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“In 1993, the video game industry began putting ratings on video games (E for 'everyone,' T for 'teen,' and M for 'mature'). Psychologists such as David Walsh, PhD, have conducted research on how useful the ratings are and how easily children can purchase mature-rated video games.”
www.apa.org
“James Paul Gee, professor of education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, says that playing a video game is similar to working through a science problem. Like students in a laboratory, gamers must come up with a hypothesis. For example, players in some games constantly try out combinations of weapons and powers to use to defeat an enemy. If one does not work, they change hypothesis and try the next one. Video games are goal-driven experiences, says Gee, which are fundamental to learning.”
www.raisesmartkid.com
“Despite the possible negative psychological effects of video game playing, there are many positive effects that may outweigh the negative consequences. For instance, the creativity of players may be enhanced by their involvement with video games. Players often create their own games with computer technology that allows them to use their own music and visual patterns. This may allow players to stimulate their brains and thought processes in order to create the often elaborate scenarios involved in complex video games.
https://serendipstudio.org/oneworld/
Learning or just playing?
Computer games could become part of the school curriculum after researchers found they had significant educational value.
The UK study concluded that simulation and adventure games - such as Sim City and RollerCoaster Tycoon, where players create societies or build theme parks, developed children's strategic thinking and planning skills.
http://news.bbc.co.uk
Online video games with thousands of simultaneous players, such as “World of Warcraft,” have become hugely popular in the last two decades and are now a multibillion dollar industry with tremendous financial success. Joshua Smyth, associate professor of psychology in The College of Arts and Sciences at Syracuse University, recently conducted a randomized trial study of college students contrasting the effects of playing online socially interconnected video games with more traditional single-player or arcade-style games.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/
People who play action computer games become quicker at making decisions in real life, research shows.
Scientists found that fast-paced "shoot 'em ups" re-train the brain and improve the ability to perform tasks such as driving, navigating and multi-tasking. In tests, a group of nongamers aged 18 to 25 who played war game Call Of Duty 2 for 50 hours made decisions 25 per cent faster than those given strategy games like The Sims 2.
Boffins said this was because shooting games often involve a series of rapid decisions.
http://www.thesun.co.uk/
About 90 percent of U.S. kids ages 8 to 16 play video games, and they spend about 13 hours a week doing so (more if you're a boy). Now a new study suggests virtual violence in these games may make kids more aggressive in real life.
Kids shouldn't play games where hunting down and killing people is the goal, says one expert.
Kids in both the U.S. and Japan who reported playing lots of violent video games had more aggressive behavior months later than their peers who did not, according to the study, which appears in the November issue of the journal Pediatrics.
http://edition.cnn.com
William Higinbotham created the first video game ever in 1958. His game, called "Tennis for Two," was created and played on a Brookhaven National Laboratory oscilloscope. In 1962, Steve Russell invented SpaceWar!. Spacewar! was the first game intended for computer use. Russell used a MIT PDP-1 mainframe computer to design his game.
In 1967, Ralph Baer wrote the first video game played on a television set, a game called Chase. Ralph Baer was then part of Sanders Associates, a military electronics firm. Ralph Baer first conceived of his idea in 1951 while working for Loral, a television company.
Expected time frame: 1-2 lessons
These learning activities are designed to share language learning outcomes with students, to find out what they already know and to activate prior knowledge to enhance comprehension. The pre-reading activities build background knowledge about the historical context and what an idiom is and facilitate the use of prediction. It is important to be explicit about the purpose of each task with students.
Ensuring learners know the content and language learning outcomes
Finding out about learners’ prior knowledge
Classroom resources
Spelling City: This US site is designed to help children improve their spelling skills. It uses both visual and auditory (a human voice) input to improve retention. Teachers and parents can enter and save their own spelling lists that students can use to play games. The use of this site requires a paid subscription.
Professional readings
Combining dictogloss and cooperative learning to promote language learning (PDF)
Generation 1.5 students and college writing: Linda Harklau’s 2003 article discusses some of the special writing needs of generation 1.5 students (so called because they share the characteristics of both first- and second-generation immigrants).
Looking for quality in student writing: this article gives suggestions for analysing the good things a writer does. Learning to see the things students can do so we can teach them to do the things they can't. Levels 1 to 8.
An Approach to Factual Writing: Wray and Lewis on text types and writing frames, with clear explanations and exemplifications.
Sentence Combining: 2004 report on the role sentence combining can play in improving writing quality (The Institute of Education, University of London).
Knapp, P. and Watkins, M. (1994). Context–Text–Grammar: Teaching the Genres and Grammar of SchoolWriting in Infant and Primary Classrooms: This resource provides a detailed discussion of the concepts involved in learning about language, including functional grammar based on the genres of school writing.
Knapp, P. and Watkins, M. (2005). Genre, Text, Grammar: Technologies for Teaching and Assessing Writing: This resource examines how the three aspects of language (genre, text and grammar) can be used as resources in teaching and assessing writing.
An approach to scaffolding children's non-fiction writing: the use of writing frames (David Wray and Maureen Lewis)
Students’ ability to understand a written text is affected by how much prior knowledge they have about that subject. One of the simplest ways to help your students comprehend a more challenging text is by activating their prior knowledge.
As well as using prior knowledge activities routinely when introducing a next text or writing task, it is important that teachers:
Effective Literacy Practice in Years 5-8 has a useful section on prior knowledge that is just as relevant for secondary teachers.
Some activities that are useful for activating students’ prior knowledge:
Consider what you can do to help your students:
In Aneeta’s science class, students are encouraged to survey organisational features of text and think about their prior knowledge before closely reading any new text. She displays this poster in her room to remind students:
Click image to enlarge
Download the following Word document and create your own Skim and Predict poster.
skim and predict (Word 28KB)
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