The Famundo Blog

Preparing our children for the global economy through games!

Posted by Richard Kuhlenschmidt Thu, 18 Jan 2007 00:58:00 GMT

Some very interesting research and development is going on at the University of Wisconsin-Madison on the subject of epistemic games – games in which players learn to think in innovative and creative ways to solve complex problems.

The Games and Professional Practice Simulations (GAPPS) Group is involved with studying and building learning systems that use digital game technologies to immerse learners in worlds where they use the skills and values of professionals to solve complex problems.

The results are Epistemic games.

Epistemic games are computer games that can help students learn to think like engineers, urban planners, journalists, architects, and other innovative professionals, giving them the tools they need to survive in a changing world.

There are a number of games available to try on their website including Escher’s World, The Pandora Project, and Digital Zoo.

Unfortunately, none of these games are available for sale yet, so you’ll just have to visit their website.

Posted in Technology | no comments

Update on One Laptop Per Child (OLPC)

Posted by Richard Kuhlenschmidt Sun, 14 Jan 2007 13:34:32 GMT

There has been a lot of interest in the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project since it was announced back in January 2005.

It appears that they are planning to begin mass production in August/September 2007. Here is an update from NetworkWorld.

More information can be found on the OLPC website.

Posted in Technology | no comments

A very cool search engine for kids

Posted by Richard Kuhlenschmidt Sat, 13 Jan 2007 03:14:07 GMT

Quintura has developed a different approach to search. Instead of being presented with pages and pages of results, as with Google or Yahoo, results are presented in a visual cloud, so the searcher can hone in on relevant contextual relationships between words.

Now Quintura has applied it’s “See and Find” technology to their new search engine for kids, Quintura for Kids.

Designed specifically for kids, this new experience demonstrates Quintura’s continued commitment to change the way people search and find information on the Web. Based on the same cutting edge Neural Network technology used on Quintura.com, Quintura for Kids utilizes the Quintura cloud, which allows kids to find what they are looking for faster and easier than ever before.

The results come from Yahooligans, so they are “kid safe”.

Posted in Technology | no comments

It's 9 o'clock. Do you know where you children are?

Posted by Richard Kuhlenschmidt Thu, 11 Jan 2007 01:01:26 GMT

If you live in Japan, you soon will.

According to SankeiWeb, Japanese geverment (Soum-sho) is planning to spend 1.2B Japanese Yen (about 10 million USD) to build “a system for watching kids” using mobile phones, GPS, RFID tags, etc.

Read more.

Posted in Family Life, Setting Limits, Technology | no comments

A video game that offers hope

Posted by Richard Kuhlenschmidt Thu, 07 Dec 2006 20:31:00 GMT

HopeLab is a non-profit organization that combines rigorous research with innovative solutions to improve the health and quality of life of young people with chronic illness. Their first project is Re-Missionâ„¢—a video game developed for adolescents and young adults with cancer.

Imagine that you’re working in a research laboratory during the day. You watch cancer cells multiplying under a microscope. At night, you go home and play video games with your family and friends. Then you get the idea that a video game for young people with cancer might play a positive role in helping them fight their disease. A video game designed especially for kids with cancer might give them a feeling of power over their disease as they blast away at the cancer cells. And you could use top-notch research to test the game and see if it really would help the kids. That’s exactly what Pam Omidyar imagined. And in 2001, she founded HopeLab to make this idea a reality.

HopeLab has created www.Re-Mission.net to enable broad distribution of the game free of charge to young people with cancer, and to provide an open, interactive, online community for teens and young adults with cancer to support one another.

The game is available in English, Spanish and French.

Posted in Technology

The Kids are Alright

Posted by Richard Kuhlenschmidt Sun, 29 Oct 2006 12:47:18 GMT

Via Tame the Web, there is a new book coming out which examines the new generation kids who grew up on video games and are now entering the workforce.

The Kids Are Alright: How the Gamer Generation Is Changing the Workplace by John Beck and Mike Wade.

Think video games are kids’ stuff? Think again. According to authors John C. Beck and Mitchell Wade, all those hours immersed in game culture have created masses of employees with unique attributes. This new generation that’s 90 million strong has an amazing ability to multitask, solves problems creatively, and brings unexpected leadership to the table. But to tap these skills, we need to understand and appreciate the different ways gamers think and behave. The Kids Are Alright dispels common myths about gamers and reveals them as committed, team-oriented people who play to win.

From from Harvard Business School press.

Posted in Setting Limits, Technology | no comments | no trackbacks

AOL to make kids portals free

Posted by Richard Kuhlenschmidt Thu, 19 Oct 2006 20:16:57 GMT

According to an article in USA Today, AOL will make it kid-oriented services free.

The teen-oriented beRed service formally launches Friday at beRed.com, while KOL for kids ages 6-12 and KOL Jr. for those 2-5 kicks off Tuesday at kol.com and koljunior.com.

When AOL started giving away its content nearly two years ago, it kept kids-oriented services restricted, figuring parents would be willing to pay for peace of mind. But after seeing its subscriber base plunge anyway, the Time Warner online unit decided in August to make those portals and other features free as well.

The shift to free will expose kids and teens to more ads — even for those who continue to pay as much as $26 a month for Internet access.

To read the entire aticle, click here.

Posted in Technology | Tags AOL, internet, kids | no comments | no trackbacks

CommonSenseMedia

Posted by Richard Kuhlenschmidt Thu, 19 Oct 2006 10:55:00 GMT

I am very excited that Jim Steyer, founder of CommonSenseMedia, will be speaking at my son’s school next week. His talk is on The “Internet: Do You Understand How Much It Affects Your Children, How It’s Changing Their Lives and What You Can Do about It.” I’m very interested to hear his perspective on this topic especially now that I have a high schooler.

In case you are not familiar with CommonSenseMedia, get familiar. It is an incredibly valuable tool for parents, on topics covering all media, including the internet, movies TV.

You can sign up for their weekly e-newsletter, which covers all the latest releases.

I’ll report back after I hear his talk.

Posted in Internet Safety, Setting Limits, Technology | Tags internet, monitoring, online, predators, safety, web | no comments | no trackbacks

Long Distance Learning

Posted by Richard Kuhlenschmidt Wed, 18 Oct 2006 13:19:00 GMT

First it was customer service, then technical support, now your children can be tutored by someone thousands of mile away in another country.

From today’s CNETNews:

The world of Web 2.0 and the global economy have merged once again, this time to deliver online tutoring sessions that can cost less than a tank of gas (though these days, that isn’t saying much).

Read the entire article here.

Posted in School, Family 2.0, Homework, Technology | Tags schools, tutoring | no comments | no trackbacks

Kid Inventors Wanted!

Posted by Richard Kuhlenschmidt Thu, 12 Oct 2006 23:17:00 GMT

Hat tip to Asha Dornfest at Parent Hacks,

The PBS series Cyberchase is inviting kid inventors ages 6 -12 years old to send videos of themselves and their inventions as part of My Big Idea: Cyberchase Inventions Initiative. Selected videos will be shown on the Cyberchase website and possibly on TV! The deadline is October 20, 2006.

Get your videos in soon!

Posted in Technology | Tags technology | no comments | no trackbacks