot Osterweil, and Katie Salen With contributions by Jason Haas, Jennifer Groff and Dan Roy, is one of the most useful reports about games in education that I’ve read in a long time.  This is an Education Arcade paper, from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The report intelligently answers questions regarding the use of video games in education, and provides numerous resources for continued investigation. “Educational games” are placed in rich context, including historical background and recommendations for implementation in the “classroom”. Very much a must-read for anyone even vaguely interested in this timely debate.

A few of the ideas/experiences that stand out as my attendance at NECC 2009 draws to an end:

- high energy level and enthusiasm at this conference–quite inspiring!
- at the same time, tech use in U.S. schools is woefully “behind the times”, and I am not convinced that meaningful change will take place before U.S. schools become irrelevant to the majority of students
- there was a relatively low number of educational gaming products demonstrated at NECC, probably commensurate with the low level of acceptance games have as classroom tools
- Interactive Whiteboards continue to dominate the hardware-scape. They are a useful tool, but I’d rather see the money spent on netbooks and a commitment to 1-1 computing
- teachers need to spend more time “walking the walk”. Sadly, I came across much more tech-illiteracy than anticipated.
- the sessions were incredibly useful, especially during the Q&A time. One of the major benefits to a gathering such as NECC is the chance to connect face-to-face. As much as I utilize social and professional networking online tools, often it is more efficient to conduct business in person.
- I became so involved in sessions, networking, gaming, and walking the show floor, that there was little time left for blogging and keeping up with my usual cast of online connections. Now it’s back to “the daily grind”!

This video shows how a group of kids have created a game that deals with a high-interest issue for them: bullying. Another example of how empowering students and giving them the right tools can lead to innovation.

J.P. Gee

This article written by J.P. Gee appeared in Innovate magazine in Aug/Sept of 2005. Even though some of the details are now a bit outdated, the general commentary is still valid, and could have been written much more recently. As fast as some technology seems to evolve, educational gaming seems to be taking its own sweet time. . . .
Read the article (pdf).