By Jake Parmley
Virtual reality is a powerful learning tool that affords students the opportunity to not just see or hear, but also interact in a virtual environment, and by doing so, arrive at a greater understanding. Now, due to its greater affordability and available content, VR has the potential to amplify learning by enhancing curriculums and providing context in a way that is both accessible and experiential, particularly in the STEM classroom.
By Jake Parmley
Virtual Reality is a powerful new technology that’s opening doors for gaming, film, communication and education. While 2016 has proved to be a defining year for VR, the immersive tech still faces growing pains, like consumer acceptance and quality content, before being completely embraced within classrooms. However, many of those growing pains are being addressed in ways that prove VR can revolutionize how we educate students and share experiences.
By Jake Parmley
Pokémon GO has officially swept the world into a frenzy, earning over 21 million daily active users last week, topping app charts and adding billions to the market value of Nintendo. On the surface, the premise of exploring your surroundings and flicking Poké Balls at made-up creatures seems simple or just a new form of mindless entertainment. Parents and teachers may be wondering whether they should be encouraging kids to catch ’em. As with all technology, they should be aware of and supervising children’s gaming, especially in light of recent safety concerns about Pokémon GO. However, there are valuable educational skills and life lessons embedded within Pokémon GO’s design. Here are seven reasons why you should support children’s interest in this innovative augmented reality (AR) game:
Level Up Village is combining gamification with its mission to globalize the classroom in its recently introduced course: Global Gaming Strategists. In the course, students will play a game called SEED, where they will embark on an educational, dice-based adventure about protecting Earth’s natural resources. The action in SEED can be compared to adventure games, like ‘Pokémon Go!’ or ‘Dungeons & Dragons’. However, SEED’s unique gameplay systems have been built from the ground up with education in mind.
School children all over the world are participating in Hour of Code this week, the phenomenally successful program spearheaded by Code.org. This event is a key element of Computer Science Education Week (CSEdWeek), an annual program designed to inspire interest in computer science among K-12 children worldwide.
With all eyes on Computer Science this week, be sure to take a look at Level Up Village’s globally collaborative coding courses. Our 8-10 week coding programs prepare students to join the global workforce by combining cutting-edge STEM with meaningful global collaboration.
If you’re looking to embrace Design Thinking in the classroom, look no further than Game Design. Game Design gives students the creative confidence to imagine, ideate and improve. As a result, Game Design continues to evolve alongside education, displaying its flexibility and relevance as a quintessential 21st century educational tool.
Perhaps one of the most exciting opportunities to foster a Growth Mindset in students is through Game Design. Alongside instructors, students will discover and embrace this mindset by developing new strategies and demonstrating resilience in the face of failure.
Game Design and development is as much a display of cutting-edge technology as it is of creative expression. Conceptualizing a game through imagination and creativity is the first part of the creation process. Acting on those ideas using technology will make the experience tangible. After dreaming up new experiences, children are challenged to bring them into existence.
One of the biggest components of game design and development is collaboration. For Triple A game development, teams of artists, designers, engineers, writers, producers, etc., come together to establish a vision, and guide that vision through to completion. During class, we began scratching the surface on what it means to collaborate at such a high level, and why this teamwork is critical for success.
The mission of Level Up Village is to globalize the classroom by facilitating collaboration between students from around the world.
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