Articles in Editorspicks

[3 Jan 2014 | Comments Off on 5 Myths About Kids and Computers | 7,465 views]
5 Myths About Kids and Computers

When speaking to teachers and parents about teaching computer skills to their kids, there are a few things that adults tend to assume about how kids use computers. Many of these things are simply not true, at least in my experience of teaching digital storytelling, animation, and web design to middle and high schoolers. I think an English class that uses, for example, toondoo.com to create comic strip versions of stories that kids might be reading or writing in class, will go a lot smoother if the teacher is aware …

[9 Dec 2013 | Comments Off on The Play’s The Thing | 4,264 views]
The Play’s The Thing

Anyone who has ever watched kids play knows it can be serious business. “I’ll be the mommy, you be the dog.” “No, the mommy has to have a baby, not a dog. Besides, I’m a girl – I have to be the mommy.” There are always rules to follow, mistakes to be made, and do-overs to be held. Kind of like life, but with unlimited chances (at least, until the crying starts and someone storms off slamming doors). Games are a great opportunity to role play and learn about different …

[29 Nov 2013 | Comments Off on Lemonade And Learning | 6,135 views]
Lemonade And Learning

The game Lemonade Stand demonstrates the application of several learning theories in its design. The game uses both text and images to provide prompts and information for the player, which exemplifies Paivio’s dual-coding theory. According to Paivio, there are two “modes” of representing information in long term memory – verbal, consisting of language expression, and imaginal, consisting of visual and spatial information (Schunk, 1999). LS utilizes both of these modes in its gameplay.
Another learning theory evident in Lemonade Stand is situated cognition. This theory explains that thinking and learning are affected …

[30 Nov 2012 | Comments Off on It’s All Relative [COMIC] | 2,150 views]
It’s All Relative [COMIC]

In this comic strip, a sleepy school boy learns about Einstein’s theory of relativity – and pizza!

[27 Nov 2012 | One Comment | 5,711 views]
Use It Or Lose It: Usability in education

A while ago I read an article about interactivity in educational products, and a recent conversation reminded me of it. I was a little confused by the article’s definition of perceived interactivity as being connected to difficulty of use – ie, if something is really hard to use it will be perceived as being less interactive because the user is having a harder time figuring out how to interact with it (Sundar, 2004).
I’m not sure that this is really a straight line; it seems to me that some users would …

[25 Oct 2012 | Comments Off on iPad Mini + Education: It’s the…Wait, who cares??? | 2,570 views]
iPad Mini + Education: It’s the…Wait, who cares???

So now that the iPad mini has officially been announced, all the pundits who were busy scrambling to predict that that iPad mini might be the answer to education’s prayers, are now scrambling to predict that yes, of course it will change the face of education as we know it. I know, I know, it’s Apple so we HAVE to get excited about it, and it may very well end up being an incredibly useful product. But that isn’t really the point.
The point is, it’s yet another tool we …