Ed Got Game

If you've ever contemplated using Minecraft in your classroom, our guest will get you excited about the possibilities and point you in the right direction. Follow: @MatthewFarber @mrmatera @mr_isaacs @PBJellyGames @bamradionetwork Garrett Zimmer is a Minecraft Expert and consultant for applications of Minecraft in Education, Entertainment, and Marketing and has spent the last four years using Minecraft as a tool for these areas, on top of Founding MineGage a Minecraft Game-Based Learning company. His passion for education is reflected in his approach and accomplishments such as being recently recognized as a Top 10 Minecraft Educator.

Join us as we expand our thinking about how game-based learning can effectively make learning math engaging and entertaining. Follow: @MatthewFarber @mrmatera @mr_isaacs @randybw15 @bamradionetwork Randy Weiner is a former teacher, father, co-founder and former Board Chair at Urban Montessori Charter School in Oakland, CA - the nation's only public Montessori, Design Thinking and Arts Integration model. He is also a co-founder and the CEO at BrainQuake, a nationally recognized and award-winning math education company, who generated the App for Wuzzit Trouble.

Our guest introduces us to some of the fundamentals of how games can be used to effectively engage students and drive learning. Follow: @MatthewFarber @mrmatera @mr_isaacs @MMMooshme @bamradionetwork Barry Joseph is the associated director for digital learning at the American Museum of Natural History. He "does things with games."

ARG is an acronym for alternate reality games. Learn how teachers are using this powerful gaming model to engage students in riveting learning experiences. Follow: @MatthewFarber @mrmatera @@mr_isaacs @bamradionetwork John Fallon is an Upper School English teacher at Fairfield Country Day School in Fairfield CT. He designs alternate reality games for his classroom and believes that game based learning is a crucial best practice for modern education. He also likes games. A lot. Steve Isaacs has been teaching game design and development at William Annin middle school in Basking Ridge, NJ and online for Virtual High School for years.He is the co-founder and moderator of the weekly #EdTechBridge chat and also a founding member of the games4ed initiative.

Interactive fiction is a powerful way to grab students' attention and teach critical thinking across various content areas. Follow: @autnes @kzenovka @MatthewFarber @mrmatera @bamradionetwork Jim Pike is the creator of Mathcraft, a curriculum that teaches Common Core Math with Minecraft. He is also a 5th grade teacher at Albert Einstein Academy of Beverly Hills and Director of Game-Based Learning at CodeRev Learning Centers. http://mathcraftplc.com/

Learn how collaborating with game developers to design and test games is a powerful way to engage and support powerful learning experiences. Follow: @autnes @MatthewFarber @mrmatera @bamradionetwork Jeff Brain is a project-based technology integrated middle school teacher in northern California. He has been incorporating comics and games into curriculum design for most of his twenty-plus year teaching career.misterbrain.weebly.com jeffbrainart.com brainconferencematerials.weebly.com

Most agree that we need to reimagine the way teacher professional development is done but is gamification the answer? Follow: @lucasgillispie @MatthewFarber @mrmatera @bamradionetwork Lucas Gillispie is an Instructional Technologist for Pender County Schools in North Carolina. He is the founder of the WoWinSchool Project, a program designed to explore the educational potential of online games like World of Warcraft with middle schoolers and leads one of the largest school-based Minecraft implementations in the world. Lucas is an internationally recognized speaker, and shares his experiences and resources on his blog: http://www.edurealms.com.

Our guest shares insights about how playful learning can help offset historical disparities in the classroom. Follow: @remiholden @MatthewFarber @mrmatera @bamradionetwork Remi Holden is an Assistant Professor of Information and Learning Technologies at the University of Colorado Denver’s School of Education and Human Development. Remi plays at the intersection of the learning sciences and teacher education, where he designs novel environments and experiences for educators across multiple settings, practices, and disciplines.

Our kids are playing Minecraft, watching Minecraft videos and making Minecraft videos. Today we explore whether or not Minecraft is a viable teaching tool. Follow: @Gridjumper @MatthewFarber @mrmatera @bamradionetwork Tanya Martin is a gamer, teacher, professional developer,and game-based learning advocate. She is the Professional Development Chair for ISTE's Game and Simulation Network and coordinates the EduMachinima Fest, a game-based strategy for demonstrating student learning.

Our guest shares her seven-point strategy for creating effective game-based lesson plans. Follow: @instituteofplay @MatthewFarber @mrmatera @bamradionetwork Shula Ehrlich is a designer and educator living in Brooklyn, New York. Holding an MFA in Design and Technology from Parsons The New School for Design, Ehrlich is currently Lead Game Designer at Institute of Play, a New York based non-profit design studio that leverages the power of games and play to make learning irresistible. Shula's passions are around engaging people (of all ages) through games and reintroducing the fun back into learning!

Our guest brings us an update on some of the initiatives and groups who are collaborating to help move gamifcation into mainstream classrooms. Follow: @mr_isaacs@MatthewFarber @mrmatera @bamradionetwork Steve Isaacs has been teaching game design and development at William Annin middle school in Basking Ridge, NJ and online for Virtual High School for years. In addition, he is the co-founder and moderator of the weekly #EdTechBridge chat; a community of edtech stakeholders with a goal of developing collaborative relationships involving educators, developers, students, and researchers working together to build better edtech products. Steve is also a founding member of the games4ed initiative which aims to examine and break down barriers to getting more games in the classroom to enhance learning opportunities for students.

Our guest discusses the education value of video games. In this segment we talk about how video games encourage discovery, exploration and pushing the boundaries. Follow: @pauldarvasi @MatthewFarber @mrmatera @bamradionetwork Paul Darvasi teaches high school English and media studies at Royal St. George's College in Toronto, Canada. He is completing a PhD at York University's Language, Culture and Teaching program with a focus on the integration of digital and pervasive games in educational environments.

Game-based learning shows up in many different ways. In this segment we look at the hidden ways in which games promote learning. Follow: @snicholson @MatthewFarber @mrmatera @bamradionetwork Scott Nicholson is currently the director of the Because Play Matters game lab at Syracuse University's School of Information Studies. He focuses on games for informal learning, meaningful gamification, and creating escape rooms in a learning environment. He is also the creator of two games, Tulipmania 1637, Going, Going, Gone!

In this segment we look at how game-based learning has evolved into what is now increasingly being called playful learning. Follow: @j_millstone @MatthewFarber @mrmatera @bamradionetwork Jessica Millstone is the Director of Engagement at BrainPOP, where she works on bridging games-based learning initiatives between BrainPOP’s GameUp and its many game partners. Prior to joining BrainPOP, Jessica was the inaugural Education Fellow on the Games & Learning Publishing Council at the Joan Ganz Cooney Center, a research and innovation lab at Sesame Workshop, where she investigated the theory and practice of using digital games in the elementary and middle school classroom.

Our guest opens our eyes to the diverse sorts of things that can be achieved through game-based learning. Follow:@betamiller @teachthought @bamradionetwork Clay Ewing is Assistant Professor of Interactive Media/Games at the University of Miami. His research focuses on serious games, implementing game mechanics into real world applications, and social justice. As a game designer, Professor Ewing’s games have tackled issues such as vector borne diseases, the cost of health care, social safety nets and labor practices.

Our guest was passionate about game-based learning before he knew it existed. Now he's immersed in teaching with games. Follow:@betamiller @teachthought @bamradionetwork AJ Webster brings more than a decade of classroom experience to GameDesk’s PlayMaker School. He specializes in game learning, a passion that began stirring in him at 7 when he designed a Monopoly-Chess hybrid. AJ’s transformative methods include puzzle-based projects, historical simulations, and technology-assisted scavenger hunts. Outside the classroom, AJ is active in the Puzzle Hunt community. A veteran of the Shinteki puzzle competition and the Bay Area Game, AJ helps develop challenges for the annual DASH puzzle competition in Los Angeles.

Quest-based learning is not quite the same as game-based learning, but includes choice, challenge and other fundamentals of a good educational game. Learn more... Follow:@betamiller @teachthought @bamradionetwork Chris Haskell is serving as a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Educational Technology at Boise State University; he is actively piloting and developing ground breaking alternative approaches to delivering and tracking learning. With co-inventor Dr. Lisa Dawley, Chris created 3D GameLab, a game-based/quest-based learning management system.

All games used in the classroom are not created equal. Some can meet serious learning objectives, some can't. In this segment we talk about what makes a great and effective instructional game. Follow:@betamiller @teachthought @bamradionetwork Dan Norton is a founding partner and Creative Director at Filament Games. He specializes in crafting educational game design documents and storyboards that originate from learning objectives. His games have won multiple awards, including the National STEM Video Game Challenge Developer Prize and the 2010 CODiE for Best Educational Game or Simulation. His work has also garnered recognition and/or awards from organizations as diverse as the ACLU, Tech & Learning.

Using games that were not specifically designed for education purposes is viable, but there is much teachers need to know to do effectively and credibly. In this segment we look at the pros, cons and pitfalls. Follow:@betamiller @teachthought @bamradionetwork Richard Van Eck is an Associate Professor of Instructional Design & Technology at the University of North Dakota (idt.und.edu). He has published extensively in the field of digital game-based learning, including two edited volumes on interdisciplinary approaches to serious games published in March, 2010. In addition, he has also published and presented on intelligent tutoring systems, pedagogical agents, authoring tools, and gender and technology.

In this segment we talk with an instructional technology leader in a school district that is using Minecraft for game-based learning with some pretty spectacular results. Our guest talks about setting up the program, managing it and how to think creatively about connecting the game to the curriculum. Follow:@petamiller @PCStech @teachthought @bamradionetwork Lucas Gillispie is an Instructional Technologist for Pender County Schools in North Carolina. He is the founder of the WoWinSchool Project, a program designed to explore the educational potential of online games like World of Warcraft with middle schoolers and leads one of the largest school-based Minecraft implemen- tations in the world. Lucas is an internationally recognized speaker, and shares his experiences and resources on his blog: http://www.edurealms.com.

The prospect of using video games to teach common core subjects may still seem far fetched to many teachers. In this inaugural episode we look the current state of game based learning, the promise, the challenges, some of the most popular games and the road ahead. Follow:@petamiller @teachthought @clarkaldrich @bamradionetwork Clark Aldrich is one of the top educational simulation designers in the world. As well as the founder and Managing Partner of Clark Aldrich Designs, Aldrich is a global education visionary, industry analyst, and speaker who serves on boards of universities, of companies, and in the intelligence community (where he has Top Secret clearance). Clients include Cisco, Microsoft, Motorola, Department of Defense, and World Anti-Doping Agency. Aldrich is also the author of five books. He is editor of www.ClarkChart.com, a free database of simulations and serious games.