Good morning friends,

Welcome to this week’s Daytime post where I’ll jump around a bit with various topics related to technology and education.  But first I’d like to mention that tonight is game 4 of the best of seven Flyers vs. Penguins series where the Flyers are currently ahead 3 games to 0.  I’m tempted to write up an all Flyers, Daytime post, but I’m certain that this will only increase my anxiety around tonight’s matchup. Plus, I’m extremely supersticisious so I’ll keep most of my thoughts on tonight’s game to myself.  However, I will say that I’ve enjoyed watching this series more than I’ve enjoyed any sporting event in a long time.  Sunday’s game 3 was the most watched NHL playoff game, including the Stanley Cup Finals in a decade.  With that I suggest you tune in to tonight’s game!  Be sure to add your thoughts on any topics included in this week’s blog to the comments section below the post.

While browsing through my RSS feeds this morning I came across a post in Daniel Pink’s blog titled “This might be the best 11 minutes you’ll spend today.”  How could I skip that post?  Well, up to this point Pink was right.  The short film included in the post is an overall feel-good story that highlights a 9 year old boy’s incredible creativity and motivation, the power of social media, and some interesting thoughts on the book industry.

Check out Caine’s Arcade 

My next topic is the connection between gaming and learning.  Jenn and I have been involved in a gaming club this year with MS Boys on the Willow Grove Campus, and quite honestly I’ve never witnessed students more engaged than I have in this club.  Truth be told, my experience with gaming prior to this club was limited to a Nintendo’s Tecmo Bowl & Sega Genesis’ NHL 95, (which by writing this post I’ve found that I can play online).  Given that I was the master of both of these games in my teenage years, I just may have to see if I still have it!  Click on the links provided to get a kick out of the graphics and see just how far games have come in the past 15 years.  At any rate, you may be wondering how I’m going to connect my days of gaming in my basement to education.  My answer is provided in this Edutopia article where David Ross and John Larmer of the Buck Institutue of Education discuss gaming & project-based learning, before and after the following video where expert James Paul Gee shares insights on the topic.  Gee is the author of What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy. 

I’ll end this week’s post with an Edudemic Infographic that illustrates The History of Learning Tools. It’s interesting to see that laptops are moving towards becoming “Old School.”

Let’s Go Flyers, Let’s Go Flyers, Let’s Go Flyers!!!