Games That Make You Smarter

AnnMaria De Mars

Ojibwa woman — Does it even make sense to talk about “native culture” when there are over 500 tribes? In a previous post, I described the math and story line involved in our project making games customized for tribal youth. (This is from a paper Bruce Gillette and I presented at the National […]

Can you customize video games for tribal youth using “Native ...

June 29, 2017 in 7GenGames / Cultural content / Educational Games by AnnMaria De Mars

Gonzalo hard at work — Last post, I ended talking about the content of the Android app package. Let’s look at that a little more in-depth, Expansion files Expansion files are used if your app is larger than 100MB. Google supports expansion files up to 2GB, In our case we are using an expansion files that […]

Getting your app into Google Play: Basic Steps – continued

June 28, 2017 in Code Talk / Tech Tips by AnnMaria De Mars

Julia in soccer goal — SAS Curriculum Pathways – which I had heard about years ago, recommended to a few friends that teach middle school and, to be honest, not looked at since, has grown in every good way. First of all, I was not aware they had apps and the first thing I saw […]

Free Education Resources I Found at ISTE: 1. SAS Curriculum ...

June 27, 2017 in Education: Innovation and STEM / Educational Resources by AnnMaria De Mars

ice cream cone — Well, maybe the word is “depressing” more than true, or a phrase, “true and depressing”. Lately, I’ve talked to four different people who had worked in educational technology start-ups that closed. All four of them were really smart, hard-working people who had the same problems: Getting enough people to know about their […]

True stories of start-up life

June 27, 2017 in AnnMaria / Start-up Diaries by AnnMaria De Mars

Engineering is cleaning poop from water — It’s my first time at the International Society for Technology in Education conference and so far it’s great! One thing I have concluded from years of conference going in general is that you should always go to the poster sessions. I like posters a lot better than presentations because you […]

ISTE Advice: Always Go to the Poster Sessions

June 26, 2017 in AnnMaria / Education: Innovation and STEM by AnnMaria De Mars

Games we made — We do a lot of research in rural communities, American Indian reservations, small rural schools, social service programs serving people with physical and mental disabilities. We know that funding organizations want to see articles published in peer-reviewed journals (that is a whole ‘nother post), but we know also that only […]

Customized video games as effective education for tribal youth

June 25, 2017 in 7GenGames by AnnMaria De Mars

Gonzalo hard at work — You have an idea for an app. Great. Now, how do you get it into Google Play so that your legions of would-be fans can play it? Lucky for you, we have a pile of helpful hints for you. This is the first of a LONG series of posts, so […]

Getting your app into Google Play: Basic Steps

June 23, 2017 in Code Talk / Start-up Diaries / Tech Tips by AnnMaria De Mars

How many kids would love to have a dog of their very own? Yet, the world is full of reasons they can’t have one. Another family member is allergic. The landlord won’t allow it. The family moves too often. No one would be home to care for it. “Our […]

I was thinking of your child (and me) when I ...

June 23, 2017 in AnnMaria / Education: Innovation and STEM / Educational Games / Start-up Diaries by AnnMaria De Mars

Child in office — That teacher-friend of yours, Ms. Robinson, I hate her! This comment came from a very nice woman who had a child in my friend’s class, and she sounded like she meant it, too. Let’s call her Diana, because that wasn’t her name . I said, Come on, you don’t mean […]

That Parent or Teacher You Can’t Stand, Yeah, That’s Culture

June 21, 2017 in AnnMaria / Cultural content by AnnMaria De Mars

kid waving — It was a no-brainer, really. Everyone knows that kids lose ground over the summer and kids from disadvantaged homes lose the most. So, why not put our technical skills to work and DO something about it? Two years ago, concerned about the “summer slide”, we came up with this idea […]

Welcome to Camp Don’t Get Dumber Over the Summer

June 20, 2017 in 7GenGames / Start-up Diaries by AnnMaria De Mars

children in trouble — This is the latest in our series on behavior problems. You can find the previous post here and if you want to start at the beginning, go here. The previous post focused a bit more on children with disabilities, with advice about picture boards and sign language. However, many strategies […]

3 MORE STRATEGIES FOR REDUCING BEHAVIOR PROBLEMS

June 14, 2017 in AnnMaria / Educational Resources by AnnMaria De Mars

kids with cookies and cereal all over the bed — This is the latest in our series on behavior problems. You can find the previous post here and if you want to start at the beginning, go here. When children are frustrated by tasks that are too difficult Slow down: If you believe the child is acting out, for example, […]

Preventing Behavior Problems

June 13, 2017 in AnnMaria / Educational Resources / Special Education by AnnMaria De Mars