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Penny Arcade Scholarship now accepting applications
Wondering what it feels like to be on the receiving end of the benevolence frequently exhibited by the creators of Penny Arcade? If you're a college student with starry-eyed ambitions to change the video game industry for the better, you might be able to bask in the warm light of their generosity by receiving the fourth annual Penny Arcade Scholarship, a $10,000 academic grant set aside for a special student with a GPA over 3.3 and the aforementioned revolutionary aspirations. Applications for the scholarship are currently being accepted and must be sent in by May 30, along with two letters of recommendation, an academic transcript, an essay on how you plan to change the industry and your photograph, which will only be seen publicly if you're the winner, as displayed on the scholarship's page. It's not like the Penny Arcade guys are basing their decision on prettiness or anything. [Via GamePolitics]
NIU professor teaches engineering through video games
At Northern Illinois University, engineering professor Brianno Coller teaches both "Dynamic Systems and Control" and "Computational Methods." Rather than simply employ traditional methods of teaching, though, Coller instead creates video games to actively engage his students in engineering principles. According to an AP piece on Mr. Coller, he began showing his students Mars Rover landing footage from NASA (computer generated) and "Students would always be sort of on the edge of their seat watching this thing because it's just so cool to see how it works, but that sentiment ended as soon as you turned off the video, and then they're back to their boring old homework again," he says. Coller came to the conclusion that he needed a "simulation that allowed students to design a desired movement or action using the required formulas and algorithms that apply to all types of engineering." In so many words, Coller was thinking about a video game to explain engineering principles to his students. And now, five years later, he's found success with his games -- one of which has students applying rate of speed and geometrical calculations to a car being driving around a track -- and The National Science Foundation is offering financial support for future development. "You're applying what you learn throughout the semester, so you apply stuff without even knowing it," one satisfied student told the AP. For those of you future engineers thinking Northern Illinois University might be the place for you (after reading this piece, naturally), the school will be expanding Coller's "gaming as teaching" approach to new engineering classes in the future.
WoW, Casually: A spring invitation to students who raid
Robin Torres writes WoW, Casually for the player with limited playtime. This week we invite raiders who are in school to join us and try out being a casual. Because our esteemed editor-in-chief was on NPR's "On Point" last week, I gave it a listen. As expected, the show took a few calls from people who are completely incapable of balancing their work and playtime -- people whose lives were "ruined by WoW." There was also the person who said that "you can't do anything without 24 other people," which we know is absolutely not the case. And the one that really caught my attention: the psychologist who gets panicked calls every spring from parents whose teens are playing so much WoW that they aren't going to pass. It fascinates me that this is seasonal and also so last-minute. Additionally, I am curious as to whether there are other activities that get in the way during the spring that psychologists also get frantic calls about. I remember it being so hard to focus in the spring while in school -- even in a climate that doesn't have seasons. Summer is looming on the horizon with vacation, new opportunities and huge life changes. We're just looking for distractions at that time. For graduating students, it's called senioritis and it's been called that long before we had computers in our homes to play games. Regardless, it's an issue. But rather than risk screwing up opportunities for the rest of your life just to keep up with your raiding, it's time to give being casual a try. Here's why and how.
Nintendo slipping DS handhelds into schools, McDonald's training sessions
What's a global gaming company to do once they've soundly dominated the portable market? Why, covertly get the DS into schools and restaurants, of course! Shigeru Miyamoto, who created undercover gems like Donkey Kong and The Legend of Zelda, recently informed the AP that his company would be rolling the DS out "in junior high and elementary schools in Japan starting in the new school year," though few details beyond that were available. We do know, however, that this invasion into the education sector is more than just a fluke, with Miyamoto noting that this very area is where he is "devoting [himself] the most." Of course, the Big N already has a nice stable of mind-bending titles, but getting actual teachers to embrace the device in the classroom would be another thing entirely. In related news, select McDonald's eateries in Japan will be using the DS to train part-time workers, though mum's the word on whether the Cooking Mama franchise will be cashing in here.
'Second Sight' turns PSP camera into an augmented reality learning tool [update]
We've recently seen augmented reality used in some pretty clever ways in the gaming space, but Sony subsidiary ConnectED has come up with a way to turn real-time graphical overlays into an educational tool. Using a PSP equipped with a camera, the "Second Sight" technology allows tags embedded in textbooks or magazines to cue relevant audio or video clips directly on the PSP. The program can also create interactive 3D models which the user can examine by changing the orientation of the PSP. Check out the video after the jump to see a video demonstration of what we're talking about, and then imagine how awesome school is going to be in like, fifteen years. Update: We recently heard from Matthew Prodger, studio director at Black Ridge Technologies, who explained that his company was the actual developer and owner of the technology, while ConnectED is simply the distributor of the tech on the PSP. He also said the technology would appear on mobile phones for use in "museums, books, magazines and newspapers over the coming year." [Via Siliconera]
Miyamoto wants to get DS into classrooms (with permission)
[Brandy Shaul] Ahhh, grammar school -- there was nothing quite like trying to hide that GBA under the desk in fear of Mrs. Rosencrantz confiscating our portal into Pokémon Fire Red. Back then, handheld games were little more than an obvious distraction in the eyes of our ruler-equipped teachers, but Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto plans on changing all of that. Speaking with the Associated Press in an interview recently, the legendary game developer explained his latest devotion: bringing the Nintendo DS and Wii into schools. He said that the DS would be making its way into "junior high and elementary schools in Japan starting in the new school year" (beginning this April). Miyamoto didn't get too specific on how his company's consoles would help Japanese students with their education, only detailing it as part of Nintendo's initiative to expand the audience for gaming consoles. We have to imagine that the kids won't be using them to decide whether or not Resident Evil 4 on Wii is the best version (besides, we all already know that it is). Thankfully for our unborn children, Miyamoto didn't mention any amorphous plans to bring gaming consoles into North American schools just yet. Presumably they'll have to play it fast and loose like we did -- keeps 'em sharp!
MMO Family: How to lobby your parents for more gaming time
MMO Family is your resource for leveling a gaming-specced family. From tips on balancing gaming with family life to finding age-appropriate niches for every family member, MMO Family offers you advice on MMO gaming of the family, by the family and for the family. Today's MMO Family is for all the MMO-playing teens out there who'd like more time to game. Parents, you're most welcome to stay and read along (and hand this to your own teen afterwards), but we've covered your perspective before. (Refer back to our tips on how to balance gaming with the rest of your life, or check the signs that your teen may be over-indulging in too much gaming.) What we haven't covered yet explicitly are strategies for responsible teens to earn permission for more gaming time. If you're jonesing for more time in game and online, there are things that you should and shouldn't do before you even make your case with your parents. Here's our game plan.
OU professor submerses laptop in liquid nitrogen, smashes it to prove a point (video)
Hey, students -- pay attention. Not to us, mind you, but to the syllabus provided by your professor. Kieran Mullen, a physics professor at the University of Oklahoma, has a fairly strict rule about gadgets in class: there won't be any, ever, under any circumstances. Balk all you want (understandable given his own clipped-on cellie), but if you sign up for this guy's class, you'll be flipping your phone to "off" and leaving your laptop in the dormitory. And if you try to blaze your own path and slip that netbook into the back row, you might leave bitterly disappointed. As you'll see clearly in the video past the break, Mr. Mullen sought to make a visual point that laptops weren't allowed in class (he calls them "a distraction"), and while it seems that the whole stunt was premeditated, most students acknowledged that his point was driven home. In short, he took a defunct machine, submerged it in liquid nitrogen, and proceeded to make the following statement: "This is just liquid nitrogen, so it alone won't hurt the computer. But this will." Find out exactly what "this" was by hitting that 'Read More' button there on the lower left. [Thanks, studentatOU]
Arizona school bus gains WiFi, students suddenly chill out and get productive
Who woulda thunk it? Giving WiFi to fidgety students on a bus actually makes them more productive. Nearly three years after an Arkansas school launched a trial that delivered laptops, iPods and wireless internet to a bus, an Arizona school district is discovering the merits of such a system -- though with this one, there stands a good chance for it to go well beyond the "pilot" phase. Students in Vail, Arizona have been able to handle school assignments, engage in research and even update their Facebook status on the lengthy rides to and from school, and the suits responsible for hooking Bus No. 92 up have stated that mischief has all but subsided and the bus has magically morphed into something of a "rolling study hall." As you'd expect, Autonet Mobile is responsible for the technology (the same company equipping select GM vehicles with in-car WiFi), and it has already sold similar tech to schools or districts in Florida, Missouri and Washington, DC. We always dreamed of being whisked off to another lousy school day on the GamerBUS, but this ain't a half bad alternative. [Thanks, Nate]
DigiPen expands, increasing graduating class size by a third
[Image credit: Wade Rockett] Being a premier college for game developers seeking out bachelor's and master's degrees in mind-bending, DigiPen recently announced plans to expand its campus to a larger location in Redmond, Washington. A 100,000 square-foot ex-Microsoft building will house the expanded facilities -- said to include "tiered-seating auditoriums, classrooms, art studios, electronic labs, a large work area for students to study and collaborate on projects, library, cafeteria with a professional kitchen, student recreation room and a general store" -- and the opening is set to take place as early as this Summer. Redmond Mayor John Marchione points to the school's financial and culture benefits to the region in the press release, saying, "DigiPen is a tremendous asset to the Redmond community, with considerable contributions to education, the arts and our local economy." The Seattle Times points out that this move brings with it an increase in the school's matriculated roster from 900 to 1,200, bringing DigiPen one small step closer to total global domination.
WoW, Casually: Playing WoW with your teen
Robin Torres writes WoW, Casually for the player with limited playtime. Of course, you people with lots of playtime can read this too, but you may get annoyed by the fact that we are unashamed, even proud, of the fact that beating WoW isn't our highest priority. Take solace in the fact that your gear is better than ours, but if that doesn't work, remember that we outnumber you. Not that that's a threat, after all, we don't have time to do anything about it. But if WoW were a democracy, we'd win. Last year, I talked about playing with preschoolers and reading-age children. Several months later, I'd like to continue the series by tackling the topic of teens. I'm now tempted to talk in tantalizing alliteration, but I really can't keep it up. Anyway... Teens provide a completely different challenge than the young children we've discussed before. Teens are already extremely competent readers, experience Trade Chat-like talk in school on a regular basis and have the coordination skills required to fully play the game. So they don't need the coddling and constant supervision, but that doesn't mean that the benefits of parents playing with teens aren't just as valuable.
Arduino and accelerometer harmoniously come together in DIY music controller
Look, Physical Computing can be a drain. Particularly when your Summa Cum Laude status is hinging on you acing the final. We're guessing that one Ryan Raffa managed to pull off a pretty decent grade, as his final project is nothing short of delectable. In a (presumably successful) attempt to wow onlookers and professors alike, Ryan cooked up an audio controller that utilized an ADXL 335 accelerometer (for motion sensing) and an Arduino board that communicates serially with Max MSP. The controller itself boasts inputs for five tracks and the sixth button applies a delay to all of the tracks; he was even kind enough to host up the Max MSP and Arduino code (it's there in the source link), and if you're interested in hearing what all the fuss is about, be sure to hop past the break and mash play.
London school children to get free loaner iPhones in experimental, educational trial
It's not the first time we've seen the iPhone used as an experimental means of education, but a London school's recent announcement of its plans has caught our attention. The Gumley House Convent School -- a small, Christian School for girls ages 11 to 18 -- in London has laid out its plan to use give Apple's smartphone to a select group of 30 students as a test educational measure. Previous efforts we've seen to rope the iPhone into modern education have been mostly at the collegiate level, but Gumley's plan is still a bit vague. The girls will have free access to all of the phone's features with the exception of actual calls, and the trial will last until the end of the school year. Like we said -- the school's not given out details as to what the actual rules of use will be -- but we have a feeling this will all end in some wild bout of texting overload.
Confused school district fires sysadmin for running SETI@home: 'As an educational institution we do not support the search for E.T.'
We've dealt with a number of confused and outright foolish school administrators in our time, but it seems like Arizona's Higley Unified School District might be run by the most bonkers of the bunch: they've fired IT director Brad Niesluchowski for running SETI@Home on some 5,000 of the district's machines. Why? According to confidently-underinformed superintendent Denise Birdwell, Higley Unified "certainly would have supported cancer research," but does "not support the search for E.T." Well, that's just peachy -- except that her flippant dismissal of SETI belies a complete ignorance of one of the oldest and most respected distributed-computing projects in the world, and what it's actually looking for. Oh, but it gets worse: Birdwell thinks SETI@home -- which primarily runs as a screensaver -- was somehow slowing down "educational programs in every classroom," and magically estimates that it's cost her district "$1 million in added utility fees and replacement parts," with a further huge cost required to remove the software. Completing her transformation into the worst-possible stereotype of a school district superintendent, Birdwell's even got the local cops on the case. Yeah, it's idiotic, but it could be worse -- we can only imagine the hell that would have broken loose had Higley's machines been a part of the renegade Engadget Folding@home team. Update: So there's apparently more going on here as well, including allegations of stolen equipment and -- inevitably -- downloaded porn, but none of that explains why Superintendent Birdwell is giving press conferences where she slams SETI. Check the more coverage links for the full story, and make sure to hit the source link for the video.
Rockstar's Beaterator subbing for music teachers in some NYC public schools
Despite a relatively low-key launch on the PSP this past Fall, Rockstar Games' Beaterator is showing back up in the news this week for reasons that we couldn't have seen coming from a mile away. It turns out that kids in some NYC public schools are getting their music education by means of the beat making application and PSPs, with a custom workshop being taught by Dubspot. CBS2 News reports that students from the East Side High School in Manhattan are being instructed on not just using Beaterator's tools, but also creating fully fleshed out tracks. "They're able to learn music theory in a different format ... it's the same information, just a different way of presenting it," the class' teacher says. Copies of Beaterator and PSPs are being provided for free, as is the classroom. We've contacted Rockstar to see if it plans on expanding the program into other cities. [Via Rockstar Games]
Crytek hooks up universities with free CryENGINE 3
If you're somebody attending one of the fine institutions that offer game development courses, you could very well find yourself using CryENGINE 3 soon. Crytek recently announced that it would grant free licenses for its purty new development platform to houses of higher education. It's not the first time the company has offered its goods on the arm for universities, as students also got access CryENGINE 2 back in the day. Just like the cigarette companies, Crytek's goal is to hook 'em while they're young, as R&D manager Ury Zhilinsky hopes that providing the engine free to schools will help students and teachers "become part of our larger CryENGINE community, so they can create their own innovations and train to become the developers of the future." You know, a future with plenty of CryENGINE 3 in it -- at least up until 2012, anyway. [Thanks, Casey]
Uruguay becomes first nation to provide a laptop for every primary school student
Uruguay's been a huge fan of the One Laptop Per Child initiative for quite some time, and while we're still unsure if it's the entity's biggest customer, the aforesaid nation is certainly doing some serious business with Nicholas Negroponte and Company. After the first swath of youngsters received their green and white XOs back in May of 2007, the final smattering of kids have now joined the proud group of laptop-toting tots in the country's circuit of primary schools. You heard right -- every last pupil in Uruguay's primary school system now has a laptop and a growing love for Linux, and we're told that the whole thing cost the country less than five percent of its entire education budget. So, who's next?[Via Digg, image courtesy of oso]
ESA: Record number of game development classes offered in U.S.
digg_url = 'http://digg.com/educational/Record_number_of_game_development_classes_offered_in_U_S'; According to a report recently published by the Entertainment Software Association, colleges in 37 states (and the District of Columbia) currently play host to 254 courses in video game design, art and programming. That may sound like a skimpy sum, but it's up from 200 programs offered last year. We'd tell you what percentage increase that represents, but we didn't take many math courses throughout our collegiate career. Rich Taylor, ESA's senior vice president of communications and industry affairs, said these figures are indicative of "the importance of the videogames industry, which is well-poised to create additional employment and professional opportunities in the coming years." We just see them as scholastic incubators for the next generation of Schafers, Carmacks and Wrights.
Kindle DX called "poor excuse of an academic tool" in Princeton pilot program
We've never thought the Kindle DX was ideal for serious studying, and it sounds like the students and teachers in Princeton's pilot program agree with us -- after two weeks of use in three classes, the Daily Princetonian reports many are "dissatisfied and uncomfortable" with their e-readers, with one student calling it "a poor excuse of an academic tool." Most of the criticisms center around the Kindle's weak annotation features, which make things like highlighting and margin notes almost impossible to use, but even a simple thing like the lack of true page numbers has caused problems, since allowing students to cite the Kindle's location numbers in their papers is "meaningless for anyone working from analog books." That's all led to word that Princeton won't be bringing the Kindle back to school next year, but we'll see if Amazon -- or anyone else -- can address all these complaints before that decision is made final. [Thanks, Tom]
NYC's public gaming school enters first semester, teaching with 'Troggles'
The first semester of New York City's Quest to Learn began last week on the 9th, with an inaugural class of around 75 sixth graders in NYC's Chelsea neighborhood taking classes that employ games (of all types) in learning. "One thing I want to emphasize: this is not a school about just playing video games ... this is a school that uses the system of games to deliver rich discussion," the school's principal, Aaron Schwartz, told Joystiq over the phone this morning. "We use games as a medium here." Education at Quest to Learn is delivered through a variety of means other than games, though game systems are a focus for teaching the specific subset of student that Q2L targets: "digital kids." We pressed him on exactly how the students will be using games like LittleBigPlanet to assist with education. "Right now, one of our classes called 'The Way Things Work' [math/science] is using clips from LittleBigPlanet to introduce this race called the 'Troggles' who are having problems with how things work," he said. " Our kids are studying simple machines, so the Troggles have reached out to our children for help building their machines." As the semester progresses, students will build on their knowledge by creating something a bit more complex -- a Rube Goldberg machine. "Some of them will be doing it in actuality, some may be doing it virtually, and from there they'll use LBP to understand other concepts." Quest to Learn plans on adding one new grade annually (up to 12) and is currently hiring teachers for next year.
