SimCityEDU: A game-based learning and assessment tool for middle school students

Electronic Arts, in collaboration with GlassLab, announced SimCityEDU, an online educational community based on the award-winning SimCityTM videogame. SimCityEDU will serve as a resource for classroom teachers who have a strong interest in utilizing digital platforms as a learning tool to drive student interest in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) subjects*

Educators will be able to create and share digital SimCity-based lesson plans that will encourage students to think critically about the challenges facing modern cities. SimCity is also a way for for kids to hone their skills through urban planning, environmental management and socio-economic development.

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A diabetes self-management video game that transports players to a world of epic fantasy and adventure!

Game Equals Life is attempting to gather money for what at first glance might look like an edutainment game, but actually isn't. You've got a hero, see. A mage with a bitchin' cannon. Their job is to stop an ancient, evil king, all the while keeping their recently diagnosed type 1 diabetes in check.

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La Croix-Rouge s'adresse aux joueurs avec Licence to Heal

La Croix-Rouge française a organisé la Journée Mondiale des Premiers Secours (JMPS) le 14 septembre. A l'occasion de cet événement, cette dernière veut diffuser son message auprès de la communauté des joueurs en lançant sa campagne Licence to Heal. 

Il s'agit en effet d'une fausse boîte contenant une notice censée vous guider dans cet univers fictif. L'ensemble des gestes à effectuer si vous êtes victime ou témoin d'un accident de la route sont expliqués dans ce livret qui se réapproprie de manière humoristique différentes expressions bien connues de la communauté des gamers.

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Backstage Game, le jeu qui transforme les jeunes en managers de projet

Comment aborder des sujets aussi complexes que le « montage de projet » « l’esprit d’entreprendre »… sans passer par une mise en situation…quasi réelle ?

Backstage-game est un serious game qui offre une expérience unique de création d’une salle de concert.

En s’immergeant dans l’univers passionnant de la création et du montage de projet d’une salle de concert, Bkstg-game vise aussi à stimuler l’envie d’agir dans la vie réelle.

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“Happy Table”, de McDonald´s

McDonald´s ha puesto en marcha en sus restaurantes de Singapur la llamada“Happy Table”, un juego interactivo para los niños. Gracias a unos sensores con tecnología NFC instalados debajo de las mesas, éstas se convierten en un circuito de coches virtual donde los niños pueden jugar con sus smartphones. Cada sensor despliegan tramo de carrera retando a los niños a participar en juegos e historias animadas.

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Poverty Is Not a Game (PING) – A game about poverty

PING is an online game made for secondary schools, forming a starting point to discuss the subject ‘poverty’ and what it means to be poor. Ping is aimed at the students of the secondary and third degree. The students become the main characters in the game. They can choose between Jim or Sofia, who, due to certain circumstances, end up on the street and need to find their own path.

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Research: New Gaming Technology Lessens Aggression

New research from Penn State Altoona suggests that new technology such as the motion sensing technology used in the Wii does not increase aggressive behavior in players. The research, which was recently published in the journal Computers in Human Behavior, was conducted by Eric Charles and a team of researchers at Penn State Altoona.

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Video game aims to help young cancer patients

In the battle against cancer, one video game is taking the deadly disease head-on. And some young patients are the winners.

RE-MISSON is a collection of online minigames designed to get teen and young-adult cancer patients involved in understanding more about their conditions and how the body benefits from sometimes unpleasant treatments.

Researchers at HopeLab, a nonprofit organization searching for products that positively impact health behavior, were emboldened by the success of their original 2006 title, "Re-Mission," and were looking for a better way to help patients.

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Ten Surprising Truths about Video Games and Learning

“Your brain’s important, but not all that important,” said Dr. James Paul Gee*. 

By that he means the following: What we’d assumed about the importance of brain functions are no longer relevant. There’s been a revolution in the learning sciences and the new theories say that human beings learn from experiences. Dr. James Gee validated reasons why video games are good for learning. 

Here are 10 truths, according to Gee.  Video games…

- Feed the learning process

- Obviate testing

- Build on experience

- Redefine teachers as learning designers

- Teach language through experience

- Entice kids to love challenges

- Motivate learning

- Teach problem-solving

- Encourage risk-taking

- Provide valid learning model for schools

*professor at Arizona State University and a leading authority on literacy and the potential of educational games

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7 Reasons Why Kids Should Play Video Games

Conventional wisdom suggests that time spent playing video games is time wasted. The common perception is that few video games exercise the brain and, if there is any physical activity involved, it's usually the occasional wave of a controller rather than anything that will work up a sweat. And shouldn't kids be outside playing, rather than sitting in front of yet another screen?

There are good reasons why  kids should spend a few hours a week building cities or battling aliens.

Here's why:

1. Video games teach problem solving

2. Video games are social

3. Video games provide positive reinforcement

4. Video games teach strategic thinking

5. Video games build teamwork

6. Video games improve hand-eye coordination

7. Video games bring families together

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"Attack! of the S. Mutans", a game to improve Oral Health

The 15-minute game, aimed at children ages 8 and up, takes players into a virtual environment inside the human mouth. Players can watch colorful simulations of Streptococcus mutans as the bacteria devour sugars and carbohydrates and produce the lactic acid that attacks teeth and causes decay. Using a Wii-type controller, players fire away at the acid and bacteria. They also learn a little science in the process with the help of Dentisha, a virtual guide.

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SimCityEDU announced, bringing learning tools to classrooms in March

Electronic Arts, in collaboration with GlassLab, announced SimCityEDU is in development, an online educational community based on the award-winning SimCityTM videogame.

SimCityEDU will serve as a resource for classroom teachers who have a strong interest in utilizing digital platforms as a learning tool to drive student interest in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) subjects.

The SimCity videogame, which will be released worldwide from March 5.

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Kokori: videojuego para aprender biología celular

Kokori es un videojuego creado por un equipo de investigadores argentinos y chilenos. Permite conocer el interior de las células humanas a través de nanorobots. Es un ejemplo de la articulación de las nuevas tecnologías con el aprendizaje en las aulas, motivo por el cual fue premiado en un concurso organizado por Conectar Igualdad.

El videojuego fue financiado por FONDEF de Chile. Participó un equipo interdisciplinario de profesionales de Argentina y Chile, pertenecientes a las universidades de Buenos Aires y Santo Tomás, respectivamente, y  la empresa Austral Biotech.

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Video game with biofeedback teaches children to curb their anger

Children with serious anger problems can be helped by a simple video game that hones their ability to regulate their emotions

Boston Children's Hospital developed "RAGE Control" to motivate children to practice emotional control skills that they can later use in challenging life situations

The fast-paced game involves shooting at enemy spaceships while avoiding shooting at friendly ones. As children play, a monitor on one finger tracks their heart rate and displays it on the computer screen. When heart rate goes above a certain level, players lose their ability to shoot at the enemy spaceships. To improve their game, they must learn to keep calm.

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Différenciation pédagogique : l’apport du jeu vidéo à l’Ecole

Chaque enfant qui entre à l’Ecole est différent de par son histoire personnelle, de par ses passions, ses loisirs, de par ses points forts, ses points faibles, de par ses capacités cognitives. L’enjeu de l’Ecole est ainsi de gérer cette hétérogénéité, de permettre à chacun, aussi différent soit-il, de réussir. Cependant, force est de constater que, malgré les nombreux efforts mis en place chaque année par les enseignants dans leur(s) classe(s), les résultats ne sont pas toujours à la hauteur des attentes.

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