gaming

Teachers Teaching Teachers #219 -Gaming to learn about the business of the environment - 9.22.10

More gaming, more environment on this episode of Teachers Teaching Teachers.

We invited Andy Rosenbloom (plus a teacher from New Jersey who has used Spill! in his classroom last Spring) and Tim Baker back onto the show to continue our conversations about gaming and the environment that started this summer with A Real Team Challenge: Spill! TTT 211 - 07.28.10.  This summer Andy Rosenbloom, Program Director for the Virtual Team Challenge: Spill! invited us to join Spill!:

Even though you’re busy this summer with countless poolside BBQs, it’s never too early to plan ahead for Fall semester curriculum.The Virtual Team Challenge is an entirely FREE online, multiplayer business simulation that takes place in the animated 3D world of New City. The team objective in the simulation is to help the mayor stage the most efficient oil spill recovery effort. Top-performing teams are eligible for prizes for themselves, their teachers, and local charities! Virtual Team Challenge will run this Fall from October 12 – November 24. See our article in The New York Times to read about one NJ teacher’s success with the program. Virtual Team Challenge comes complete with lesson plans and in-class exercises which form a curriculum that highlights general business acumen, business ethics, negotiation skills, decision-making processes and accounting while placing a special emphasis on important life/career skills such as teamwork, communication, professionalism and research methods.

We were also joined by Tim Baker, a graduate student who Susan Ettenheim met this summer at a Scratch workshop at MIT. (Listen to: Lots of overlapping pieces: Laura Fay and Tim Baker on using Scratch in middle school - TTT #215 - 08.25.10) Tim Baker came to MIT from Orono, Maine with his project Sim Stream. University of Maine Undergraduate researchers are developing a grades 6-8 virtual, educational system that poses environmental issues for students to explore in their own ecological system, drawing from diverse areas of study. By learning to use scientific observations, analyze data, and draw inferences in formulating decisions and policies, students develop an appreciation and understanding for natural resources, human-non-human inter-dependencies and the need for civic responsibility.

We invite you to join this ongoing conversation by listening to this podcast.

More gaming, more environment on this episode of Teachers Teaching Teachers.

We invited Andy Rosenbloom (plus a teacher from New Jersey who has used Spill! in his classroom last Spring) and Tim Baker back onto the show to continue our conversations about gaming and the environment that started this summer with A Real Team Challenge: Spill! TTT 211 - 07.28.10.  This summer Andy Rosenbloom, Program Director for the Virtual Team Challenge: Spill! invited us to join Spill!:

Even though you’re busy this summer with countless poolside BBQs, it’s never too early to plan ahead for Fall semester curriculum. The Virtual Team Challenge is an entirely FREE online, multiplayer business simulation that takes place in the animated 3D world of New City. The team objective in the simulation is to help the mayor stage the most efficient oil spill recovery effort. Top-performing teams are eligible for prizes for themselves, their teachers, and local charities! Virtual Team Challenge will run this Fall from October 12 – November 24. See our article in The New York Times to read about one NJ teacher’s success with the program. Virtual Team Challenge comes complete with lesson plans and in-class exercises which form a curriculum that highlights general business acumen, business ethics, negotiation skills, decision-making processes and accounting while placing a special emphasis on important life/career skills such as teamwork, communication, professionalism and research methods.

We were also joined by Tim Baker, a graduate student who Susan Ettenheim met this summer at a Scratch workshop at MIT. (Listen to: Lots of overlapping pieces: Laura Fay and Tim Baker on using Scratch in middle school - TTT #215 - 08.25.10) Tim Baker came to MIT from Orono, Maine with his project Sim Stream. University of Maine Undergraduate researchers are developing a grades 6-8 virtual, educational system that poses environmental issues for students to explore in their own ecological system, drawing from diverse areas of study. By learning to use scientific observations, analyze data, and draw inferences in formulating decisions and policies, students develop an appreciation and understanding for natural resources, human-non-human inter-dependencies and the need for civic responsibility.

We invite you to join this ongoing conversation by listening to this podcast.

Click Read more to see a copy of the chat that was happening during the webcast.

Teachers Teaching Teachers #217 Low floors, high ceilings, wide walls: Using Scratch and learning about the BP Oil Spill 9.08.10

More about Scratch! More about gaming. More about social networking. Youth Voices. Voices on the Gulf. And we invited a couple of students too!

This was our fall semester kick off.

On this episode, you'll hear:

  • Paul Allison, Susan Ettenheim, and Chris Sloan
  • Stacey Ferguson, 5th grade teacher in Bay Saint Louis, Mississippi
  • Rafi Santos, a graduate student at Indiana university
  • Michael, a senior at Chris Sloan's school, Judge Memorial High School
  • Laura Fay, 8th grade reading and Scratch teacher at Fisher Middle School in Ewing, New Jersey
  • Tim Kong, a teacher who uses Scratch with his 10-year olds in New Zealand
  • Kylie Peppler, an Assistant Professor in the Learning Sciences Program at Indiana University, Bloomington.

More about Scratch! More about gaming. More about social networking. Youth Voices. Voices on the Gulf. And we invited a couple of students too!

This was our fall semester kick off.

On this episode, you'll hear:

  • Paul Allison, Susan Ettenheim, and Chris Sloan
  • Stacey Ferguson, 5th grade teacher in Bay Saint Louis, Mississippi
  • Rafi Santos, graduate student at Indiana University
  • Michael, a senior at Chris Sloan's school, Judge Memorial High School
  • Laura Fay, 8th grade reading and Scratch teacher at Fisher Middle School in Ewing, New Jersey
  • Tim Kong, a teacher who uses Scratch with his 10-year olds in New Zealand
  • Kylie Peppler, an Assistant Professor in the Learning Sciences Program at Indiana University, Bloomington.


Kylie Peppler is an Assistant Professor in the Learning Sciences Program at Indiana University, Bloomington. As an artist by training, Peppler engages in research that focuses on the intersection of the the arts, media, and new technologies. A Dissertation-Year Fellowship from the Spencer Foundation as well as a UC Presidential Postdoctoral Fellowship supported her early work in these areas. Peppler has published numerous journal articles that will or have appeared in E-Learning, Learning, Media and Technology, Teachers College Record, and The Cambridge Journal of Education on the arts, new media, and learning. She also has a recent book titled, The Computer Clubhouse: Constructionism and Creativity in Youth Communities (Teachers College Press, 2009). Peppler is currently a co-PI on two National Science Foundation funded studies on creativity in youth communities as well as a PI on a grant to study the development of systems thinking dispositions through the design of digital arts projects funded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

Click Read more to see a copy of the chat that was happening during the webcast.

Teachers Teaching Teachers #211 - A Real Team Challenge: Spill! 07.28.10

This summer, we could feel the energy growing around teachers building curriculum about the BP oil spill. This episode of Teachers Teaching Teachers one example. This conversation is part of our ongoing series of podcasts focused on collecting stories, ideas, curriculum, connections, and resources that will help us teach about the Gulf oil spill this fall. Our guests include:

  • Teachers from the Gulf join us as well. Even though on this show we feature teachers and resources from "elsewhere," it is always a welcomed moment when we can hear from our new friends from along the Gulf Coast.
  • Oh, if you listen to the end, you'll catch Bill Fitzgerald who had just put up Voices on the Gulf hours before this webcast.

If you haven't joined us at Voices on the Gulf and at Youth Voices, please consider joining now. These are the best ways for keeping up with the work of this community of teachers represented on this podcast this fall.

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This summer, we could feel the energy growing around teachers building curriculum about the BP oil spill. This episode of Teachers Teaching Teachers one example. This conversation is part of our ongoing series of podcasts focused on collecting stories, ideas, curriculum, connections, and resources that will help us teach about the Gulf oil spill this fall. Our guests include:

Even though you’re busy this summer with countless poolside BBQs, it’s never too early to plan ahead for Fall semester curriculum.The Virtual Team Challenge is an entirely FREE online, multiplayer business simulation that takes place in the animated 3D world of New City. The team objective in the simulation is to help the mayor stage the most efficient oil spill recovery effort. Top-performing teams are eligible for prizes for themselves, their teachers, and local charities! Virtual Team Challenge will run this Fall from October 12 – November 24. See our article in The New York Times to read about one NJ teacher’s success with the program. Virtual Team Challenge comes complete with lesson plans and in-class exercises which form a curriculum that highlights general business acumen, business ethics, negotiation skills, decision-making processes and accounting while placing a special emphasis on important life/career skills such as teamwork, communication, professionalism and research methods. Register now at www.virtualteamchallenge.com.

  • Teachers from the Gulf join us as well. Even though on this show we feature teachers and resources from "elsewhere," it is always a welcomed moment when we can hear from our new friends from along the Gulf Coast.
  • Oh, if you listen to the end, you'll catch Bill Fitzgerald who had just put up Voices on the Gulf hours before this webcast.

If you haven't joined us at Voices on the Gulf and at Youth Voices, please consider joining now. These are the best ways for keeping up with the work of this community of teachers represented on this podcast this fall.

Click Read more to see a copy of the chat that was happening during the webcast.

Teachers Teaching Teachers #202- The 3R's of Gaming: Playing, Modding, and Designing - 05.26.10

On this episode of Teachers Teaching Teachers, we learned more about playing, modifying, and designing games. 

One of our guests was Scott Price, a game developer or producer at Gamestar Mechanic. A few of us in the New York City Writing Project, especially Susan Ettenheim and Shantanu Saha — both of whom are on this podcast — have been using a beta version of Gamestar Mechanic this spring with their students.

On this episode of TTT, we were also priviledged to have a 6 grade teacher who has been using Gamestar Mechanic as well as other gaming platforms extensively with his students, Al Doyle.

Al is the “Sports for the Mind” domain teacher at Quest 2 Learn, a new public school in New York City “where students learn to see the world as composed of many different kinds of systems. It is a place to play, invent, grow, and explore.”

On this episode of Teachers Teaching Teachers, we learned more about playing, modifying, and designing games. press-villagevoice.png

One of our guests was Scott Price, a game developer or producer at Gamestar Mechanic. A few of us in the New York City Writing Project, especially Susan Ettenheim and Shantanu Saha — both of whom are on this podcast — have been using a beta version of Gamestar Mechanic this spring with their students.

Students or as they are know inside of this game, “Mechanics" can do a bunch of fun and interesting things with Gamestar Mechanic, and most of them fall into three categories:

Quest
You’ll start the game playing the Gamestar Mechanic Quest. You’ll start out as a new arrival in Factory 7. Along the way, you will play games, fix broken games and even design games of your own. As you complete challenges, you’ll collect “sprites”: avatars, enemies, blocks and other tools that serve as the building blocks for making games.
Workshop
In the workshop, you can use the sprites you’ve earned to build your own games. You can edit and change games you have created, add content that tells the “story” behind your game and, of course, play the games you’ve made.
Game Alley
If you’ve created an awesome game, you can publish it to Game Alley. In Game Alley, mechanics can play games created by other users and share the games they have created. You can review and comment on other mechanics’ games to let them know how much their games rock or what they can do to make them better.

 

On this episode of TTT, we were also priviledged to have a 6 grade teacher who has been using Gamestar Mechanic as well as other gaming platforms extensively with his students, Al Doyle.

Al is the “Sports for the Mind” domain teacher at Quest 2 Learn, a new public school in New York City “where students learn to see the world as composed of many different kinds of systems. It is a place to play, invent, grow, and explore.”

3574046938_e75a33cc43_m.jpg
Al Doyle, a native of Brooklyn, has interests ranging from art and animation to set design, digital imaging and most recently, game design. He was the producer and lead animator for the Salvadori Foundation’s Art of Construction, a web site designed to teach basic architecture and engineering to middle school students. For more than twenty years, he has taught computer graphics and multimedia at leading independent New York City K-12 schools. Al developed a popular course for adults, Learning Photoshop Through Art, at the Guggenheim Museum. Al received a Jerome Foundation Fellowship to create a portfolio of prints at Bob Blackburn’s Printmaking Workshop which is now in the Library of Congress collection. Al studied stage design at the Polakov Studio in the West Village and was resident designer at HB Studio for several years. In addition, he designed over 100 educational theater productions and over 25 professional designs for ballet, dance, drama, musical theater and opera in off-Broadway and regional theater. As Director of Internet Training at the National Teacher Training Institute for New York’s Channel Thirteen / WNET, Al traveled extensively in a “train-the-trainers” model of technology integration for K-12 teachers. Currently, in addition to his role at Quest, Al teaches for the graduate division of Touro College’s Masters Degree Program in Instructional Technology.

 We hope you enjoy this episode, and we invite you to join us in our quest learn more about how to understand “game mechanics.” We want to imagine the different possibilities that Gamestar Mechanic and other sites like this provide to our students as we make room for these new literacies of game play, game modding, and game design!

Click Read more to see a copy of the chat that was happening during the webcast.

Teachers Teaching Teachers #193 - Is Evoke a game? Why does it matter? Five Students with Rachel Smith and Suzie Boss - 03.24.10

Join us as we listen to our students and our colleagues respond to questions about Evoke.

  • Jake is a senior in Chris Sloan's New Media class at Judge Memorial High School in Salt Lake City, Utah.
  • Robin is a sophomore in Paul Allison's English class at the East-West School of International Studies in Flushing, NYC.
  • Perez and Phil are freshman in Susan Ettenheim's class at Eleanor Roosevelt High School, in New York City.
  • Nathan is a junior and he's a game-runner for Evoke from Austin, Texas.
  • Suzie Boss is the co-writer with Jane Krauss of Reinventing Project-Based Learning, and she has recently interviewed Jane McGonigal for WorldChanging.
  • Rachel Smith is the Vice President, NMC Services the New Media Consortium, and has taken on the role as a community organizer for teachers on Evoke.

We've been learning about gaming from students this spring, and on this episode of Teachers Teaching Teachers we were joined by two ninth graders from Susan Ettenheim's class in NYC, a tenth grader from Paul Allison's class in Queens, an eleventh grader from Austin, Texas, and a senior from Chris Sloan's class in Salt Lake City.

We learned so much about gaming from Jake a few weeks ago (TTT #190) and Robin more recently (TTT #192) that we invited both of them back to talk more specifically about Alternate Reality Games and Evoke! On this episode, you'll hear Jake and Robin, and a few other students talk about their experience of playing Evoke!

Is Evoke a game? Or is it just a trick to get people to use a social network? Why do serious gamers seem to know what Jane McGonigal is up to (See recent TED talk.), and get engaged with this game, while other students are less engaged? We invite you to join us as we listen to our students and our colleagues respond to these questions.

  • Jake is a senior in Chris Sloan's New Media class at Judge Memorial High School in Salt Lake City, Utah.
  • Robin is a sophomore in Paul Allison's English class at the East-West School of International Studies in Flushing, NYC.
  • Perez and Phil are freshman in Susan Ettenheim's class at Eleanor Roosevelt High School, in New York City.
  • Nathan is a junior and he's a game-runner for Evoke from Austin, Texas.
  • Suzie Boss is the co-writer with Jane Krauss of Reinventing Project-Based Learning, and she has recently interviewed Jane McGonigal for WorldChanging.
  • Rachel Smith is the Vice President, NMC Services the New Media Consortium, and has taken on the role as a community organizer for teachers on Evoke. 

Please enjoy. And find out more about all of us and our work on Evoke at Teachers Teaching Teachers #192.

Click Read more to see a copy of the chat that was happening during the webcast.

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