Awards
Show a little love: Nominations are open for the 2012 Carnegie Corporation of New York/New York Times I Love My Librarian Award. Library users can nominate a favorite public, school, college, community college, or university librarian based on the accomplishments in improving the lives of people in their community. Nominees must be employed librarians with a master’s degree from a program accredited by the American Library Association (ALA) in library and information studies or a master’s degree with a specialty in school librarianship from an education unit accredited by the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education. The nomination form is available online. Up to 10 librarians have the opportunity to win the award-$5000, a plaque, and $500 travel stipend to attend the awards ceremony in New York in December. The award is administered by ALA’s Public Information Office and Campaign for America’s Libraries.
Industry News
Games and learning: GLASS Lab (The Games, Learning and Assessment Lab), a project of Institute of Play, a non-profit design studio, has been launched with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Electronic Arts (EA), and the Entertainment Software Association (ESA). GLASS Lab “will research and develop digital game-based learning and assessment tools that engage students in innovative ways and validate student learning of the core skills deemed critical by states for college and the 21st-century workplace.” Game-based learning challenges students and offers feedback on student progress. “Learning is changing and so must educational institutions in order to engage kids and ensure they are taught the participatory and creative skills that are needed to succeed in the 21st century,” said Connie Yowell, Director of Education at the MacArthur Foundation. The MacArthur and the Gates Foundations are footing a large part of the cost, contributing $10.3 million in grants. Housed on the campus of Electronic Arts, the Lab will produce innovative digital games and draw on the knowledge of experts to develop new approaches to assessment design.
Game On
Kids as designers: Kids ages 7 to 12 can enter Pressman Toy Corporation‘s Mastermind BrainTwister Challenge from October 1 to December 31. Students are asked to come up with their own puzzles, word problems, or games. The entries will be judged based on creativity, degree of difficulty, and the incorporation of skills that are used in Mastermind game play. Two first place winners will receive $1000 scholarships and three runners-up will each get $100. Also, the first 10,000 teachers to sign up will receive a free game that will be shipped to them in September. The company will also offer online activities that help develop reasoning skills. Mastermind is a game of logic, strategic thinking, and code-breaking that was first released more than 40 years ago.
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About Phyllis Levy Mandell
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