Friday, April 26, 2013

Cambridge Phrasal Verbs: Ipad Learning Apps

Posted by Unknown


0 comments:

Monday, April 22, 2013

Children's Mindsets: Using Language Study in Children's Games

Posted by Unknown

The developing child's mind is an interesting subject to analyze. The most interesting aspect of developing infant and toddler's brains are capable of learning a language at a much faster rate only by listening. An adult never has to take a baby or toddler to a language instructor, they are capable of teaching themselves, in a way. Whereas adults and teenagers must go through rigorous learning, memorizing, and testing to comprehend another language. Even after the innate period of language learning is over, a four year old with a decent vocabulary in their native language can still learn another language much quicker than an adult.

Now, what does this have anything to do with children's educational games? For starters, if the game was targeted at children from 3-5 years old, having this game help them understand another language besides their own would help if the child needed to be bilingual. Playing this game along with teaching them basic vocabulary in the desired language to be learned would help them develop the second language rather quickly.

What if, though, the child didn't need to be bilingual or their parents did not find it valuable enough? The game could also help them learn advanced English vocabulary, if that is their native language. The young brain's ability to learn languages does not have to be two or more, it can simply be one. This one language, however, can be refined very well and give the child an edge in their early-level English classes.

0 comments:

Games and Story Lines

Posted by Unknown

Games usually have some sort of plot or story line to go with it, which provides a  background for the player.    Some can be as simple as running from monsters because you swiped an idol, (Temple Run) or as complex as Heavy Rain.  However, some stories don't have a story line, just get from point A to point B or score a certain number of points.


(this is the story for Heavy Rain if you were wondering)


Heavy Rain--
The game starts with a man named Ethan Mars. He has a family of four and lives in a beautiful house. However, one day while the family is shopping, one of this sons, Jason, gets hit by a car. This drastically changes the family's life. Ethan and his wife get divorced, and he takes his other son, Shaun, to live in a small apartment.
Ethan has times when he blacks out and sees visions of the Origami Killer. The Origami Killer is  man who kidnaps children and often leads to the father's death. One day, Shaun is kidnapped by the Origami Killer. From this point on, Ethan goes through various dangerous challenges to try to save his son. Throughout the game, it is also uncertain who the Origami Killer is, and one of the suspects is Ethan himself.
The player follows several different story lines, as every section has a different playable character. This includes Madison Paige, a reporter that wants to write a story on the Origami Killer; Scott Shelby, a retired police officer that investigates privately, and Norman Jayden, an FBI agent who is assigned to investigate the Origami Killer case and is addicted to a certain drug. The stories of these four characters are intertwined as everyone tries to figure out who the Origami Killer is and save Shaun Mars.
Other details in the story:
Madison and Ethan fall in love.
Scott Shelby is the Origami Killer. He became the Origami Killer because his father was a drunkard who let Scott's brother drown.
Norman Jayden has continuous drug addiction problems, which affect his ability to solve the case. However, his illness is caused by a combination of the drug and the FBI technology called ARI.
For most of the game, everyone thinks Ethan Mars is the Origami Killer, and he is constantly running from the police.





0 comments:

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Educational ipad Games Part: 2

Posted by Unknown

Here is the second "interview" with my sister about educational ipad games. This part is on Sparklefish.

0 comments:

Monday, April 1, 2013

The Effectiveness of Games and Play on a Developing Child's Brain

Posted by Unknown

More details on this subject can be researched here.

The interesting effect of games on a child brain differs from when violent games are played to when nonviolent games are played. Violent games often stimulate the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, which often assists in planning and control. The more used to violence the player is, the less this part of the brain is stimulated. This, however, does not always desensitize the player to actual violence, and is not a leading cause in developing serial killers. Whether or not games help develop the player's brain or not is still up to debate.

0 comments: