Games for Learning Institute

[Games for Learning Institute]

Spring 2009 Events

Press Release

New York University Games for Learning Institute Announces Spring Events
Microsoft Research-sponsored Institute will host a Summit and talks on “Games and 21st Century Learning” and “Action Video Game Playing as a Learning Tool”
New York, NY, April 25, 2009: Good Video Games and Good Learning (2007) author and National Academy of Education member, Arizona State University Professor James Paul Gee will discuss his extensive game and learning research on Friday, May 1, 2009, and University of Rochester Cognitive Scientist Daphne Bavelier will present her work on May 11, 2009 suggesting that the very act of playing action video games appears to lead to widespread enhancements in visual skills in young adults. Both Washington Square campus events are open to the public.
Hosted by the multi-institutional Games for Learning Institute, which studies the educational use of digital games, and investigates their socio-cultural, cognitive, and emotional impact, Gee’s talk will deal with how video games can organize deep conceptual understanding, as well as a variety of 21st Century skills not often on offer in our schools today. Professor Bavelier will show how action video game players have been shown to outperform their non-action-game playing peers on a variety of sensory and attentional tasks.
Launched last year by Microsoft Research and New York University, this first-of-its-kind, multidisciplinary, multi-institutional gaming research alliance will provide the fundamental scientific evidence to support games as learning tools for math and science among middle-school students. The Institute will host a full-day Games for Learning Summit on Tuesday, May 26, 2009 at the King Juan Carlos I of Spain Center on the Washington Square Campus in Manhattan. Game designers, developers, evaluators and educators are invited to present their research in a poster session and find new collaborative alliances with other participants in breakout sessions.
About G4LI
The Games for Learning Institute (G4LI) is a joint research endeavor of Microsoft Research, New York University and a consortium of universities. The partners include Columbia University, the City University of New York (CUNY), Dartmouth College, Parsons, Polytechnic Institute of NYU, the Rochester Institute of Technology and Teachers College. The G4LI will identify the qualities of computer games that engage students and will develop relevant, personalized teaching strategies that can be applied to the learning process.
“Games and 21st Century Learning” with Professor Gee is co-sponsored by the Graduate Center at CUNY and the Educational Communication & Technology Program at the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development at New York University.
 
Friday, May 1, 2009
JAMES PAUL GEE
Games and 21st Century Learning

James Paul Gee is a member of the National Academy of Education. His book Sociolinguistics and Literacies (1990, Third Edition 2007) was one of the founding documents in the formation of the "New Literacy Studies", an interdisciplinary field devoted to studying language, learning, and literacy in an integrated way in the full range of their cognitive, social, and cultural contexts. His book An Introduction to Discourse Analysis (1999, Second Edition 2005) brings together his work on a methodology for studying communication in its cultural settings, an approach that has been widely influential over the last two decades.

Professor Gee's most recent books deal with video games, language, and learning. What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy (2003, Second Edition 2007) argues that good video games are designed to enhance learning through effective learning principles supported by research in the Learning Sciences. Situated Language and Learning (2004) places video games within an overall theory of learning and literacy and shows how they can help us in thinking about the reform of schools. His most recent book is Good Video Games and Good Learning: Collected Essays (2007). Professor Gee has published widely in journals in linguistics, psychology, the social sciences, and education. 2:00 PM - Warren Weaver Hall Room 109 • 4th Street and Mercer • NYC
 
Monday, May 11, 2009
DAPHNE BAVELIER
Action Video Game Playing as a Learning Tool

© University of Rochester 1996-2009

Discussions of neuro-cognitive development have long been dominated (and stifled) by the 'nature-nurture' debate. Although most current investigators acknowledge the role of biological constraints imposed by the genotype, a strict view of predetermined epigenesis appears unviable as more research documents the role of experience in both gene expression and other chemical and physiological developmental events. It is now clear that development relies on a dynamic and complex interplay between predetermined genetic events and environmental events. My work explores the role that early life experience plays in determining the cerebral organization of the adult brain by comparing congenitally deaf adults to hearing adults. To compare across population, I use behavioral measures (such as measure of reaction times) as well as functional brain imaging (such as functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging).
The main line of research investigates the impact of early deafness in the organization of the visual system. To achieve this goal, I first characterize the processing steps during visual analysis in hearing individuals. Then, I study whether/how the steps identified in these studies are modified in deaf subjects. In particular, I am exploring the properties of visual attention and visual selection in hearing adults and I am especially interested in testing the hypothesis that congenitally deaf individuals have enhanced visual attention capabilities. Additionally, I also study how early deafness and early acquisition of a visuo-spatial language like American Sign language affect the cerebral organization for language.