Recent posts for Padraig Nash
Making believe makes a difference
I urge you to watch this TED talk, as David Eggers, now activist as well as author, gives a funny and inspiring history of 826 Valencia, his after-school tutoring and publishing company.
I came to educational research from the arts-education non-profit world, having spent eight years working for the DreamYard Project in the Bronx, NY.
Beyond better pencil sharpeners
In a recent national survey, available here, 51% of students in grades 6-12 think games make it easier to understand complex concepts and 50% think that games will help them be more engaged in school subjects. Even higher percentages of parents, administrators and teachers think that games can increase learning for students.
Yet, according to the same study, the number one use of technology by teachers to facilitate student learning?
Half the world in his hands
McCain, Analog Candidate, a recent piece on the New York Times website, and the 200+ reader comments attached to it, explores whether computer proficiency should be considered when we evaluate presidential candidates. The topic is a story because when John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, describes himself as a ‘Neanderthal’ when it comes to computers, he isn’t just being self-deprecating. He’s being honest: buying tickets before going to the movies is, to John McCain, ‘amazing.’ Those of us in technology fields, or anyone under 40 for that matter, can chortle at his expense.
Epistemic Network Analysis
Shaffer, DW, Hatfield, D, Svarovsky, GN, Nash, P, Nulty, A, Bagley, E, Franke, K, Rupp, AA, Mislevy, R (2009). Epistemic Network Analysis: A prototype for 21st Century assessment of learning. The International Journal of Learning and Media. 1(2), 33-53.
http://epistemicgames.org/eg/wp-content/uploads/IJLM0102_Shaffer.pdf
Epistemic Games Video
As researchers studying new media, it only seemed appropriate to let people know about our work using well, new media.
This short video gives an overview of our work on Urban Science and other epistemic games as part of the Macarthur Digital Media and Learning Project and the National Science Foundation.
In these games, players have a chance to learn 21st century skills by playing as urban planners, engineers, journalists, and other professionals in the knowledge economy.
I suppose next we’ll need to make an epistemic game about making epistemic games….
