Games Help Make Learning Fun

Playful design, the blending of serious educational games (SEGs) with immersive technologies such as virtual and augmented reality, is becoming the next big thing in higher education. Playful design works because people like to play games and games make learning fun, according to David Chandross, professor of education, Ryerson University, Toronto, ON, Canada.

“Serious games work by practicing skills and tracking achievement, but also by giving learning an addictive quality,” he wrote in an article for The Conversation. “The ‘one more move’ thinking that keeps video gamers up all night is harnessed for learning.”

Chandross noted peer-reviewed studies show SEGs encourage students to use what they learn while playing, engage them better than most lectures, and reward learners for their achievements. It’s a form of active learning that helps students succeed.

“We learn a lot when we love what we are learning,” Chandross said. “It’s a basic trademark of achievement in higher education. Human beings love doing certain things, and learning to become a master of their own world, however fantastical it might be, is one of them.”

Attracting New Students with E-Sports

Video gaming is no longer just a favorite pastime for college students, it’s become a varsity sport because it drives enrollment, creates campus enthusiasm, is co-ed, and doesn’t cost much to launch.

“It’s on the cutting edge, if not already a little bit beyond that, of new opportunities to compete,” said Dave Gantt, vice president for athletics at the University of Providence, Great Falls, MN. “All of our admissions counselors are armed with the knowledge that we have this sport, and it has been something of interest at every one of their stops.”

E-sports have grown from a single team to more than 60 schools competing, with hundreds more looking into offering it. Gant’s institution is retrofitting its mailroom and bookstore in the student union for e-sport gamers, who will begin play in the fall.

Colleges are creating e-sports arenas in old computer labs and other rooms that were going unused. The competitions are often streamed live and have students providing play-by-play commentary, just like an NCAA football or basketball game.

The e-sports program at University of California, Irvine, is funded by university research into the learning applications of gaming. UC Irvine also offers summer camps for female gamers and underrepresented young people, and recently helped to launch a regional high school league.

“The research out there shows that women and men can compete equally, given equal access,” said Mark Deppe, acting director of e-sports at UC Irvine. “But online cultures can be toxic—there can be in-game harassment and bullying—and we think we can be an influence against that.”

Enjoy the Fourth!

From all of NACS Inc. staff in Oberlin, Westlake, and Cincinnati, OH, as well as our staff in California and Washington, D.C., have a safe and happy Fourth of July.

TV Show Helps MOOC Hook New Students

The FX television series The Strain is about a city under attack from a mysterious epidemic and a devastating cyber-virus attack. It’s also a great way to teach virus and parasite biology, cybersecurity, and epidemiological modeling.

The software firm Instructure is betting on it by partnering with the video learning company Zaption to create a massive open online course (MOOC) based on the real-world science presented in the show.

“We expect many participants in The Strain MOOC will have never taken an online course before,” Melissa Loble, vice president of partners and programs at Instructure, told eCampus News. “But because of this partnership with Zaption, they will be able to interact with highly engaging video-based content that will enrich the learning experience.”

The MOOC designers are working with the University of California, Irvine (UCI), on content for each unit. That content will be updated weekly with new lecture videos, quizzes, a discussion forum, additional readings, and extra videos based on UCI research.

Students will earn digital badges for each strain completed and have the option of doing a final multimedia project to showcase their learning. Instructors will also be able to monitor discussions to answer questions.

“The entertainment piece is the hook, but we hope people will walk away with a much deeper understanding,” said Chris Walsh, CEO of Zaption. 

Happy Thanksgiving

Enjoy the day with family and friends!

Building a Better Dinosaur

The potential of 3-D printing is attracting a lot of attention in education circles. Campus stores are using it to drive traffic, universities are launching crowdsourcing campaigns to pull in funding, and students are learning everything from design to collaboration.

The American Museum of Natural History in New York is using it to show students how to reconstruct a dinosaur.

Students Celebrated on Fourth NSD

Nearly 2,000 college and high school stores across North America are recognizing students and the good work they do today as part of the fourth annual National Student Day (NSD). Festivities include special events ranging from flash sales and free food to contests, games, and live music on campuses across the United States and Canada, and even in Bermuda.

In addition to the fun, many campus stores are working with charitable organizations and businesses in their communities to raise awareness, collect donations, and provide students with the opportunity to volunteer.

Students can also enter the new NACS-sponsored NSD photo-sharing contest. All they need to do is post a selfie of themselves doing volunteer work or performing any act of kindness to Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, or to the National Student Day Facebook page with the hashtag #NSDvolunteer to be entered to win a $1,000 prize for themselves and a $1,000 donation to the 501 (c)(3) charity of their choice. Photos can be posted through Oct. 23 and winners will be chosen at random.

National Student Day is supported by Sidewalk, a provider of rental solutions to the college store market. For more information on National Student Day and the contest, visit www.nationalstudentday.com or find it on Facebook and Twitter.

Campus stores can also watch for more details in the Campus Marketplace newsletter.

What's That?

This will probably make anyone over the age of 30 feel kind of old. Have a safe and happy Memorial Day.

Must Have Gadgets for 2014

While Playstation 4 and Xbox One are already on the market, only time will tell if any of these gadgets will live up to the hype. But it’s fun to speculate. 

Happy New Year's from all of us at the National Association of College Stores.

But Will Wearable Tech Sell?

Wearable technology appears to be the next wave of innovation. There are frequent announcements on the latest smartwatch, while some reports suggest tech-savvy Millennials are lining up to give Google Glass a try.

Now, a study has found that all that excitement may not translate into sales.

The study from the cloud-services company Citrix reported 60% of 1,000 adults polled felt wearable tech would continue to grow as a trend, but 61% had no intention of actually buying a device. In addition, 73% of the group that would consider a wearable tech purchase said they wanted a device that would blend in with their clothing.

The survey also found that, if given a choice, millennials would like to suit up in the full-body armor worn by Tony Stark in Iron Man, while their parents would pick up a Starfleet wrist communicator used by Capt. James Kirk in Star Trek.

Happy Fourth of July

Here are two videos that should start your day with a smile. Have a safe and happy Fourth.

Something fun

With all the e-reader hype, here is a comic that appeared a few months back that readers of this blog might enjoy. It comes from Free Range by Bill Whitehead -- an often amusing comic that reminds me a bit of the old Far Side comic strip. This comic originally appeared on 9-21-2009 and can be found here.

“The Book vs. The Kindle” videos

San Francisco’s Green Apple Books has come out with a series of ten entertaining videos called “The Book vs. The Kindle” that highlight the ways books are superior to the Kindle. There are ten rounds in the series and so far the book is up 6-0.

The future of cell phones

Here is something fun! This week Fast Company featured an article entitled – “What will cell phones look like 10 years from now?” Check out the interesting designs.

“Talking Gadget Theater” videos

If you are looking for something fun, the DVICE website has a couple of humorous Talking Gadget Theater videos starring the Kindle 2 and iPod Shuffle. Enjoy!

Fun writing game

If you’re in the mood for something fun, try out this Twitter inspired writing game that was recently featured on the The Digitalist blog. Enjoy!

What is all the twitter about?

With all the recent twitter about twittering we thought you might enjoy this comic from Being Five. Have a good weekend!

E-Book Cartoon

The Penny Arcade recently featured this funny cartoon about e-books. Enjoy!

A Kindle Cartoon

It is Saturday -- time for a cartoon. We have not had a fun cartoon or video here in a little while. A colleague in DC sent this one along and it is worth sharing. Enjoy!

Blogroll added

I have mentioned several blogs in the past on this site, so a couple days ago I began to add a list of them in a blogroll to the left. If you have a blog or know of another blog that is relevant to this blog then post a response or drop me an e-mail and I will add more to the list. One of the items I added today is the blog for Speak Up, which is part of the Project Tomorrow initiative. For some interesting data on k-12 and technology from both student and teacher points of view, check out their presentation materials and other data.

Also, today I added the link for the Being Five blog, one of my favorite online comics. The format for the site changed recently, and yesterday's comic is one that appeared before, but it is a good one. Here it is: