How Google Glass Could be Used in Education - An Infographic

Hello again after my short break from blogging!  I am afraid I was very busy sitting my final year university exams (and am pleased to say I achieved a first class honours) and then I travelled to Brazil for the World Cup.  I thought I'd share this fantastic infographic with you as my first post back, enjoy and as always please share your thoughts in the comments section.  Click the infographic for a larger, interactive version.

How Google Glass might be used in Education – An infographic by the team at Open Colleges

As you can see there are many ways that Google Glass technology could be used to enhance education and update learning for the 21st Century.  It also fits in with some of the other educational movements we have discussed previously on the blog, such as Flipped Classrooms, Project Based Learning, Multiple Learning Styles and so on.  As always, it is a technological tool that doesn't provide all the answers, but alongside these educational movements as well as Gamification, Games Based Learning and so on, education could fit more with the 21st Century world and really benefit students... and teachers.

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The Future of Games in Education Infographic

This week, I just wanted to showcase a fantastic infographic from GameSalad full of stats about why games are fantastic learning tools right now and why they will continue to be in the future.  I think it speaks for itself.

For the larger, original, please click here.

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Education Revolution: 5 Pieces of Inspiration

Anarchy!  I hope it is evident from our previous articles that we think the current education system is outdated and flawed.  It has its merits, but it is also has huge problems and is leaving many children ill-equipped and disenfranchised.  I have selected five pieces of inspiration, four videos and an article, towards an education revolution.  This is something I am passionate about, but they speak for themselves, so I'll just dive straight in and then let you mull them over.

And finally, an article from Cracked.com: '4 Ways Your Education Was a Conspiracy to Make You Bored' - be warned, this one contains swearing and sexual references.

-UPDATE-

I came across another fantastic, inspiring video.  Please give this one a watch too.  Also, you might be interested in another school which has used pupil directed learning, see our blog post, 'Games Based School'.

For more inspiration, see our previous posts: 'The Future of Learning' and 'Sir Ken Robinson, Education and Gamification'.

Please follow @paulladley on Twitter, games-ED on Pinterest and like games-ED’s Facebook and Google+ pages for blog updates and interesting games based learning findings.

Games Based Learning With Zoo Tycoon

The latest chapter of Zoo Tycoon, developed by Frontier Developments and published by Microsoft Studios, has recently become available for Xbox One and Xbox 360. The game puts you in charge of a zoo. You build it up, care for animals, hire and fire staff, keep guests happy, release endangered animals into the wild and more.

It is a fantastic entertainment game, but it also has educational merits. I have split these into three broad categories: Animals, Business and Soft Skills...

To read the full article, visit: http://www.pil-network.com/HotTopics/gamesbasedlearning/GBLwithZooTycoon

Please follow @paulladley on Twitter, games-ED on Pinterest and like games-ED’s Facebook and Google+ pages for blog updates and interesting games based learning findings.

Games Based Learning and 21st Century Skills

There are many characterisations of the skills that are most important in the 21st century. However, The University of Melbourne’s Assessment and Teaching of 21st Century Skills (ATC21S) team defines them as:

• Ways of thinking. Creativity, critical thinking, problem-solving, decision-making and learning
• Ways of working. Communication and collaboration
• Tools for working. Information and communications technology (ICT) and information literacy
• Skills for living in the world. Citizenship, life and career, and personal and social responsibility

Why are they important? There is a problem amongst employers, where entry-level candidates are seriously lacking in some of these skills (for example survey findings, see http://upstart.bizjournals.com/news/wire/2013/11/11/jobseekers-missing-interpersonal-skills.html?page=all). These skills are necessary for competitive, innovative, businesses of the 21st Century to thrive, and for young people to gain employment...

For full article visit: http://www.pil-network.com/HotTopics/gamesbasedlearning/GBLand21stCenturySkills

Please follow @paulladley on Twitter, games-ED on Pinterest and like games-ED’s Facebook and Google+ pages for blog updates and interesting games based learning findings.

Building a 21st Century Education System with Games Based Learning

I am extremely happy to announce that I have been selected to be a Hot Topics Contributor for Microsoft Partners in Learning.  I am now a contributor to their Games Based Learning Hot Topics page and have just uploaded my first post.

The post discusses the current education system and why it is lacking.  I offer suggestions for improvement and explain why improvements are important.  There are many ways that games based learning could be part of a solution to building a 21st education system.

To see the post, click here.

Their word limit is pretty tight, so if you want to read a post of mine on this very blog, which follows a similar theme, visit '21st Century Skills and Games Based Learning'.

Please follow @paulladley on Twitter, games-ED on Pinterest and like games-ED’sFacebook and Google+ pages for blog updates and interesting games based learning findings.