Blog

Here's a look at the SMALLab games produced by the Brainstem team in the fall of 2012 for Elizabeth Forward Middle School.

What is a Mixed Reality learning environment? What does it mean when someone says that a learning module or lesson is “embodied”? Embodiment and Mixed Reality. Posted on arvelsig, November 5, 2012 by Jeffrey Jacobson, Ph.D., article by Dr. Mina C. Johnson-Glenberg and the Embodied Games for Learning Lab at the Learning Sciences Institute -- Arizona State University.

There are several big movements underway that are worthy of debate and possible consideration as we look to help education become the 21st century, user-centered, on-demand, engaging, technology-centric activity that it has not been for much of its existence. Game-based learning (GBL), or gamification, is one of the models that commonly gets touted as a cure-all for the problems with education because of the popularity of gaming in our society (New Media Institute).

Zachary Benedek usually can't wait for science class to be over. But when he learns about concepts like light and gravity in a 15-square-foot digitally enhanced laboratory called the SMALLab, he doesn't want the period to end. Mike Bock writes for Education Week, October 9, 2012.

Elizabeth Forward educators are implementing embodied learning with their Situated Multimedia Arts Learning Lab, known as SMALLab Learning, which uses a ceiling-mounted projector, motion-sensor cameras, wands, and a computer to create scenarios in which students can learn. Rachel Weaver writes for Tribune-Review, September 26, 2012.

Sam Wang, an associate professor at the Department of Molecular Biology and the Princeton Neuroscience Institute. He gives us some insight into how the human brain develops and changes over time, helping us to understand how students learn and develop. Laura Devaney writes for eSchoolNews, September 19, 2012.

Head of department Ollie Bray is using computer games to get his students excited about learning. Here, he talks about technophobia, teaching and trusting kids with tech. Hannah Gould writing for the Guardian, September 14, 2012.

In an eighth-grade pre-biology class that is focusing on ecology, SMALLab fits right into the lesson about understanding interactions in complex systems. "The goal was to be able to identify the difference between a producer, which is any organism that can create its own food as through photosynthesis, and a consumer, any organism that needs to consume a producer to get energy," explained science teacher Ward Cochenour.

Game-based learning has been growing in popularity in recent years as more educational institutions are considering implementing video games in learning. There are still some doubts and from cautious parents as to whether video games can really be used as an educational tool. Chitra Sethi writes for ASME.org, September 2012.

When Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps steps onto a starting block a few days from now, a Stanford scientist named Krishna Shenoy will be asking himself a question: "What's going on in Michael Phelps' brain?" Jon Hamilton writes for NPR, July 19, 2012.