The MacArthur Foundation supports research into computer games and learning
Spotlight on Digital Media and Learning, a blog supported by the MacArthur Foundation, recently posted about the Epistemic Games Group’s new funding from the National Science Foundation…
Games and Learning Research Going to Scale with New Federal Dollars
Posted by Sarah J. • November 6, 2009
Researchers at the University of Wisconsin, Madison will develop technology to allow computers to teach complex real-world problem solving, thanks to a large grant from the National Science Foundation..
The work builds on successes students have had playing the computer game “Urban Science,” whose development was supported by the MacArthur Foundation.
In the game, middle- and high-school students learn about mathematics, science and technology by working as urban planners. Watch principal investigator David Williamson Shaffer and students discuss their experiences playing Urban Science here.
For more details on the planned work, read University of Wisconsin-Madison graduate student Elizabeth Bagley’s blog post on virtual mentoring and assessment.
epistemic learning is the future of education
@vince
What is epistemic learning by the way?
All I know is that videogames can enhance the eye-hand coordination. So I also promote learning videogames
There is a nice summary of what epistemic games are here:
http://epistemicgames.org/eg/category/games/front/
It is true, of course, that games can enhance hand-eye coordination. But the potential of games to promote learning is much broader than that!
Online education is in the world today and is a daily occurance in Australia wiht the use of radio inthe form of the School of the Air.The use of computors for education is only another step in remote type education.Whether internet education will be the way or one of many types of education tools remains to the future and only progress will establish the fact.
This is an interesting point: that computers are part of a longer trend in technology in education. Larry Cuban’s book Teachers and Machines: The Classroom Use of Technology Since 1920 gives a nice (if somewhat gloomy) summary of that history. Personally, as I argue in How Computer Games Help Children Learn, I think computers have some properties that make them distinct from previous technologies–that make them go beyond that history in a sense. But I would be very interested to learn more about technology and Education in Australia, as I don’t know much of that history….
Thanks for your comment!