Eggstraordinary Use of GPS

Teachers used GPS technology to stage a modern version of a more traditional Easter Egg Hunt for their elementary school students in a North Carolina school - putting a high-tech twist on an old tradition. From the News&Observer (North Carolina) : Egg hunt helps teach technology

Not just for kids...

I saw this article in this weekend's New York Times (reading the Times isn't something that I usually do - and I found it to be a surprisingly messy endeavor - esp. given that I was sitting in the middle seat of a totally packed airplane for most of my reading experience). I trust that the digital version will result in less black smudges on people's computers ;)

From the NYTimes: Video Games Conquer Retirees

I especially liked the part about the Wii Senior Bowling league. With more inclusion of different types of gamers I suspect that there are opportunities for new diversity and innovation in game-making. Gaming fun doesn't have to stop when people hit puberty - and its inspiring to see how games are able to help conquer technology phobias that folks who didn't grow up with computers often have.

One to watch

Pennsylvania's $250 million dollar "Classrooms for the Future" seems to have a good sense of what it takes to succeed - a good mix of technology, support, training and content resources.

Converge Magazine Article: Classrooms for the Future

Mathletes of the world unite!

On March 14th (World Mathematics day - 3/14 in honor of pi) students from around the world came together in an attempt to break the previous world record for the number of correct questions answered during a one day period. Nearly 39 million questions were answered during the day-long question-answering blitz on VMathLive with a good chunk of those (some 330,000) coming from a handful of students vying for top honors in the individual level competition.

There's something really cool about kids from all over the world coming together to do something - anything really. But coming together to do something educational is all the more amazing.

The key to happiness...

A BBC mini-series is set to explore the science of happiness...

The old adage holds that money can't buy you love, and apparently it can't buy you happiness either. So what's the secret recipe? A combination of several factors including strong relationships, belief in something larger and goals. Doesn't seem like rocket science ;)

From the BBC: The Science of Happiness

More on Games in Ed

SIIA hosted a panel session at FETC and is set to host another at CoSN related to games in education. The proceedings include a great bibliography of recent articles, books and websites related to ed games.

SIIA presentation handout

Location Based Gaming - Reliving the Revolution

Karen Schrier (MIT Grad, now at Nickelodeon) discussed ways to tap into the potential of location-based gaming for educational purposes. Capitalizing on the ubiquity of cell phone technology among many of today's students, location based gaming can enable engaging new learning opportunites.

From Gamasutra: GDC: Nickelodeon's Schrier Relives The Revolution