Tag Archives: games and learning

General, School Media Specialist

AASL Recommended Apps: STEM: Attributes by Math Doodles

attributes by math doodlesIn June 2016, the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) announced their 25 Best Apps for Teaching and Learning. The apps encourage qualities such as innovation and active participation, and are user-friendly.

The app Attributes by Math Doodles shows students that math is more than just numbers. The app uses seven illustrated games to help students understand patterns, combinations, and more. Some of the engaging games involve comparing using Venn diagrams, sorting, and using if/else logic. Students are able to adjust the challenge level as well.

To learn more about the app, check out this Educational App Review. The app is also included in this article from School Library Journal that lists of helpful apps for learning math concepts and skills.

Cost: $2.99
Level: Upper Elementary
Platforms: iOS

Watch the video here:

General, Public, School Media Specialist

Education Portal can help you use Minecraft at school

Tired of hearing all the buzz about Minecraft in schools and want to join the fun? Look no further than Microsoft’s new Minecraft Education Portal. Full of resources and starter lessons, the site gets you into the game quickly and simply.

Looking for inspiration? Check out this story about how a California educator mixed Minecraft with Spanish History. The article details their quest and is especially helpful because it talks about the challenges they faced as well as the enthusiastic play!

Need more? Check out this video about the Minecraft Education Portal:

General, Public, School Media Specialist

Attention game enthusiasts & educators

PuzzleMove over Minecraft enthusiasts, you’ve got some stiff competition! Did you hear about the first ever Tech Tool Tourney that KQED MindShift and Common Sense Graphite recently hosted? 32 games were selected because of their outstanding quality and educational value. The purpose of this tourney was to introduce game enthusiasts and educators to new games, then give them three days to vote for their favorites. Sounds like some craziness happened during voting, so two winners were declared: Construct 2 and Kerbal Space Program!

The 32 games were grouped; eight to each of the following categories:
– Social & Emotion Learning
– School Subjects
– Critical Thinking
– Creativity-Game Making

To get the list of games, click here and scroll down.

Did you know? You can find teacher reviews for these games, along with thousands of others, at Graphite.

Image credit: http://tinyurl.com/lg3todg, licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0