Welcome to this month’s iteration of What’s New in Game-Based Learning – your trusted destination for the latest news and updates on all things educational, serious, and AR/VR games for learning!
Check out our hand-picked selection of news features, interviews, and articles below, then stay tuned on the Filament Games blog for next month’s featured stories! ⤵
Familiar with Triseum’s calculus learning game Variant: Limits? If not, you owe it to yourself to check out the game’s official trailer – featuring gorgeous 3D visuals and an awe-inspiring soundtrack, Variant is worthy of a spot in the game-based learning canon based on sheer production values alone! But that’s not all: according to a recent study from Texas A&M University, undergraduate calculus students who played the game scored higher on class exams when compared to their peers who did not play. READ MORE.
Friend of Filament Matthew Farber Ed.D. recently had a chance to sit down for an interview with Jordan Shapiro, Ph.D., senior fellow at the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop and author of the all-new book The New Childhood: Raising Kids to Thrive in a Connected World. In his Edutopia interview, Shapiro speaks candidly about the need for digital play in today’s classrooms, as well as the role educators must play in helping encourage students to maintain healthy, balanced, and responsible relationships with their personal devices. READ MORE.
When I describe an “epic fantasy role-playing adventure,” what’s the first thing that comes to mind? The Lord of the Rings franchise? Perhaps your favorite game from Bethesda’s iconic Elder Scrolls series? What about a grade 6 classroom in Milwaukee, Wisconsin? For some students, the use of simulations and role-play in their schools is reality – KQED’s Mindshift highlights a number of educators who have embraced live-action role play (also known as LARPing) as a means to help engage students in their learning. READ MORE.
Playful…assessment!? Yes, you read that right – and that’s exactly the goal of Keenville, a game-based assessment tool created by FabeVision Studios in collaboration with the Georgia Department of Education and the Georgia Center for Assessment. Designed to help take the stress out of formative tests by providing a playful way to assess students’ progress on key reading and math learning objectives, Keenville’s current suite of 10 learning games is anticipated to grow to more than 30 by fall 2019 as additional Georgia schools and districts adopt the cutting-edge experimental program. READ MORE.
No matter the setting – K-12 classrooms, medical schools, and organizations of all shapes and sizes – it seems VR is proving to be an extremely powerful tool for learning. And now, with VR headset prices falling while spending on employee training rises among U.S. organizations, more companies that ever before are dipping their toes into the world of virtual reality for training. Want to see more real-world examples of XR in the workplace? Check out this all-new report from CNN which highlights an assortment of creative ways that companies are utilizing virtual reality to recruit and train their staff. READ MORE.
Miss last month’s roundup of game-based learning news? Have no fear, check it out here!