Player-mentor interactions in an epistemic game: A preliminary analysis
Nash, P., & Shaffer, D. W. (2008). Player-mentor interactions in an epistemic game: A preliminary analysis. Paper presented at the International Conference of the Learning Sciences (ICLS), Utrecht, Netherlands.
http://epistemicgames.org/cv/papers/Nash_Shaffer_ICLS_08.pdf
Innovation, again and again
Twice in one week, innovation in the news. In the Christian Science Monitor (free link at Truthout.org), How Companies can Encourage Innovation:
In varied ways, the subject is gaining recognition as an important element in helping businesses succeed by improving the bottom line and keeping employees satisfied. Economists and futurists regard creativity and innovation as cornerstones of competitiveness in the United States.
“We’re moving from an industrial economy to a creative economy,” says Richard Florida, author of “The Rise of the Creative Class,” although he notes that the transformation is still in its infancy. The creative sector, which he says is made up of “people who think for a living,” includes such fields as science, technology, arts, culture, design, law, healthcare, and education. These creative people, he adds, “provide a critical stimulus for economic growth.”
At the same time, in the Economist this week is a 20 page Special Report on Innovation. There isn’t much strikingly new in either piece (and both, in my humble opinion, could benefit from talking more about the educational side of the issue, as I try to do in How Computer Games Help Children Learn!). But I was particularly struck by one graph in the Economist special report–a graph of productivity growth, showing the dramatic role that innovation plays in overall growth:
David Williamson Shaffer’s lecture at Learning Lab Denmark
Shortly after “How Computer Games Help Children Learn” was published, David gave a talk at Learning Lab Denmark about the use of technology in education to prepare kids for life in a changing society.
You can view the online lecture here.
You can access the Q&A session here.
Content here, content there
So here’s an interesting twist on the question of whether content matters in video games. According to the NY Times (sign up required) churches are using the video game Halo as a recruiting tool, depite its violent themes.
More on that Common Sense Media study
Douglas Levin at Common Sense Media had some very interesting comments as a followup to my post about the recent Common Sense Media study. They are short, but quite informative. He also passed along a link to the full study report.
