Education
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THQ, EA, others recruiting at GDC
The second floor of Moscone West, one of the three buildings housing GDC, holds many publishers and developers looking for doe-eyed talent. Armed with just a dream and a résumé, students try to launch their careers, and industry vets try to find the next opportunity. We checked in with a few of the companies to discuss their outlook and objectives at the show.An EA recruiter told us that the company is hiring developers for 11 different studios in nearly every position, including character animators, environmental artists, and software engineers. EA has a university relations department to entice students, but the company also helps schools develop programs to train future industry workers.Heidi Lese, Manager of Recruitment for THQ, discussed her company's role at the show. THQ is looking for both developers and publishers to fit into its 17 studios. With the addition of publishing roles, THQ is seeking nearly all kinds of talent. If a walk-in candidate fits an open position, THQ holds an immediate interview. Otherwise, THQ evaluates and contacts candidates over the next few months.Lese was more tentative about game schools, saying that some are great and can lead to roles at THQ, while some are still too young to offer a useful program. She didn't specify any school recommendations but said that students should attend one with a high placement rate in the industry. She also advised students get an internship -- whether interested in publishing or development.
Joystiq interviews Vivendi's Nichol Bradford
Yesterday Nichol Bradford, global director of Vivendi games, made an impassioned speech for education about games and the games industry at the publisher's rant. Her main idea was to establish a speaker's bureau to teach people about what goes on and what it takes to be part of the games industry. Although she ended up being upstaged by the infamous "Wii is two duct taped Gamecubes" comment, after the publishers rant she had an army of people looking to help out. We sat down with Nichol Bradford today to gauge what the outlook of her idea is the day after.So, that was quite the speech yesterday. You rallied the troops. What do you hope to accomplish?I want to establish this national speakers bureau so the next step is setting up the database, and getting the gaming community to register. Then going through the press. There will be a significant press push to get the website out into the public sphere.
In defense of the "PlayStation generation"
Jack Thompson isn't the only one worried about the deleterious effects of video games on our youth. U.S. Department of Homeland Security executive Jay Cohen recently told PC World magazine about an "[education] crisis in this country" caused by a "PlayStation generation" that wants quick thrills and avoids difficult subjects like math and science.We understand that Cohen might just be using the "PlayStation generation" moniker as a convenient, rhyming shorthand for a new group of students who've grown up with the near-ubiquitous system. And we understand that there is a real problem with math and science education in this country, especially when compared with the rest of the world. But to imply that students raised on modern video games are easily distracted and afraid of a challenge is simply nonsense.Ask any gamer who's gotten a 100 percent completion in Grand Theft Auto III if they were inclined to give up because it was "too hard." Ask the new breed of professional gamers if they are reluctant to practice for hours a day because the competition is "too hard." Ask the thousands of fans who've decided to develop mods for their favorite game if they were discouraged from learning the necessary programming skills because it was "too hard."Students aren't shying away from math and science because the subjects are hard -- they're shying away because no one has made these subjects interesting to them. Instead of vilifying video games for encouraging instant gratification, our educators should be trying to learn what makes these games so engaging and applying these same techniques to their math and science courses. It's amazing what students are willing to learn if the lessons are hidden in the guise of something fun.[Update: Fixed a grammar error. Thanks malwin.]
Jobs Blasts Teachers Unions
Well having annoyed a lot of folks with his recent missive on DRM, Uncle Steve seemed likely to be making more enemies on Friday at a conference in Texas about K-12 education reform where he appeared along with Michael Dell. The AP reports that Jobs said, "I believe that what is wrong with our schools in this nation is that they have become unionized in the worst possible way. This unionization and lifetime employment of K-12 teachers is off-the-charts crazy." Being in higher education, I see the results of our K-12 education on a daily basis, and it's clear that there's a problem. One interesting thing about this, whether you ultimately agree with Jobs or not, is that he felt free to say it. Jobs even allowed, "Apple just lost some business in this state, I'm sure," though the AP noted that "the audience applauded enthusiastically" several times. It is perhaps not surprising that Dell "sat quietly with his hands folded in his lap" while Jobs was being his charismatic self.[Via NSLog();]
Education as portable as a pop song
Your next class may fit in your pocket, according to John Austin of the Dallas Fort Worth Star Telegram. Distance learning is becoming "as portable as a pop song", a phrase I loved enough to use as the headline for this post. The article lists numerous success stories including one guy who works on an off-shore oil-rig, another who teaches cardiology and uses the iPod to help his students learn the distinctive sounds of heart murmurs, and distance learners who otherwise live their life on airplanes. Going virtual means adapting content. Amber Finn of Texas Christian University talks in the article about how she learned to shorten her lectures and mix up her presentations to make them work better as portable media. One thing the article points out, which is often missed in this kind of coverage, is the additional costs of spoken over printed media. Given the high price of in-class instruction, whether for evening or regular University classes, I'm guessing there may be a long term savings for students despite short term cost increases.
Gamez R gud for learnin', sez researcherz
The Chicago Tribune has written up a nice little survey of some of the research being done on the educational benefits of video games. The studies are still too early on to generate any real conclusions, but the anecdotal evidence is impressive, according to the article. Researchers are lauding the critical thinking skills engendered by simulation and role-playing games, and the ability of games to keep terminally bored students engaged with a subject. Even the socialization offered by talking about a game like Grand Theft Auto has educational value, according to the University of Wisconsin's Kurt Squire.
Learn Chinese through an MMO
Michigan State University's Confucius Institute is jumping on the virtual education bandwagon with a planned MMO that seeks to teach Mandarin Chinese. Zon -- The New Chengo Chinese will have users advancing from small towns and villages to large cities and "cosmopolitans" as they learn more about China's language and culture. The details on how this will work in a massively multiplayer context are a little unclear, but an Investor's Business Daily article mentions players will be able to interact with other players through business transactions and as tour guides. A design framework for the game claims it will have "1000 learning activities" comprising the equivalent of a "3000-hour Chinese language and culture learning contents." Anyone who thinks that sounds like a lot of time to be playing one game obviously doesn't know many World of Warcraft players. If this trend continues, pretty soon all learning will be conducted through the superior form of the MMO. We can't wait for the math MMO where you have to run around hacking up equations to collect rare numbers like pi and the elusive but highly coveted sword of square root.
DS Daily: DS as educational tool
We're no strangers to the notion that the DS is education-friendly; after all, one of the system's best-selling titles is little more than a learning tool spiced up with a dash of competition. The subject has come up over the years, and it's surfaced again as another education professional is coming out in favor of video games as viable job preparation platforms for children, but most of David Williamson Shaffer's work is centered around specific types of games -- games designed as educational software. But what about regular games? As gamers, do you feel that playing has helped hone your wits? That's today's DS Daily topic: what, if any, benefits does gaming provide, and are only certain kinds of games "good" for you?
Emotion-tracking rings to assist in distance learning
Let's face it, not all of us will have the luxury of attending a school where we get to construct massive LEGO machines or learn how to become savvy in SMS, but a developing technology that tracks student emotions could help tutors and distance instructors alike in keeping kids focused while learning. Co-developed by Essex University's Vic Callaghan and Shanghai Jiao Tong University's Liping Shen, the emotion-tracking tutoring software can analyze physical signs to keep track of a student's attention span, their level of understanding, and even the amount of stress a certain lesson produces. Aimed to help tutors become more effective and to add another layer of "personal" to distance-based education courses, the software would receive information about a student's "heart rate, blood pressure and changes in electrical resistance caused by perspiration" via a sensor-laden, Bluetooth-enabled ring worn on one's finger. The information can then be assessed to determine a student's interest level and frustration level, but a decibel meter to measure snoring isn't likely to be included. If all goes as planned, the team intends on testing the system out in "real learning scenarios in China" to further tweak their creation, so it won't be too long now before an interest-tracking ring will become as necessary as pencil and paper a stylus and a tablet PC come class time.
UK Minister calls for industry-sponsored games academy
British Minister for Creative Industries and Tourism Shaun Woodward has called on the video game industry to sponsor a games academy. Woodward imagines the training ground would be similar to the London Film School and could harvest talent that would otherwise go unnoticed. "You might have kids who traditionally have quite a difficult time coping with traditional academic subjects but happen to be the most amazing gamers," explained Woodward.While it's unclear if Woodward makes the distinction between 'gamer' and 'gamer developer,' he does make an important point: the games industry has moved beyond its "rebel period." Now, as a significant factor of economic growth, perhaps it is time for the industry to build its own "institutional bricks." Where do we send the application?[Via Gamasutra]
Using games as specialized learning
The Chicago Tribune recently published an expose on the efforts of David Williamson Shaffer, an Assistant Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a long and accredited background in education. Shaffer is pushing to use video games as a means of teaching kids new specializations, as opposed to enhancing currently-covered curriculum (e.g., Math Blasters).Shaffer, who just released a book How Computer Games Help Children Learn, argues that we should utilize interactive entertainment to better prepare children for the real world. "We already choose to have our kids think like historians [in history class]," he said, "or like cartoon scientists ... In thinking like a journalist or an urban planner or a lawyer in society, you prepare kids to enter the workforce as more prepared citizens."We await the day where our descendants enjoy a round of Mario Teaches Electrical Engineering.See Also:Our coverage of the Serious Game Summit 2006[Update 1: It's Shaffer, not Shaffen -- I used both. Sorry for the confusion.]
National Association of Photoshop Professionals CS3 Blowout
Well if, like me, you thought Macworld had something going on with their preview which we mentioned earlier, then prepared to be blown away by the National Association of Photoshop Professional's CS3 Beta Preview Learning Center. This site rocks, with tons of videos, FAQs, tips [some free, some paid]. There's also this choice tidbit from NAPP's eligibility FAQ: "If you don't own Photoshop CS2 then you can download and try the Photoshop CS3 beta for 2 days. Essentially, you have a 2-day grace period before you have to activate the software." This is seemingly confirmed on Adobe's download page which states: "A licensed copy of Photoshop CS2, Creative Suite 2, Production Studio, Adobe Web Bundle, or Adobe Video Bundle is required to use this technology beyond a two-day trial period." (I'm trying to download right now, but strangely Adobe's site is really slow today. Wonder why?). One question though: can't the National Association of Photoshop Professionals come up with a cooler looking logo? Thanks Larry Becker.
Intel's Classmate PC to go head to head with OLPC in Brazil
Given the quite disparate price points -- around $400 for Intel's fledgling Classmate PC, $140 for the cute little OLPC -- we would think the two different machines wouldn't be treading on each other's toes too terribly much at this time, but that doesn't seem to be the case in Brazil. Intel just committed to donating 700-800 of the Classmate PCs for a large in-school evaluation. Brazil will be pitting the laptop up against an OLPC prototype they just got in the mail, along with another similarly education-bent laptop from an Indian company. "We're going to put it in the classroom and see how it does," says Jose Aquinto. Walter Bender of the OLPC camp welcomes the competition: "The only way the price is going to continue to go down is competition in the marketplace." Sure sounds like they're getting it.
IBM to future game makers: Stay in school
The vagaries of computer chip design don't usually hold a school child's rapt attention. But tell the student how that chip design relates to video games and things might go a little differently.That was clearly IBM's hope when they invited over 300 New York area children to its $2.5-billion East Fishkill manufacturing plant this week to show them how the chips behind today's game systems get made. The trip was part of a program to encourage math and science education by "making the subjects interesting and relevant to them."To that end, IBM showed the students how math and science make games possible, and how the technology behind video games is being used in everything from health care to energy exploration. The students also got to get some hands on time with the next-gen systems, which we're sure made them forget all about that boring educational stuff.With IBM chips in all three next-gen systems, the company clearly has a vested interest in promoting its position at the forefront of gaming hardware technology. Still, it's always nice to see a corporate mega-conglomerate giving something back to the community.
Serious Games Summit: ExerGaming + EduGaming = ExerLearning
It's a no-brainer that games like Dance Dance Revolution can do wonders in combating our country's growing youth obesity epidemic. But can rhythm-action games also help children improve cognitive skills like reading comprehension and concentration?Former Florida teacher Judy Shasek would likely answer that question with an emphatic yes. With the help of a $125,000 sponsorship from RedOctane, Shasek has integrated games like Dance Dance Revolution and Guitar Hero and accessories like the X-Board into the curricula at three test schools around the country for the past three years. The results, Shasek said in a presentation at the Serious Games Summit, mirror the results of numerous academic studies that show 10 minutes of aerobic activity before a test can be more helpful than 20 minutes of tutoring, and that replacing four hours per week of class time with physical education helps standardized test scores go up.What's more, playing rhythm games leads to improved algebra skills, Shasek says, and reading fast-moving notes in games like DDR helps train children's eyes for reading text. No ones really sure why these games have the cognitive effects that they do, but the working theories involve increased oxygenation to the brain and hidden, unlocked power in the cerebellum, the brain's motion and balance center. Whatever the science, Shasek says introducing the games also has fringe benefits like decreased absenteeism and improved attentiveness among students.Shasek is hoping to expand her program to teachers and schools across the country through her web site, Generation Fit, which includes some great videos of students getting their dance on. She's also trying to expand the benefits to the adult workplace with Revive! Nation, a program focused on adding rhythm games to break/lunch rooms. With physical activity on the decline among kids and adults, we can only say more power to her.
Panasonic's taking plasmas on tour
With the big holiday selling season coming up, Panasonic is hitting the road to "educate" consumers on the benefits of its plasma TVs. Featured most prominently in this roadshow is the famed 103-inch 1080p plasma, but more affordable 37-, 42-, 50- and 58-inch 720p models will make an appearance as well. The current 65-inch 1080p plasma will also be on show, but still no word on when the U.S. will see the new 1080p PZ600U series that would go so well with that new DMP-BD10. Between this and its Plasma Concierge program, Panasonic is doing a lot to capitalize on alleviate buyer confusion about HDTVs, if you live near Tyson's Corner Center Mall in Washington D.C. stop by and have a look today. Good luck at getting a pic of yourself next to that 103-incher in the Flickr pool before Mark Cuban.
iWriter - easily create study tools for the iPod, .Mac and the web
Yea that's right: I said 'study tools' and 'iPod' in the same sentence. iWriter is an interesting little app from Talking Panda that allows you to quickly build projects and study tools for easy viewing on an iPod or the internets. Projects can be uploaded to a .Mac account, and iWriter offers 8 project templates to help students and teachers alike hit the ground running. This handy little app can even record lectures, and a preview pane allows you to see exactly what your project will look like on an iPod while you build it.All this isn't bad for a $12 piece ofUniversal Binary shareware. While a demo is available, Talking Panda receives a ding for requiring an email address to download it (though I can understand a small software outfit's need to reach out to their potential customers). Still, check iWriter out if you're in the market for more better studying with the help of your iPod.[via the intrepid Nik Fletcher]
Scientists recommend educational gaming
The Federation of American Scientists have concluded that gaming can provide skills useful in the job market and attributes that would facilitate learning. Making logical deductions, staying on task, staying motivated and goal-oriented despite constant failure, and infinite patience are all abilities gamers have and students need. Can we somehow converge gaming and education in such a way as to retain motivation while providing an educational environment?Following a Summit on Educational Games, FAS has released a report (PDF file) that calls on the government to fund research into educational games: establishing new approaches to educational games, evaluating their merit, and working with established game developers to devise new strategies. FAS also calls on business leaders to put a greater emphasis on educational software, particularly in the K-12 school system.Formed in 1945 by Manhattan Project scientists, FAS is endorsed by 67 Nobel Laureates. They have in the past developed three games: Immune Attack, Discover Babylon, and Mutli Casualty Incident Response.[Via ars technica; thanks, jayntampa]
FairPlay: coming to a classroom near you?
We haven't talked about iTunes U here in a while, but it's been on my mind lately, as I'm heading up my U's roll-out. It's a long, tortuous process--because of our internal bureaucracy, not Apple's--but, despite the fact I haven't been talking to our official reps (the extent of those conversations has been "we're still working out the details"), I have had the opportunity to sit down with some people from Apple and talk about the project. One of the topics of discussion was the direction of iTunes U 2.0 development. Apparently Apple has significantly increased the personnel dedicated to the project and has a number of enhancements planned. The person I was talking to couldn't tell me what, exactly, but he said that they were looking at community feature requests. Naturally, my next question was "well, what features have people requested?" The answers surprised me. Among the most requested features is on-site storage. This was a little bit of a shock, since one of the selling points for me was letting Apple handle the potentially multi-terabyte storage requirements and not worring about managing--not to mention funding--a SAN of that size myself. I can understand, though, that people want to keep control of their own information, and have on-site backups, etc. Closely following that was e-commerce capability. Again, a bit of a surprise. I wouldn't expect a free service to allow me to charge for access. on the other hand, I suspect that some professors would like to include materials that require royalty payment, so some vehicle for processing that will be required eventually, I suppose.The #1 request, though, completely floored me: DRM. In fact, it is so in-demand that it has apparently been the deal-breaker for the majority of universities that had been approached about iTunes U and refused. That revelation literally left me speechless. It's one thing to realize that not everyone is as rabidly anti-DRM as I am, but DRM in the classroom flies in the face of not only my general IP position, but everything I like to believe about academic freedom. I've heard of cases, of course, where universities have claimed faculty-developed course materials as work-for-hire and property of the university, but that's never been the case at any university I've been associated with and I've generally understood that those were fringe cases. The idea that a significant number of universities would refuse to participate in iTunes U because of a lack of DRM is just...staggering.Of course, that doesn't mean that FairPlay or any other DRM will find its way into iTunes U. But if Apple is dedicated to the project and the one of the biggest stumbling blocks seems to be DRM, well, you do the math.And the worst part? If FairPlay does show up it won't be Apple's fault, or even the RIAA's. The universities will have done it to themselves.Update: just wanted to clarify that second sentence a little. It's come to my attention that the original wording led a couple of people to jump to incorrect conclusions. You guys remember the bit about "assume," right?
DS as language tool
In Leipzig, Nintendo announced a new DS game designed to teach the user English. Wunderbar! The game is due in Germany on October 13th.While the possibility seems obvious, Nintendo has not announced any plans to release games geared at other languages. Here's hoping, however -- how convenient would it be to study language on the go with a DS? Whether you're using the DS game to brush up on a language you already know, or delving into something new, the opportunities here are vast. But instead of going into that, Ninty was careful to distance the DS from education, stating that the handheld would not turn into an educational tool. And why not? So long as the games continue to be fabulous, what's wrong with educating the masses in a fun and portable way?Let us know what you think!
