News | Filament Games

GAME BASED LEARNING UNITS FOR TEACHERS

Andrew Miller is a consultant for the Buck Institute for Education (an organization that specializes in project-based curriculum), a thought leader in the field of education technology and a regular blogger for Edutopia. Read what Andrew thinks about game-based learning!

XENOS EXPANDS!

The Learning Games Network recently announced a $1.99 million grant they received from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to expand Xenos! Filament Games is excited to be working with the Learning Games Network on such a unique project. The program is tagged as LGN's "flagship integrated social learning environment gaming platform," and is targeted at Hispanic adults learning English. The goal is to provide self-directed ESL instructional resources.

GAMING IS GOOD FOR YOU!

That's right! In this article composed by Wall Street Journal writer Robert Lee Hotz, Holz explains how researchers are finding that videogames can change a person's brain and, often times, that change is for the better.

NASA MAKES VIDEO GAMES!

NASA is not just into having astronauts zoom up to the moon - they are a fan of video games too! This recent article published by CNET:Australia explains how ever since NASA was founded they have made a commitment to keep the public informed to the best of their ability about what it is that they do.

GAMING YOUR WAY THROUGH CLASS

The Retriever Weekly, University of Maryland's student newspaper, has recently discussed the benefits of virtual education. Video games are often times regarded as having little educational value; however, organizations such as the Entertainment Software Association have weighed in on the subject and have stated that video games can be a more effective learning method than public schooling. Wow! The student writers at the University of Maryland explain how these organizations think the psychology behind games is something that should be looked at.

'KARA' IS THE NEW FACE OF MOTION PICTURE...

Recently, at the Game Developers Conference, members of the gaming industry gathered in San Francisco to celebrate the industry's accomplishments and take a look at what the future will hold. The demonstration presented by Quantic Dream showed the motion-capture technology that they're currently developing, and let me tell you, it is fascinating!

GAMES: A TEXTBOOK FOR DIGITAL BEST PRACTICES

So get this! The White House has recently announced two initiatives surrounding learning and technology. Michael Levine's blog on the Huffington Post explains the two developments; the digital textbook initiative and a new games and learning effort. The White House has recognized the shift in use of paper-based textbooks to a more digital-based form of learning. Say so long to big bulky, heavy textbooks that weigh down your bag!

VIDEO GAMES HELP TEACH BIOLOGY!

Iowa State Daily recently published an article about "Meta!Blast" - a newly developed video game that helps to make learning biology fun for students! The game is geared towards undergraduate research students and is set in the year of 2052 during an ecological crisis. As players move through the game, plants begin to die and the team of expert plant scientists disappear, forcing the player to enter the plant cell to figure out what is specifically causing it to die. SO COOL!

ATTENTION: WE ARE HERE TO SAVE THE WORLD

A group of researchers are attempting to use technology to raise awareness of conservation. They believe that spreading awareness through computer games is logical due to the industry's continuous increase in profits. Biodiversity is becoming more apparent in gaming, according to a team of professors and researchers at Cambridge University. Recent developments are allowing computer games to represent the real world in astonishing ways.

TEACH! WITH VIDEO GAMES? YES!

Do you know someone who would like to incorporate digital games into their teaching but don't know where to begin? Over the years Richard Byrne has been working with many teachers who are interested in using video games as a teaching resource but are not completely informed on where to start or what their options are. So he has written up some pointers!