LearningGamesNetwork

As part of our Learning Games webinar series over at Elluminate's LearnCentral, we invite you to join us this Wednesday for Olympics Science: Online Resources for the Classroom from NBC Learn:

Description: On February 12th, the torch will light over Vancouver for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. Join the Learning Games Network's Alex Chisholm and special guest Norman Cohen, producer at NBC Learn, to bring the science of the Winter Olympics home to your classroom.

NBC Learn has collaborated with the National Science Foundation to create this series of video resources and lesson plans demonstrating the links between the laws of physics and the principles of chemistry, and downhill skiing, bobsledding, and other sports.

Join us to learn more about how NBC Learn can inspire students by approaching the science of sports from a new perspective. Part of the Learning Games series on LearnCentral.

Links:
NBC Learn: http://nbclearn.com/olympics
Lesson Plans: http://lessonopoly.org/svef/?q=node/9086

We hope you'll join us this Wednesday, Feb 10, at 7:30pm EST!

Previously:
Teacher Professional Learning Community Info Session
Drawing Lesson Plans from Gaming, Case Study: Caduceus

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Back in November, we mentioned the upcoming Games+Learning+Society Conference (GLS 6.0), June 9-11, 2010, in Madison, Wisconsin. The deadline for submissions has been moved to February 15, 2010, so if you haven't submitted your proposal for a talk yet, now is the time!

If you haven't heard, this year's conference themes are:

1. Formal & informal science literacy
2. Media production & identity
3. Game design & learning

Conference highlights include:

• Keynotes by leaders in both academics and industry;
• Interactive workshops on game research and game design;
• Both individual and symposia presentation sessions;
• “Chat n’ frags” and hands-on gameplay in the arcade;
• An evening poster session over cocktails & hors d'oeuvres;
• An evening machinima festival in the playhouse theatre;
• Fireside chats that enable thorough, cozy conversations among VIP speakers and attendees; and
• GLS's signature Thursday night dinner and marquee presentation.

Confirmed Speakers include: Henry Jenkins, James Paul Gee, Drew Davidson, Alan Collins, David Wiley, Kurt Squire, Reed Stevens, and Rich Lemarchand.

And, as a sponsor of the GLS Conference, LGN will be sending folks, too. Hope to see you there!

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This past week marked the beginning of the public commenting phase of the MacArthur Foundation's Digital Media and Learning Competition. Today, the foundation's Spotlight blog encouraged its readers to join the conversation by reviewing and commenting on entries:

Navigate, explore and share your thoughts. Do you think the idea is a good one? Do you have any suggestions on how to make it better? Interested in collaborating? The applicants will have a chance to incorporate your input during the resubmission period.

We encourage you, too!

Why? Well, you probably won't be surprised to learn that we've thrown our hat into the ring with an entry, I Made That: Enabling and Reinforcing STEM Learning through Creative Game Design and Production. With HOME Inc. as a collaborator, we entered our proposal in the competition's 21st Century Learning Lab Designers category.

Please consider this announcement as your official invitation to visit our project's very brief, 300-word description. We're curious to hear what you think. Do you have any ideas that could make it better? Definitely leave them as comments on our proposal's page.

Public commenting is open until Feb 22, but remember, we won't be able to revise our proposal after Feb 15, the final submission date. We're looking forward to reading your reactions!

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Special thanks to everyone who joined us at LearnCentral last night to discuss plans for our upcoming Teacher Professional Learning Community! It was great to see so many academic subjects and grade levels represented.

If you weren't able to participate in the info session, you can also read more about the PLC right here as well as get in touch with us about your interests in gaming as an educator. We should have the session's recording up very soon.

To follow up on one of the big topics from the evening, we want to highlight our Design Corps program, which is currently accepting applications from students again.

So, if you work with students (13 years and older) who have a strong interest in designing and creating their own computer games, definitely learn more about our plans for the Design Corps, which kicked off in the fall. This spring, the program is entering a new phase focusing on student design teams. We've opened this up to new participants — interested students can apply right here by Friday, January 22, 2010.

What does it take to apply between now and next Friday?

1. Teachers can suggest students by emailing us brief recommendations at design.corps [at] learninggamesnetwork.org. (If you're a student, ask a teacher to recommend you.)
2. For applicants under 18, we need a parent or guardian to let us know that he or she approves of their participation in the program. They should send a brief email affirming this to, you guessed it, design.corps [at] learninggamesnetwork.org.
3. All applicants must tell us a little bit about their interests using the form on this page.

Voilà, you're done! For this new group of students joining the Design Corps, we'll have our first event on Jan 23, 2010. Remember, our events are online, so participants will need reliable access to an internet connection.

Questions? Please send them to design.corps [at] learninggamesnetwork.org.

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As mentioned last week, tomorrow evening we're hosting an online information session for our Teacher Professional Learning Community.

Who will be there? Like-minded educators who are using digital games with their students, and who might even be interested in creating games, too. We'll be discussing our plans for the spring (8 online sessions spread across Feb-May) and looking for feedback from folks.

If you'd like to join the conversation Wednesday, 8pm EST / 5pm PST, here are all the login details. We'll be conducting the session using Elluminate through LearnCentral. Hope to see you there!

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