Adding game design element to the classroom is what CUNY Games is all about, and so we’re excited to hear this teacher go “all in” with his web-based application that turns any classroom into a Role Playing Game (RPG). Game-based learning provides clear indicators of progress, scaffolding, and just-in-time learning. There are also excellent opportunities for educators to collect important data that they might not have been able to collect before (e.g., time on task, engagement, peer-to-peer interaction). ClassRealm migrates the paper RPG system to the web for all teachers so they might (1) learn how to implement RPGs in the classroom and (2) easily collect valuable data to inform their teaching. Learn more from the web site:

http://classrealm.com/

Today, the U.S. Department of Education announced the final winners of this year’s Small Business Innovation Research SBIR contract awards—funds that are reserved for entrepreneurial small businesses using cutting-edge R&D to develop commercially viable technologies to solve tough problems.  And there’s something that may surprise you about the winning contracts: More than half—or 12 in all—are for games and game-related projects, more than in any previous year. That says a lot about the increasingly creative field of educational games, and the growing base of evidence indicating that games can be an important and effective component of our strategy to prepare a highly skilled 21st century American workforce.

via Games Win Big in Education Grants Competition | ED.gov Blog.

Unfortunately I had to miss THATCamp Games II this year, held last month at Case Western Reserve University. Luckily (and in the traditional THATCamp spirit) attendees have shared their collaborative notes (and games!) from the unconference so those of us who weren’t there can catch up. And Anastasia Salter, who teaches information arts and technologies at the University of Baltimore, wrote up her experiences leading a pre-conference workshop on making board games in the classroom. I know lots of us in the CUNY Games Network are interested in non-digital games for teaching — I highly recommend Salter’s article, it’s well worth a read.

Image by Tim Ellis

A week before the test, I told my class that the Game Theory exam would be insanely hard—far harder than any that had established my rep as a hard prof. But as recompense, for this one time only, students could cheat. They could bring and use anything or anyone they liked, including animal behavior experts. (Richard Dawkins in town? Bring him!) They could surf the Web. They could talk to each other or call friends who’d taken the course before. They could offer me bribes. (I wouldn’t take them, but neither would I report it to the dean.) Only violations of state or federal criminal law such as kidnapping my dog, blackmail, or threats of violence were out of bounds.

Gasps filled the room. The students sputtered. They fretted. This must be a joke. I couldn’t possibly mean it. What, they asked, is the catch?

“None,” I replied. “You are UCLA students. The brightest of the bright. Let’s see what you can accomplish when you have no restrictions and the only thing that matters is getting the best answer possible.”

http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2013-04/why-i-let-my-students-cheat-their-game-theory-exam

Connecticut’s portion of gaming industry revenues currently amounts to nearly $50 million a year according to the most recent study, “Video Games in the 21st Century: The 2010 Report,” released by the Entertainment Software Association.

With such a sizzling market, jobs for game designers, developers and the like are plentiful — but landing one of them is getting ultra-competitive. In fact, a recent CNNMoney report listed video game designer as the Best New Job in 2012.”

Read more @

http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/article/20130422/PRINTEDITION/304189911/on-the-rise-in-connecticut-video-gaming-education

Subject Area and Learning Outcomes
Math and English. Games use multi-sensory active methodology to consolidate learning in the areas of Math and English.

Summary
Kinect Games include 4 separate games, all are one or two player. They make use of the Kinect sensor to capture motion from the players. Kinect Angles reviews Angles, Compass Bearings, Percentages and fractions by measuring the angle between the players elbow and wrist and drawing this on the screen. The game will prompt them for a certain angle or fraction and the closer they get to it the more points they get. Kinect Time is the same principal for telling time. Math Mage and Word Mage use fruit ninja style gameplay with the players waving their arms to cut through the correct answers. Math Mage reviews numbers such as odd, even, prime and multiples of 3 to 12. Word Mage reviews Nouns, Verbs, Adverbs and Adjectives.

Setup
Full installer can be found on http://games4learning.co.uk/. Games run on Windows 7/8 PC connected to a Kinect for Windows or XBOX360 Kinect device.

Pre-game it would be good to go over the learning objectives that will be consolidated through the gameplay.

Rules of Play
Player with highest score wins. Games have a time limit. Players achieve points for getting closest to the answer or by swiping through the most correct answers.

Sample Turn
Kinect Angles: Game will for example display 85 degrees on the screen. Both players move their arms and they see themselves on the screen drawing an angle. Once they think they have it correct they hold up their other arm. The game shows them how close they came and assigns points based on performance.

How this game works in class
The games can be played in pairs, while the class watches. Usually the whole class becomes involved and they encourage the players.

Post-Game Discussion/Assessment
Discussion afterwards of performance and the areas students struggled with.

I recently participated in panel about integrating primary literature into the classroom. Faculty from various departments exposed their motivations, tricks, successes and failures in attempting to introduce difficult reading to undergraduates at my college. In my class, students participate in two research projects of their own design. I make the assumption that they will be referring to web sites that are not peer-reviewed, and consequently I encourage them to start off with those sites and follow the trail to the primary literature. In that sense, I embrace the chaos of what I know will happen anyway. Students will consult Google, Wikipedia, and Ask.com before they consult the Journal of Theoretical Whatchamawhosit. For me, one of the critical elements of game-based learning is to acknowledge the true motivations and behaviors that are beyond your control in the classroom. Students have personal motivations for attending college, taking your class, and completing this particular assignment. Some of them will latch onto an artificial motivation because they are “good boys and girls,” and others will recognize their inner motivations, rebel agains the assignment, or align the assignment with their intrinsic motivation. Accordingly, all of the exams in my online classes are open book. I can’t prevent students from cheating during an online exam, and thus all of the questions demand extrapolating knowledge from the course to new situations. The answer won’t be in the book, but the book may be used as a reference to help solve the problem. This process could be improved upon. Our dreaded exams might actually become a mystery to be solved, a puzzle, or a game. Recently, a professor at UCLA was recognized for allowing cheating on his exam. Peter Nonacs allows students to complete the test in his Behavioral Ecology class using any means available. The exam focuses on game theory for natural selection, and he approaches the assessment process in the same way. Can you imagine students looking forward to an exam?

http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2013-04/why-i-let-my-students-cheat-their-game-theory-exam

The U.S. Department of State has partnered with The SuperGroup marketing group to launch Trace Effects, an educational video game aimed at teenagers to promote learning of the English language and American culture…

US Department of State launches educational game about American English language and culture | Polygon.

“Please save the date and register now for Different Games! Different Games is the first conference on diversity, difference and inclusivity in digital games, hosted April 26-27, 2013 at NYU’s Polytechnic Institute in downtown Brooklyn. Different Games is a space for radical discussions of representation in games and the relationship of the medium to designer and player identity. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

Events at Different Games will involve panel discussions, hands on workshops, peer-to-peer breakout sessions and a game arcade. Keynotes include Mary Flanagan, ”Critical Play: Inclusive Design, Revolutionary Games” and Celia Pearce, “Kickstarting a Revolution, One Tweet at a Time.” Other presenters include Anna Anthropy, Mattie Brice, Robert Yang, Nick Fortungo, Adrienne Shaw, Raiford Guins, Kaho Abe, representatives of Babycastles and more! For our tentative schedule, please check our website:

http://www.differentgames.org/schedule/

Different Games is free to all presenters and attendees, but space is limited, so we do ask that you register via differentgames.eventbrite.com.

All questions should be direct to Different Games co-organizer, Laine.Nooney@gmail.com

See you there!
Sarah Schoemann + Laine Nooney
Different Games Co-Organizers”

Applications due April 7th, 2013!

“Want to make the next great educational game? Are you good at programming, design, or have great ideas? Partner with the Games Research Lab at Teachers College, Columbia University to create an online educational game (online game or mobile app) that teaches English vocabulary for non-native learners (SAT, TOEFL, GRE, etc.)!

You could win $1000 in prize money plus up to $16,000 to develop the game! Our game lab experts will team up with you and help your game become successful!”

http://www.crossculturalgames.com/