Electronic Games Take on Violence Against Women
PMC has partnered with the Emergent Media Center (EMC) at Champlain College in an exciting project aimed to engage, educate, and change attitudes of boys between the ages of 8 and 15 to help end violence against girls and women. With support from UNFPA, this mark’s PMC’s inaugural endeavor in adapting our expertise in the use of entertainment-education strategies for positive behavior change to the world of gaming.
Electronic games are experiential and immersive and increasingly popular, especially among adolescent boys. Games encourage change from within by presenting opportunities for the player to think critically about actions. Employing the world’s most popular sport, soccer (football), our game links the winning benefits of respect on the field to respectful behavior toward girls.
Before steps are taken to impose limits on the use of social media and mobile technologies in schools, policymakers and educators need to consider the consequences for learning that such restrictions would produce. In this document, we argue that such action should carefully consider the advantages of social media for learning and that these guidelines for responsible use bring media into mentored environments where they can be safely explored and shared.
Many of the problems raised by these new technologies – from bullying to engaging in risky behavior – are not new to the public discourse, but are merely being delivered in different media. The challenge to responsible educators remains the same: to provide stimulating and safe learning environments that support the acquisition of practical skills necessary for full participation as a 21st-century citizen. Achieving this without mentored use of new technologies seems both impractical and counterproductive. One of the most powerful reasons to permit the use of social media and mobile devices in the classroom is to provide an opportunity for students to learn about their use in a supervised environment that emphasizes the development of attitudes and skills that will help keep them safe outside of school.
iSCORE is a web-based practice and communication tool. It is designed to help motivate students to take responsibility for their practising and overall music learning and music creation. iSCORE makes it easier for students to set goals, create new work, edit and share their work and respond to feedback from teachers, peers and parents. It also makes it easier for teachers to communicate with their students and help their students become independent learners. It includes a text annotation tool and links to recording and notation software.
via http://education.zdnet.com/?p=2417 "Like Twitter, it’s a microblogging site, but it builds in significant additional functionality to support classroom interactions." "When you create an account, you designate yourself as a teacher or student. Teachers can create groups that students join when they create their accounts (students can join multiple groups and teachers can create and/or join multiple groups); when a group is created, the site generates a group code that must be entered to join. Then, messages, files, links, and assignments can be sent to whole groups."
Design for Change equips children with the tools to be aware of the
world around them, believe that they play a role in shaping that world,
and take action toward a more desirable, sustainable future.