This week Fast Company ranked GameDesk #6 in its article about The World’s Top 10 Most Innovative Companies In Education.  Our mission is to rethink education and make serious learning fun.  Playing, making, and the integration of 21st century technology tools are built into every idea and process we use.  Thank you Fast Company for the tip of the hat and helping us lead big change in education!  Check out the full article at Fast Company Innovative Companies in Education 

CEO Lucien Vattel recently gave a TedX closing night talk “Unboxing Education Through Gaming, Playing, and Making” showcasing GameDesk work in transforming education. The talk looked at forming mental models, the digital and participatory generation, and creating engagement and meaning through play and making.

Lucien also spoke to how simulation, games, and interactivity informs learning and ended on a forecast into the year 2013.

By Tanner Higgin

Although the United States educational system has gone through significant structural changes throughout its history, its fundamental mission has remained the same: to nurture the minds of young people. Even in the midst of heated discussion over whether our educational system is “broken” and how it needs to be fixed, we can at least support this fundamental mission. Or can we?

How about if this mission was wrong all along?

Of course, it would be foolish to argue against the value of helping students acquire knowledge. One of the great things about education is how it can open pathways to new perspectives on the world, and lead to innovation and personal and social change. The problem is not that educators are feeding the mind, it’s that we’re all too often starving the body.

When we reflect on powerful experiences that shape who we are and how we view the world, we’re flooded with sensory data that blankets what we learned. We might not piece everything together, but certain things stick out: a feeling of danger, the smell of wet grass, the discomfort of a desk chair, or the intonation of a teacher’s voice. What we learn, even if it’s out of a book, is supported by experiences in the world.

The reality of learning is that it’s not just an act of the mind; it’s situated. Learning is informed by our bodies and perhaps even significantly aided by them. Cognitive scientists call this “embodied cognition,” or the notion that what we think and know is shaped by bodily activity.

Unfortunately, classrooms all too often fix students in desks, and educators reward students for sitting still. Classroom work, occurring in the brain and on the page, does not leverage embodied cognition. Recess or gym provide brief moments of release set off from the “real” learning. This classroom of the mind might hinder the intellectual development of students, but more importantly it’s not representative of knowledge acquisition in the real world.

Innovative educators have long known about the benefits of embodied learning, reconfiguring classrooms, taking students on field trips, doing citizen science outdoors, or making yoga part of the school curriculum. And, using motion tracking technology, companies like SMALLab are designing and assessing games and interactive educational experiences that blend physical and digital space. Once cutting edge and prohibitively expensive, these systems have the potential for widespread educational use as videogame consoles make motion control a standard feature.

But motion control systems are just the latest development in a centuries long legacy of play-based educational activities. In many ways, embodied learning is at the foundation of play but rarely explicit.  We can witness centuries of formal and informal games—from London Bridge to Sim City— across the world that have preserved history, taught people social skills, and provided an accessible way for thinking through complex problems and systems.

By making play and the body central to the classroom we’re not just making education more fun, or more engaging (although those are not necessarily bad byproducts). We’re also, finally, fixing a deeply flawed system that cut off the body and spited the mind.

By Cathy Tran

I spent the weekend catching up with what’s new in the augmented reality app world, browsing the latest and greatest (and not so great). In thinking about what is it that this digital and physical hybrid brings to the table, these three themes below emerged.

1. Adding layers to physical books

In Horrible Hauntings, a book released this month, readers use the accompanying app to find animated ghosts that can be viewed at different angles. Not the best “trailer” to the app, as it shows very little, but this provides an idea of the technology:

2. Enhancing play with physical toys

In Disney AppMATe, the iPad screen is turned into an interactive play mat that allows players navigate toy cars through race tracks and city roads, and choose digital add-ons such as jet wings for their cars.

In Lego’s Life of George, players are challenged with different building tasks that require physical bricks. As the timer ticks, the app camera confirms at which second the tasks are successfully completed, allowing for competition mode against yourself or others. My favorite part of this app is the option to create building challenges for others as well.

3. Providing new visions of the physical world

Google’s Sky Map app provides an answer to those time you wonder what is the bright star in the sky. Users aim their device’s camera up above to learn more about the stars, planets, and constellations in that part of the sky. Or you can type in what you want to find, such as “Mars,” and the app directs you to where it is in the sky.

Which trends have you seen? Have you been impressed by any augmented reality apps?

by Mallory Nagy

Ever dismissively used the phrase, “That’s just child play?” After tuning into Beau Lotto and Amy O’Toole’s TED talk “Science Is For Everyone, Kids Included,” I’ll be refraining from using that idiom. Together, the pair shows the impact children can have in the field of science. Lotto, a neuroscientist and the founder of Lottolab, notes the striking similarities between play and science, with the help of O’Toole, whose accolades include a published paper in the Biology Letters scientific journal. Not too shabby for a 12-year-old.

Science is so much more than white lab coats and precise measurements. It is the spirit of curiosity and imagination, the fearlessness to question why and the ingenuity to answer how. Everything, Lotto points outs, begins with perception. He prompts the audience, “How can we ever see differently?” when clouded by perceptions. This question is answered with Lotto’s own challenge to question the world around us. He boldly asserts, “The best questions are the ones that create the most uncertainty.”

It is through play that uncertainties are discovered and we can begin to see differently. Lotto notes five similarities between play and science: the celebration of uncertainty, adaptability to change, openness to possibility, cooperation and intrinsic motivation. And thus, Lotto turns to the experts of play: children.

Twenty-five eight to 10-year-old Blackawton Primary School students were able do the extraordinary, inspired by their ordinary activity of play. Together, Lotto and the students would go on to conduct fourth months of scientific research that would ultimately result in a published paper. When this idea first arose, the uncertainty of it all was an obstacle Lotto and his team had to overcome. Facing rejection from those who doubted that the children would be able to accomplish the work of trained professionals, the project proceeded without funding.

Fueled by curiosity and zeal, the students started with an interest in finding similarities between the thought processes of humans and bees. The children did it all. From formulating a research question, to designing the experiment, and carrying out the research, their unique perspective was evident. The paper “Blackawton Bees” paper, which was ultimately published by Biology Letters, opens with “Once upon a time…” Continuing the spirit of innovation, “Blackawton Bees” is permanently available for free download. In 2011, it was the second most downloaded paper from Biology Letters.

The beauty of scientific thought is that it knows no limits. At GameDesk, we understand not just the power of play, but the power of believing in youth. It is with great mentors, such as Beau Lotto, that children are able to accomplish their successes. Through the innovative technology of GameDesk initiatives like the PlayMaker School, the potential of children is not just recognized but cultivated. And, what some may disregard as “just child’s play” is understood as the future of science.