November 2006

Googling Teachers

Google recently introduced Google for Educators, a new site offering teachers' guides to twelve Google products as well as numerous lesson plans on a wide range of subjects. According to the site's homepage, Google created the initiative because it "recognizes the central role that teachers play in breaking down the barriers between people and information" and that it hopes to "explore how Google and educators can work together."

As with all things Google, expectations were high for this new tool, but thus far at least, the site is drawing decidedly mixed reviews. "On the whole, the collection is somewhat shallow in its current form," wrote educational technology expert Andy Carvin of PBS TeacherSource. Commenting on the site's support for blogging, Carvin wrote, "I was expecting something like An Educator's Guide to Using Blogger [a popular blogging service], but instead I got… a collection of resources that most teachers could have easily found without Google’s assistance."

Yet given Google's track record and its incredible array of resources, now including the web video site YouTube, Google for Educators will definitely bear watching over the coming months. Visit for yourself and see what you think.

 

Therapeutic Games

Pretty much everyone thinks video games can be fun. More and more people also think they can help kids (and adults) learn. But can games actually be a form of therapy?

The company CyberLearning thinks so. Its product, the Smart BrainGames system, is being used as a treatment for brain injuries, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and learning disabilities. The system is built on NASA technology and uses neurofeedback as part of a car-racing game that reinforces sustained attention and calmness in players/patients.

Smart BrainGames has already garnered some positive reviews. "We have some very effective treatments for kids with ADHD," said Dr. Andrew Adesman of New York's Schneider Children's Hospital. However, Dr. Adesman also believes that more testing remains to be done on this new and very costly form of treatment. "I'd be concerned about parents pursuing expensive and not very established treatments in lieu of more proven therapies," he said.

Find out more about Smart BrainGames at CNET News and at CyberLearning’s website.

How Bad is Bully?

Long before its October release, the video game "Bully" had already generated quite a bit of controversy. CNN's Lou Dobbs had called the game "another disturbing example of our culture in decline," and anti-violence-in-games activist Jack Thompson had described it as a "Columbine simulator." And it didn't help matters that "Bully" was made by Rockstar Games, the creator of the ultra-violent "Grand Theft Auto" games.

Now the game is on the shelves and folks are playing it.

So what's the deal with this "Bully"?

Well, it may be that the game, which takes place at a private boarding school, has a bark far worse than it's bite.

According to John Davison of the game company 1Up Network, "This isn't the game that people expected from Rockstar…. 'Bully' seems much more intimate. It's about interaction. The way those individual interactions – talking with the preps, fighting with the bullies, befriending the nerds – can affect the game." And while the game does have violent elements, some are saying that it is not excessive in this regard. Florida Judge Ronald Friedman dismissed a motion to ban the game, saying "There's a lot of violence [in the game]. A whole lot. [But] less than we see on television every night."

Decide for yourself by checking out some of the clips from "Bully" at the Rockstar website.

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