A recent article in The Chronicle of Higher Education discusses the evolution and incorporation of video games into the academic world, and their use as didactic devices.
The article markets the potentials of this relatively new medium with a discussion of how fun, yet educational games, could augment (or even replace!) the classroom.
In 20 years, are you going to remember anything you learned in English 15/30? Probably not. But you will have better teamwork skills because of the practice you received working in groups. Some of the most profound skills we learn here are how to listen to a presentation, how to interact with out peers, how to work in a group. Teaching through video games is certainly a new and revolutionary idea, but I think it's a slippery slope away from our humanity.
It starts with online classes and learning through video games, but it's not too far of a stretch to go from that to a Matrix-esque world; all of us plugged in and having information loaded straight into our brains. What do you think?
After a 70-66 win over Illinois in the Fourth Annual WBCA Pink Zone game, Penn State Women's Basketball achieved their first national ranking (No. 23) since the 2004-05 season and raised over $80,000 for breast cancer awareness. Thursday they'll be taking on Purdue in what GoPSUSports is reporting as a "Code Blue" game. We look forward to their continuing salute to ROY G BIV as well as an ascent in the rankings.
Last year, the popular game publisher EA Games started a "Gaming Chair" program here at Penn State. The program required the Penn State EA Representative to find fraternities that would be interested in receiving free EA games, gear, and swag items....must've been pretty hard, I know.
Here's how the program worked - at the beginning of each month, EA would send the campus representative a "Frat Pack" for a specific EA Game. This "Frat Pack" would include two copies of the game (1 for the Gaming Chair and 1 to give away at the tournament), posters for advertising the event, an EA Banner, and small swag items.
The Gaming Chair is responsible for receiving each pack from the campus representative at the beginning of each month and then setting up an event in their organization for people to come and play. They then would get feedback from participants and submit it, along with photos of the event, to the campus representative who would then submit it to EA. The best part? It's all FREE!!!
If you want to get involved in EA Games, check out the Facebook Fan Page for EA @ Penn State.
In an effort to better connect with the students it represents, UPUA's Academic Affairs Committee (AAC) has started a new blog to keep those interested up to date on their latest activities.
The blog is the brainchild of Sam Loewner, chair of the AAC. His goal is to get more feedback from students who may not be able to attend the committee's weekly meetings.
I think this is a good move on the AAC's part to create more transparency. This body represents every undergraduate student at University Park, and it makes decisions that affect everyone. Just last Thursday it was confirmed that all of those annoying SRTEs will be online by 2011. The committee is even working to possibly extend the semester Drop/Add period. Without this resource, I know I would have had no idea that was even being considered.
UPUA has fought for many years to be recognized as the official student government on campus, and this new site seems to be part of their larger effort to fulfill that role.
In the tournament's first year of selling students tickets at a discounted rate, the Daily Collegian reports that not one of the 75 set aside for Penn State students has been sold.
What, you mean people don't want to spend their spring break being disappointed in Indianapolis?
Following yesterday's taste of spring, waking up this morning to a snowy campus was as good a reminder as any of how mercurial weather in State College can be.
The forecast says that there may be snowfall throughout the day, with a high of 36° and a low of 23°.