Thanks so much to the organizers of the Games in Education Conference for inviting me to their symposium this week. It was a really fun and thought-provoking experience for me. My presentation on Global Kids' Playing 4 Keeps program went quite well, I think, with many educators at the conference complimenting me and asking for…
Becoming More Human through Robots: Youth programs and robotics
This morning I attended a cool session at the Games in Education Conference on "ROBOTS: They're Not Just for Taking over the World, but for Education, too!" put on by Nick Webb, Senior Scientist at the Institute for Informatics, Logic and Security Studies at the University at Albany and Ilene Frank, of the Schenectady Museum…
Learning with the Lich King: Using World of Warcraft for Education!
Learning Lich King View more presentations from Lucas Gillispie. The first day of the Games in Education was really sweet. One of the coolest sessions was called "Learning with the Lich King: Using World of Warcraft in School" by Lucas Gillispie, an instructional tech coordinator in North Carolina. I love the idea of finding an…
Speaking at Games in Education Conference this Wed at HVCC
This Wednesday, August 5, I will be heading upstate to speak at the Games in Education Conference at the Hudson Valley Community College about Global Kids' innovative digital games program "Playing 4 Keeps." Specifically I'll be speaking on the panel "Relating Social Issues & Historical Events through Games" with Andrea Lauer Rice, CEO & Founder…
Vadis Turner + Brooklyn Museum’s super-secret tech project at 1st Fans Meetup
Shelly and Will gave us "1st Fans" members of the Brooklyn Museum a sneak peek at their new tech project last night. I was sworn to secrecy, but I will say this: it will change how you visit the museum… forever. Ok, maybe that's a bit of an over-sell. Still, it's a neat initiative that…
Cab Calloway + Betty Boop = the swingin-est cartoon ever
Check out this amazing classic cartoon produced by Max Fleischer that features Cab Calloway and his orchestra playing as Betty Boop goes on a very surreal adventure in search of the "Old Man of the Mountain." The whole thing just jumps and shakes and shimmies to the swingin beat from beginning to end. (Via BoingBoing.net)
How you know you’re a lindy hopper
You walk into an elegant social club: chandeliers, leather chairs, paintings of dead white guys everywhere, the works. A full swing orchestra is playing Basie. Around you are a dozen women dressed to the nines in ballgowns and high heels. You think, "This sucks. When will someone who can DANCE get here?" Then you head…
Map of Real World Places in Second Life
The UK company New Business Horizons has created what looks like the most comprehensive map of real world places re-created in Second Life I've ever seen. They have both a web-based graphic that you can click on to get teleport links to the sites in-world, as well as an in-world map with the same information….
Love the new bike lane onto the Manhattan Bridge in Brooklyn!
This week the DOT unveiled a lovely new protected bike lane leading from Sands Street in downtown Brooklyn onto the Manhattan Bridge. It goes all the way from Gold Street up to the bike entrance to the Manhattan Bridge. View Larger Map As someone who rides the Manhattan Bridge nearly every day, I can't tell…
Mystery package!?!
Today I found this mystery package waiting for me in my apartment when I got home from work. Presumably the landlord dropped it off, or little elves came in from the sink. It was pretty hefty. The return address said it was from The Netherlands. Care to hazard a guess as to what it was? …