Play with Learning

iPad vs Textbooks

With all the debate about technology in classroom, this infographic from Online Teaching degree offers an interesting perspective.

Created by: OnlineTeachingDegree.com

Play & Games articles

There’s a lot of really interesting work going on with play and games – here are some of the articles that have caught my eye in the last couple weeks.

Play

Bring Back Play and Disorganized Sports to Our Children. From The Innovative Educator. http://j.mp/n8tCG3

ChicagoQuest promotes game-playing at school – Chicago Sun-Times http://j.mp/qU8zEk

Parents’ behavior linked to kids’ video game playing. Michigan State University http://j.mp/qLuP63

Helicopter Parents Can Impede Child’s Ability to Play. From NC State http://j.mp/nyPH8v

Gamasutra – Features – Personality And Play Styles: A Unified Model http://j.mp/qV1dvx

Game-based learning

Do Action Video Games Improve Perception and Cognition? Florida Uni research in Frontiers in Cognition journal. http://j.mp/rdxeSI

In the Brain, Winning Is Everywhere. How games affect the brain. From Yale. http://j.mp/oNS856

Five Lessons On Teaching From Angry Birds That Have Nothing Whatsoever To Do With Parabolas. From dy/dan http://j.mp/qpcZ9y

Use

Find Games For Your Players [Marketing] from What Games Are http://j.mp/ob0FIy

Gamers Succeed Where Scientists Fail, Opening Door to New AIDS drug design. http://j.mp/oKX5vk

UK ‘must act to solve games industry brain drain’ Tigra study reported by BBC. http://j.mp/ocsOft

The games people play

Although I’m sceptical with much of the ‘research’ that describes virtually everybody as a ‘gamer,’ there is no doubt that over the last few years there’s been an explosion of activity in casual games. Of course one could argue that we’ve always played casual games such as Solitaire and Minesweeper but recently the genre has become more prominent and acceptable. Casual games are now regarded as an extremely lucrative business proposition and are penetrating markets where ‘play’ has previously been a nasty word.

One More Level has created this great infographic to describe the demographics of casual games.

Casual Gaming Infographic

Source: One More Level Flash Games

Childhood & Family articles

Special needs students and their teachers are the victims of a “muddled” approach to schooling, says Leicester Uni http://j.mp/qB5qcd

Socioeconomic status as child dictates response to stress as adult according to University of Minnesota http://j.mp/qDZRZ8

Parents are forgetting how to play with their children, study shows – article from The Guardian last year http://j.mp/jdoiSR

Teenage web habits: slaves to social networking but not so keen on apps, according to article in Guardian http://bit.ly/qiXS0f

Infants Learn To Transfer Knowledge By 16 Months, OSU Study Finds http://j.mp/lPOAsG

Surprisingly useful advice from Vodafone Digital Parenting Magazine http://j.mp/lhRvrM via @darrenbristow

Supportive home learning experiences in the early years boost low-income children’s readiness for school. From NYU. http://j.mp/j3JmWs

Being born & raised in a city is associated with greater lifetime risk for anxiety & mood disorder. From Nature. http://j.mp/jrjGpu

The quality of preschoolers’ social interactions is influenced by the ethnicity of the playmate. From Montreal Uni. http://j.mp/m8AxNQ

Parents prefer media content ratings system in national study led by Iowa State Uni http://j.mp/jS7Psd

How parents communicate with teenagers on mobiles gives insight into relationship according to study http://j.mp/mrfR5l

New study suggests that kids who eat sweets are *less* overweight than those that don’t. http://j.mp/lUbKlO

Informal daycare may harm kids’ cognitive development, Chicago Uni study finds http://j.mp/jLBYP7 (pdf)

One-Fifth of Grandparents Use Social Networks [STUDY] from @mashable http://j.mp/jjiX1i

Teens still learning to plan ahead from Child Development journal http://j.mp/kzyUhz

Youth cybercrime linked to friends’ influence from Michigan State University http://j.mp/iBAKm3

Apple promotes iPad for school

There’s a new TV ad from Apple extolling the potential of the iPad in classrooms.

A few months ago Edudemic posted this list of 50 Innovative Ways to Use an iPad in School.

What do you think? Does the iPad represent revolutionary technology for all teachers and students or simply another tool in the arsenal of the enthusiastic ones?

Psychology & Neuroscience articles

NCSU research: Study Shows Sports Can Help Communities Recover From Disaster http://j.mp/o0bzkz

Distract Yourself or Think It Over? Two Ways to Deal with Negative Emotions from Association for Psychological Science http://j.mp/l37Fnm

Too much choice is a bad thing – Journal of Public Economics http://j.mp/kJXbgT

Snooze you win? It’s true according to Stanford reseasrch http://j.mp/iCsjtQ

The sharing of stories or information may be driven in part by arousal according to new study. http://j.mp/jCeDqH

Text message support for smokers doubles quit rates. From the Lancet. http://j.mp/k9CmP7

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs key to wellbeing but order unimportant – University of Illinois http://j.mp/lfSR5O

Practising a little can make lasting impact on brain according to study from McMaster Uni. http://j.mp/kTz1Dz

Being born & raised in a city is associated with greater lifetime risk for anxiety & mood disorder. From Nature. http://j.mp/jrjGpu

Multi-tasking not all it’s “cracked up” to be? Stanford Study shows? bit.ly/16ko3N

Learning Styles: The Cognitive Side of Content by Johnny Holland http://j.mp/izrUDk

Teens still learning to plan ahead from Child Development journal http://j.mp/kzyUhz

Youth cybercrime linked to friends’ influence from Michigan State University http://j.mp/iBAKm3

Social Justice articles

Upwards social mobility reduces stress – Journal of Epidemiology & Community Heath http://j.mp/nJfdO9

UC Research Points to Best Practices to Reduce Recidivism http://j.mp/pQCNVc

Socioeconomic status as child dictates response to stress as adult according to University of Minnesota http://j.mp/qDZRZ8

High technology, not low taxes, may drive states’ economic growth. Penn State research. http://j.mp/iqX536

Death by Poverty? The effect of wealth and education on mortality. Study by Mailman School http://j.mp/jiAGoT

Prisoners give their time back to community in pioneering project #timebanking http://tiny.cc/hu2d3

More evidence that the tax & benefit changes are hitting the poor hardest. From the Institute For Fiscal Studies http://j.mp/iDaUat

Youth cybercrime linked to friends’ influence from Michigan State University http://j.mp/iBAKm3

Play and games articles

Some of the articles about play and games that I have seen in the last few weeks.

Theory

Online Games & Interest-Driven Learning are Transformative for Today’s Young Learners by @constances http://htn.to/anmyvV

Three Qualities That Make Video Games Better Teachers Than Teachers from EdReach http://j.mp/lNARUV

Gamification time: What if everything were just a game? From BBC News via @jonkingsbury http://j.mp/jdbxTK

Video Games and Learning « Sam Pabón’s Ed-Tech Zone http://j.mp/juDIHp

Parents are forgetting how to play with their children, study shows – article from The Guardian last year http://j.mp/jdoiSR

Video Games Help Learning Difficulties – PC Advisor http://j.mp/jIJg55

The British secretary for education Michael Gove and video games as a tool for learning> http://ow.ly/5w90f

Examples

Celebrity Calamity! – a game about financial literacy via @mcdanger http://j.mp/qBH8kj

@SixtoStart and BBC team Up for “The Code Challenge” @bbccode from ARGNet http://j.mp/iNEZfx

Video: A Fast-Moving Video Game Played On Scrolls of Printer Paper from Popular Science http://j.mp/joGpik

Social Media articles

Some of the social media articles that have caught my eye in the last few weeks:

Behaviour

People will more pay for online privacy according Carnegie Mellon study. http://j.mp/rsLc9U

Parents behaviour on Facebook no better than their children’s. University of Guelph http://j.mp/pqDxrI

One-Fifth of Grandparents Use Social Networks [STUDY] from @mashable http://j.mp/jjiX1i

Five ways to spot a social-media veteran http://sbne.ws/r/6cdF

Things You Can Tell Just By Looking At Someone’s Twitter Account: http://bit.ly/mdxN7e

10 examples of catastrophic use of social media from @mashable http://j.mp/j23EcE

Teenage web habits: slaves to social networking but not so keen on apps, according to article in Guardian http://bit.ly/qiXS0f

Video on social media facts and figures from Erik Qualman http://j.mp/lI7jbn

50 fascinating Facebook facts and figures from @jeffbullas http://j.mp/jzgRvj

9 Reasons to Switch from Facebook to Google+ http://bit.ly/mfPfZ3

Uses and application

Text message support for smokers doubles quit rates. From the Lancet. http://j.mp/k9CmP7

Twitter Chats Reveal the Future of Online Communities from TalentCulture.com http://j.mp/ktXMik

BBC Worldwide testing Facebook Credits to pay to watch classic Dr Who episodes http://bit.ly/ol45XD

Murdoch: the network defeats the hierarchy. Comment from the BBC http://j.mp/qP0EHa

You Are What You Tweet: Tracking Public Health Trends from Twitter Messages study from Johns Hopkins University http://j.mp/mOrquz

NIMH initiative · Thinking Globally to Improve Mental Health http://j.mp/rlhzjR

Smartphone app from Ohio State Uni helps you find friends in a crowd http://j.mp/jdvwVp

MIT developed tool to help teachers share best practice. http://j.mp/kIMt16

Random articles

Some of the random articles I’ve encountered in the last few weeks:

Star Wars Lightsaber Weapon, Science Fact, Fiction from Tech News Daily http://j.mp/l1da3p

Something we’ve always suspected: the beautiful London tube map isn’t the best way to navigate. From NYU http://j.mp/iEkjI9

United Kingdom and Ireland as seen from ISS http://j.mp/lFxnwL

15 cool word illusions http://j.mp/jmLe0H

Lady Gaga takes tea with Mr Fry from the FT. http://j.mp/j7klD4

Practical Tips on Writing a Book from 22 Brilliant Authors | NeuroTribes http://j.mp/jbmIlO

The 25 Best Places to Photograph on Planet Earth from Popular Photography http://j.mp/jQp5C0