Blogs+for+Continued+Learning

Blog It: Your Quest
Identify 2 blogs related to games and learning that you think are worth following. This means you need to read them for several weeks (or read the archives) to determine the blog’s overall usefulness.

In addition to sharing the URL for the blog, write a brief review (3-5 sentences) so we can get an idea of what we’ll read on the blog and whether the blog is most appropriate for K12, higher ed, video gamers, etc. Tell us to what extent (good or bad) this blog ties to assessment of learning.

Blog 1 [] This first blog talks about grants that were awarded for game-related projects through the Department of Education. More than half the grants awarded were for games, which is more than any other year. What is great about this is that these games are geared toward use in education! What is not great about this is that the government is on shutdown and you cannot look at any of the projects! Blog 2 [] This blogger talks about embracing technology rather than having things stay the same. If we have the ability to do so-why not use it. Bringing technology to children is also discussed in terms of offering technology to children who may not be able to get to formal education. Upon reading this article, I thought of my daughter's own school and how technology and games can help them. Here is the story--my daughter's 1st grade teacher sent an email asking parents to cut out flash cards. She did not ask that we buy them to use, but asked that we cut out the ones the school district printed. Now, I realize not everyone has the same technology, but there are so many other options to learn addition. My daughter spend 10 minutes a night playing a flashcard game on the iPod that tracks which ones she gets right and wrong. I can tailor her learning and it rewards her-she is excited to do it. It helps make the learning fun rather than just flipping through cards.

I think both of the blogs are focusing most on K12 games and both seem to be trying to assess what a student has learned and to help them move forward with learning.

Reddit forums @http://www.reddit.com/r/truegaming/comments/1nkc4q/games_in_education_what_do_you_think/ @http://www.reddit.com/r/truegaming/comments/1l1ukp/gaming_and_education_any_examples_of_educational/ I also found some forums on reddit where individuals asked some questions about games and education. It is always interesting to see people who have great ideas of games and their uses and others who just complain. Submitted by Margie Laketa