The organization, BrainMeld, consists of a conglomerate of gamers, educators, researchers and software designers committed to combine new technologies with classroom designs to enhance education in the information age. One of the coolest aspects of this site centers on its availability of free gaming guides for teachers to use for their classroom instruction for grades K-12. In addition there is room available for individuals to submit guides for college and grad school as well, although currently none are listed as of this time.
http://www.brainmeld.org/index.htm
In addition to the organization's templates of teaching guides, there is also a free word doc for those who wish to implement their own guides and submit to the library for the organization. Although, some parts of the website remain under development, the forum consists of over 9,000+ members and continues to grow each day. The best aspect centers on the guides for any teacher to incorporate into their own lesson plan.
One example, the guide titled " A Wild Ride in 3rd Grade", by Alicia Young, includes the game Rollercoaster Tycoon for students to better understand math work with polygons, area and perimeter data, algebra and reasoning. Her design implements elements of both logical reasoning and problem solving in an engaging format for students to understand sequencing of events and constructive design of the park. Essentially, students traverse the park and encounter a series of interludes designed to teach an aspect of the math curriculum allowing for a seamless transition and this aspect assists students with developing cognitive sequencing of linear math problem solving. The guide also provides a rubric for grading and scoring as well as explanations for requiring to meet state standards in the curriculum. Also, the game provides a dual format for students of both PC and Mac computer backgrounds.
For any teacher wanting to add an element of video-gaming to their own instruction definitely needs to take a look at this organization for guides and ideas. The content of the website in addition to the forums and guides section make this organization one of the more dedicated to melding both education and gaming technology to classroom instruction.
Henning, Ted (2005). BrainMeld: Bridging the gap between gaming and education. Retrieved March 25, 2008, from the website: http://www.brainmeld.org/index.htm
2 comments:
Hey Ben,
I checked out this site and I definitely like it.
Thank you for exploring the issue of the implementation of pedagogical strategies to support the integration of gaming and education. I am also very interested in this issue. Teaching Guides part in this site helped me a lot. I will read more.
I also found other useful information from this site, such as video game ratings, violence issues and gender issues. Thank you very much for sharing this wonderful site.
Jiao :)
Hi Ben,
What a find in this site with the resources like teaching guides. I know one challenge for teachers, who are primarily female (Gender Differences!! with gaming as I read in your next entry) is knowing how to use games as a educational tool and what the value is for students. With the resources, this will certainly help teachers see the connections to curriculum they can make with students.
I will be sending some time more deeply exploring these resources.
:) Garnette
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