Staff Picks: Danny Glover, Games for Learning, & the Virtual School Symposium

Karen Picks “Danny Glover Talks Education During the ‘Freedom Awards'”

Karen says, “I love that celebrities are lending their name to education and helping to fight the civil rights issue of our time – equal access to a quality education for all.  From Danny Glover here, who recently visited the TAF Academy, in Federal Way, to John Legend and his Show Me Campaign, and Kevin Johnson who was in Tacoma last week to speak to the citizens in Tacoma for the League of Education voters promoting reading and community involvement. Positive role models who walk the talk are the type of mentors that our students need.”

Caroline Picks “7 Ways Games May Save Our School”

Caroline says, “My pick this week is 7 ways games may save our schools. Its been a great week for gamers across the country. Tuesday night Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 came out leaving girlfriends, fiances and wives across the country wishing it hadn’t. Even more exciting was Jay Matthews’ piece in WA Post, 7 ways games may save our schools. Once skeptical about the impact of games for educational use, Matthews cites Tom’s book for his change of mind. Through games students are constantly motivated to continue learning and even get to have fun at the same time. The adaptive technology of education games means students are able to have an individualized experience tailored to their learning style.”

Sarah and Tom Pick the iNACOL Virtual School Symposium

Sarah says, “The iNACOL Virtual School Symposium (VSS) brought 2,000 though-leaders across the country together to discuss the importance of digital resources for students in education. It was a great to see what a big impact the companies, virtual schools, organizations and more are making in the education space to make the much needed shift into the 21st century.” See 10 Big Advances in the Last 12 Months, Another Great VSS, and Getting the Plumbing Right for the Flood of Data for more on the conference.
Tom says, “This was the first conference I really followed by twitter and navigated by app.” Here’s a couple of yesterday’s tweets: