Kotaku: School

7th-Graders Make a Paper-Mache Video Game You Can't Play

Joel Johnson — Wed, 18 May 2011 15:00:00 EDT

Elisabeth Willis is my kind of art teacher. She's encouraging her students to create their own video game characters in real life. Her 7th grade class assignment was so popular this spring that she's already been asked to put together a panel for the National Art Educators Association—and she's not even a full-time teacher yet. More »

Some College Kids Get to Play Portal for Class Credit

Joel Johnson — Wed, 18 May 2011 12:40:00 EDT

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"Enduring Questions" is a mandatory class for freshmen at Wabash College. The syllabus? Gilgamesh, Aristotle, Goffman, Donne…and Portal. That's because it's taught by Michael "Brainy Gamer" Abbot, profiled in this piece by Patrick Klepek that's certainly worth reading on Giant Bomb. More »

Teaching First-Graders with Minecraft

Owen Good — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 18:00:00 EDT

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When his five-year-old daughter built a treehouse by herself in Minecraft, Joel Levin, a computer teacher at Manhattan's Columbia Grammar and Preparatory School, got the idea to try incorporating the PC game into his lesson plan at school. He worried about numerous possibilities that the game would simply be incompatible with students that young, but he was relieved and gratified to discover he was wrong. More »

British Schoolteacher Finks on 600 Kids Over Late Night Gaming

Owen Good — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 21:30:00 EST

In what sounds like the opening to a Dr. Seuss book, parents of all 600 children in Mr Gribble's school got a fearful note saying their kids report to class sleepy and distracted, because they're up as late as 4 a.m. playing video games. More »

Making Bomb-Filled Video Game Maps Of Your School Is A Bad Idea

Mike Fahey — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 15:20:00 EST

Just because video games give you the tools to recreate your school as a battlefield doesn't mean you should use them. This morning five Louisville, Kentucky, middle school students learned this lesson the hard way. More »

There's Now A Shooter To Teach People How To Play Shooters

Luke Plunkett — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 04:30:00 EST

If you suck at shooters - think Call of Duty, Team Fortress 2 and Battlefield - then you probably need help. You could ask your friends, but for a less embarrassing solution, you could try FPS Trainer. More »

How To Study The Hacker

Stephen Totilo — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 10:40:00 EDT

A New York University professor teaches a course in the history of hackers and hacking. Oh, to be back at NYU and be able to take interesting courses like this. More »

Let's Abolish Schools And Teach Children With Video Games

Mike Fahey — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 11:40:43 EDT

For thousands of years, societies taught and trained their children through immersive gameplay and storytelling. Prospect Magazine's Julian Gough wonders why we ever stopped, and ponders a fantasy world where the games of today form the children of tomorrow. More »

Boston School Training The Next Video Game Composers

Stephen Totilo — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 13:00:12 EST

Composers working on video game soundtracks seem to either be veterans of game-making or TV/movie folks crashing the medium. Take note, then, of schools like Berklee Music College in Boston that just might train people to compose music for games. More »

Osaka Schools Passing Out DSs

AJ Glasser — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 20:20:00 EDT

Reports say that about 10 middle and elementary schools in Osaka will start handing out Nintendo DS consoles to students next January. Nintendo's plan to control the world: 80% complete. More »

Scholastic Called Out For Selling Games in Schools

Brian Crecente — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 11:00:00 EST

I was surprised. late last year, when I discovered venerable publisher Scholastic selling video games during their annual book fair at my son's elementary school. Apparently, I wasn't the only one. More »

WoW Making Learning Fun

Maggie Greene — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 12:30:00 EDT

Surprise! WoW may be good for you (or rather, good for kids): LiveScience has a nice little piece up on the myriad uses of WoW in educational settings, from getting kids to up their reading and writing ability to parents who use it as part of homeschooling. Constance Steinkuehler of Pop Cosmopolitanism organized a group of middle school-aged boys to play WoW after school (for educational purposes, natch), and the benefits derived from the social community that sprung up were obvious: More »

Kaplan Using Nintendo DS For SAT Prepping

Mark Wilson — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 16:30:00 EDT

Kaplan, the makers of all those test preparation books, is teaming with Aspyr Media to create an SAT prep program for the Nintendo DS. Sure, the same title will also be made available for the PC and Mac (probably just like the stuff we've seen for years), but the flashcard form factor of the DS version makes it incredibly appealing. More »

Suspected Church Arsonist Brags On GameFaqs Forums

fdemarco — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 15:00:00 EST

A teenage boy has been arrested on suspected arson charges for burning down a Palmyra, MO church. What makes this game related you may ask? It seems that GameFaqs forum poster "Jediknight12345" (original, eh?) made a post in the "Current Events" page asking readers if he should burn down a school and a church. The post was quickly removed by forum administrators and then a few days later another post showed up from the same person. This time, Jediknight12345 bragged that he had in fact burned a church/school down, described how he did it and even went so far as to post pictures of the event for posterity. Fellow forum posters immediately alerted local news station WGEM and authorities leading to the teenager's arrest. According to recent reports, the arrested suspect was a member of the church and its attached school. More »

School Offering Game Time as Reward

Mark Wilson — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 14:40:28 EST

Selly Oak School in Birmingham is trying a new technique to motivate students. The top 180 out of the 410 pupils receive "platinum award cards" that grant them special access to a game room featuring a Wii and other consoles. Plus, the top 20 students get to wear special uniforms (OK, this part actually has nothing to do with gaming, but we just wanted to mention that we totally don't care at all that they get to wear those stupid uniforms when we don't). And apparently the reward system works, since teachers are now spending half the time they used to on discipline. More »

Call of Duty 4 Threat Shuts Down University

Mark Wilson — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 13:40:13 EST

A Frostburg State University student was charged with two misdemeanor counts of disrupting a school operation after allegedly speaking a threat about "shooting up the school" on Xbox LIVE. Evidently he was playing Call of Duty 4 at the time when another player reported the statement to the Frostburg Police Department. The school was placed on lock-down while Microsoft located the Xbox's location (through address on-hand with the student's internet provider). More »

Hands-On: Nintendo's Student Made DS Game

Brian Ashcraft — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 08:00:30 EDT

Earlier, we posted about student-made DS games that have hit Japan. Reader Ryan, the trooper that he is, sent some pics and a hands-on description. He writes: More »

Nintendo Exploiting Student Labor!

Brian Ashcraft — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 01:00:44 EDT

Not exploiting in a bad way, but a good way. Nintendo Co., Ltd. is making games developed by students at its Nintendo Seminar 2006 available for download via the DS Station. Starting late last week and appearing every two weeks after that, the games are totally free. Games include one that has players swing a steel ball to destroy obstacles and help mice captured by cats or another one that has players shout things at inappropriate times. These games, like so many good things, are Japan only. Brian Ashcraft More »

Clip: PaRappa, The Stage Show

Brian Ashcraft — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 04:00:29 EST

We must thank these fine people for a live action version of PaRappa the Rapper. Now if they could just explain what the hell is going on. Actually, we can. This is Andreas Wieslander's Bachelor's Thesis, who enlightens: More »

Korean Game Companies: Grades, English Don't Matter

Brian Ashcraft — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 12:22:45 EST

Hate school? Loathe English? Live in Korea? You're in luck! Game companies there don't look at things like foreign language ability or GPAs for prospective game developers. Instead, whether or not the individual can function on little or no sleep or long hours and little pay matter. Says NCsoft's Lee Hwa-soo: More »

Japanese Children Studying With DS At School

Brian Ashcraft — Mon, 23 Oct 2006 12:22:27 EDT

First, it was American kids sweating it out on a DDR. Now, it's Japanese junior and senior high schoolers studying English via the Nintendo DS. Starting this September, students in Kyoto Prefecture's Yawata City spend the first ten minutes of class, studying vocab on their portables. Says a Yawata City teacher: More »

Peoria, Illinois Is Way Better Than Second Life

Brian Ashcraft — Wed, 09 Aug 2006 08:22:03 EDT

Real life college professor Ed Lamoureaux is Professor Beliveau in Second Life. He is teaching an in-game college class on multi-media. In an interview with SL site NMC Campus Observer, Ed is asked whether or not it is a good idea to invite college students into Second Life, due to questionable areas in the game. His response? More »

Pac-Man Creator Ditches Namco For Nerdy College Girls

Brian Ashcraft — Tue, 11 Jul 2006 03:22:16 EDT

Pac-Man's creator has left the Namco building to go teach future game developers. The self-taught Toru Iwatani worked at Namco for almost thirty years, but had been more on the administration end of late and less on the creative side. More »

India is the New World of Gaming

brownlee — Thu, 29 Jun 2006 15:40:40 EDT

Wired has a great article up, detailing India's rise as a gamer society and the proliferation of cybercafes and gaming tournaments through India's growing middle class. India today is China of 2001: A rumbling cluster of highly compressed gamers ready to explode in a Big Bang across the entirety of the subcontinent. More »

China Turns Internet Cafes Into Study Hall

Brian Ashcraft — Tue, 27 Jun 2006 09:22:31 EDT

Summer vacation! And if you lived in China, you'd jet over to the local internet cafe and play some MMO until your eyes bled. Well, you would have if the Chinese government weren't such a big wet blanket. The country's MInistry of Culture is kicking off a campaign to monitor internet cafes from July 1st to September 30th this year. This crackdown will keep kids out of the cafes and on the street, where they can do safe things like play in traffic. Middle school teachers are being hired to serve as internet cafe supervisors. School's out? Yeah, right. Brian Ashcraft More »

Game School's Final, Horrible Exam

egauger — Fri, 23 Jun 2006 17:20:43 EDT

Deprived of a rich gaming background by overprotective parents? Can't keep up with the witty banter at your local network gaming establishment (do these even exist anymore?)? Keep embarassing yourself in front of friends and relatives when asked to make speeches at Zaxxon-themed bar mitzvahs? More »

College Retro Gaming Booths

Brian Ashcraft — Wed, 14 Jun 2006 12:22:07 EDT

While searching for retro gaming stuff, reader Cliff stumbled across these images of carnival games from a college. Details are scant, but with "Astronomy Club Presents Space Invaders", what else do you need? Hit the jump for the Dunt Hunt catridge booth. Brian Ashcraft More »

Prof. Jenkins Pays Students to Walk Him Through Games

Brian Ashcraft — Tue, 06 Jun 2006 07:22:47 EDT

Brainy dude Henry Jenkins chatted with GameSetWatch. Jenkins is the Director of Comparative Media Studies and Full Professor of Literature at MIT. Boing Boing's Cory Doctorow has described him as "one of us: a geek, a fan, a popcult packrat" and Will Wright pointed out that "Henry Jenkins offers crucial insight into an unexpected and unforeseen future." Jenkins isn't our cheerleader, but a visionary, pointing out not only on what games are, but what they can and could be. More »

Smash Kirby with a Baseball Bat

Brian Ashcraft — Thu, 25 May 2006 07:22:56 EDT

Kotakuite Mirai Mat sent along this super cute Kirby pinata his lady friend made for her high school Spanish class. Kirby soon after had his head bashed in. The horror. Brian Ashcraft More »

Study Hard or Hardly Study with Doko Demo

Brian Ashcraft — Fri, 19 May 2006 06:22:07 EDT

Doko Demo Issho ("Everywhere's the Same") is one of Sony's more off-beat titles. The animal sim has players teach Toro the white cat new words. The PSP version is getting a sequel called Doko Demo Issho: Let's Gakkou! ("Let's School!" Totally! Let's!) As part of a campaign, the lovely people at Sony Computer Entertainment have put together a study bundle that includes a ceramic white PSP, the Let's Gakkou! UMD software, a branded pencil case and a ball point for 28,140 yen (about US $250). This way kids can at least appear like they're studying while sneaking Doko Demo in class. —Brian Ashcraft More »

New Gaming Center: Baton Rouge?

Brian Ashcraft — Fri, 24 Mar 2006 08:24:20 EST

Baton Rouge Community College (BRCC) is creating a new degree program in hopes of supplying the city's upstart gaming industry with a ready work-force. "This will keep young people from having to leave Louisiana," says Mayor Kip Holden. "They can stay right here in Baton Rouge, earn a good living and at the same time, be a part of a growing dynamic industry." More »

Final Fantasy Goes to College

Brian Ashcraft — Tue, 21 Mar 2006 16:23:21 EST

Frat boy fav CollegeHumor.com has a live action version of Final Fantasy. That is, if Final Fantasy starred polo-shirt wearing undergrads. It looks like these guys put a ton of work into the vid. Sure beats studying. More »

Nintendo Seminar 2006

Brian Ashcraft — Fri, 17 Mar 2006 16:21:03 EST

"The high tech game isn't necessarily an interesting game. Above all, the most important thing for a fun game is the power of unique conception." So says Shigeru Miyamoto in a message to prospective applicants for the 2006 Nintendo Seminar. Started back in 2004, the seminar lasts 10 months and gives students a look at the various aspects of the industry. Attendees learn directing, programming, graphic design and sound. More »

Kid Memorizes 8,784 Digits of Pi for an Xbox 360

Brian Ashcraft — Fri, 17 Mar 2006 15:22:23 EST

A 15 year-old student in Salem, Virginia recited 8,784 digits of Pi from memory on Tuesday. His father promised to buy him an Xbox 360 if he succeeded in reaching 10,790 digits (pops is so pulling these numbers outta his arse). Since the kid fell short, dear old dad joked that his son would get the Xbox 360, but no game. Yeah, right. Like he'll be able to find one. More »

Game Designing Jack Bauer Style

Brian Ashcraft — Tue, 14 Mar 2006 21:29:51 EST

Over the weekend, MTV's Stephen Totilo checked out the "Mobile Game Mosh" at New York's Parsons School of Design. The Glu Mobile and Atari-sponsored design contest challenged college and grad students to churn out a Nokia compatible cell phone game in 24 hours. Contracts, Totilo reports, signed by the participants forfitted game rights to Atari and Glu Mobile. Yuck. More »