Brock Dubbels

Brock Dubbels, a Ph.D. candidate in Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Minnesota is joining Education Futures for the next week or so as a guest blogger. Brock brings nearly two decades of experience in education and instructional design, exploring new technologies for assessment, delivering content, creating engagement with learners, and investigating ways people approach learning. Brock is a former Fulbright Scholar and has been a recipient of a National Research Service Award from the National Institutes of Health. In the past he has worked for Xerox PARC, Oracle, Americorps, and as a raft guide for the Yellowstone Raft Company. Dubbels currently teaches for the Minneapolis Public Schools and in is licensed for k12 Media, k12 reading, and 7-12 Language Arts, and also serves on the District Technology Advisory Committee. He is currently working to complete a doctorate with David O’Brien in Learning and Literacy at the University of Minnesota, where he designed and currently delivers a course for the university called Video Games as Learning Tools as well as courses for reading acceleration for the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities. Especially important to us at Education Futures: His current work involves the use of video game technology and activities to develop reading comprehension and increase engagement to help students accelerate beyond benchmarks and minimum learning standards.

http://brockdubbels.efoliomn2.com/

Games in the Classroom 7–game mechanics for creating learning

8/22/2007

One of the big ideas from 6.0 was that kids are not naturally good at complex games. They often have the time, resources, but they do not always have the guidance of a mentor. Many kids are playing games designed by adults for adults. This is good and bad. Good in that the adult games [...]


Games in the Classroom 6: cultural modeling and education beyond abstraction

8/20/2007

Do kids just naturally get it? Are they just good at games, computers, phones, and all things digital? My experience and common sense says no, although I wish it were a general truth. Do kids need to learn about games in school? Yes, if we want to guide them in optimal usage, and maybe learn [...]


Games in the Classroom 5: embodiment, context, complexity, good assessment, measurement, and relevance

8/18/2007

What was presented yesterday is how to embody and teach a lesson on Voice. Trying to teach voice sounds pretty boring, especially when you tell them excitedly in your teacher nerd-talk that “you’ll like it, it’s fun! We’ll look at poetry and other fiction and examine tone, emphasis, word choice, syntax, volume, and all the [...]


Games in the Classroom Part 4

8/17/2007

Games as Expert Systems It seems like common sense to assume that the best way to learn something is to work one-on-one with an expert. Unfortunately, many of these experts are busy using their expertise in important projects at the Louvre, saving lives, winning Nobel prizes, and putting out fires—and sometimes a great expert is [...]


Games in the Classroom (part three)

7/30/2007

Twenty years ago, playing games over a distance might have meant that you played turn-taking games like chess over email, and you were cutting edge. I remember people playing chess through snail mail! You would make your move and wait for a reply. What is happening now is taking place in real-time in virtual environments [...]


Video Games in the Classroom (part two)

7/29/2007

To do is to be To be is to do So Do We? It is just good teaching Games taught me that modeling environments and taking on the roles are powerful ways to teach and learn. Piaget talked about roles as assimilation. You try on the role and see what part of the character is [...]


Video Games in the Classroom

7/28/2007

Video Games in the Classroom? I am a gamer. I am also a teacher for the Minneapolis Public Schools, and have been working with students on issues of Language Arts, Reading, and Video Games. I also offer a class called “Video games as learning tools.” This course is for teachers and people who are interested [...]


Related posts

ICTs for Peace and Reconciliation

While doing research with Dr. Edward Brantmeier, I ran across this interesting information from Cole and Crawford (2007) in an article called “Building peace through information and communication technologies.” The table below details some of the authors’ main points. Ways of Promoting Peace and Reconciliation through ICTs Examples of ICTs Provide information Internet connectivity Mobile [...]


Games in the Classroom 5: embodiment, context, complexity, good assessment, measurement, and relevance

What was presented yesterday is how to embody and teach a lesson on Voice. Trying to teach voice sounds pretty boring, especially when you tell them excitedly in your teacher nerd-talk that “you’ll like it, it’s fun! We’ll look at poetry and other fiction and examine tone, emphasis, word choice, syntax, volume, and all the [...]


Games in the Classroom Part 4

Games as Expert Systems It seems like common sense to assume that the best way to learn something is to work one-on-one with an expert. Unfortunately, many of these experts are busy using their expertise in important projects at the Louvre, saving lives, winning Nobel prizes, and putting out fires—and sometimes a great expert is [...]


Games in the Classroom (part three)

Twenty years ago, playing games over a distance might have meant that you played turn-taking games like chess over email, and you were cutting edge. I remember people playing chess through snail mail! You would make your move and wait for a reply. What is happening now is taking place in real-time in virtual environments [...]


Video Games in the Classroom (part two)

To do is to be To be is to do So Do We? It is just good teaching Games taught me that modeling environments and taking on the roles are powerful ways to teach and learn. Piaget talked about roles as assimilation. You try on the role and see what part of the character is [...]


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