We’re turning into attention junkies, looking for our next big hit.

We’re now well on the way to being blasé about the term gamification. It’s certainly grabbed peoples attention in a way the term Serious Game never did. I’m glad to see some more balanced discussions about the topic too but there’s still so much that concerns me and so I believe its important to continue the dialogue (beyond purely commercial motivations) and look at the psychology behind the idea. So I thought I’d re-post my response to a recent blog on the power of Gamification, feel free to continue the dialogue, but I certainly won’t be awarding you any points for doing so

Gamification is something that fascinates and concerns me right now. As a psychologist

PIXELearning wins European Seal of e-Excellence 2012

PIXELearning

are pleased to announce they have been awarded the highest honour of a Platinum Seal from EMF – The Forum of e-Excellence. This prestigious European and global award honouring ICT and Digital Media companies is awarded to those demonstrating an excellent track record in innovative marketing.

Announced today at CeBIT in Hanover, Germany, the ceremony see’s 42 winners from 18 countries

Flash is dead! OK now get off the band wagon and calm down dear!

If I had a pound for every time someone had told me recently that Flash is dead, I’d take you all out for a pint and tell you about why Flash is far from 6 feet under. But so far, no one has been so generous; so I’ll have to make do and blog about it instead.

Now I’m not a techie and I’m not a coder, and I’m not a business woman, but

Is technology changing the way you educate students or the way you may learn as a student: The six trends identified by Horizon Report in Education.

The recently release NMC Horizon Report: 2012 Higher Education Edition looks at emerging technologies that will impact education through adapting the way in which education is delivered and received.

Categorised into time-to adoption – when they are expected to enter the classroom – these technologies will look to enhance learning experiences, engage the learner, introduce

Geeks vs Nerds; which one are you?

From: MastersInIt.org

Meet the Team: Vicky Rose (Instructional Design Assistant)

Hello and welcome to my first EVER blog! Please be gentle with me as I’m new to this and have a lot to learn, but learning is what this year (and hopefully many years to come) is all about.

My journey to PIXELearning has had many twists and turns, has spanned the globe and the breadth of emotion, from dismal lows to euphoric highs.

The result of this winding road means that it’s tricky to know quite where to start but I’ll give it a shot! My need for creative outlet led me

Innovation In Learning; The Six Sigma Serious Game

For those of you who attended Learning Technologies 2012 and those who didn’t make it! Here is a copy of the presentation by myself and Kate Smith of Capella Associates. Enjoy

Meet the team: Anna Bailey (Graphical Artist)

I have always been interested in art. It’s something I’ve always loved and had passion for. Eventually I came to realise that I could team this up with my interest in games. Throughout college I then focused more the creative side of gaming. This then confirmed what career I wanted to pursue and I enrolled at the University of Huddersfield to pursue my career by doing a course in computer games design. Throughout my time at university I have learnt so much, my knowledge of Photoshop has improved drastically and I have also had the opportunity to work with programmes such as 3Ds Max and After effects. These have all helped me to really improve my knowledge of the games industry and how it works. I have also attended expo’s in various places and intend to visit a lot more.

As part of the games design course we also have the opportunity to work within teams to produce a working game. At the end of the year our game Overtime won the ‘Best game award’. Since then I have worked on different modules within the course and produced some really interesting work.

The computer games design course has the option to do a placement year and through it I came across PIXELearning. Not only does it tackle training and learning through games but it does it in a really intelligent and innovative way. I immediately emailed them showing my interest in doing my placement year with them. To my delight they agreed to take me on as a graphical artist.

Although I have only been with PIXELearning for 6 months I have already learnt so much. I have had a chance to really apply my skills to games within such a great team. I have seen into the industry and my enthusiasm for the serious games industry has grown vastly. I work on many different areas from graphics to animations. I have also done some3D textures and drawn concepts’ for characters and environments. Nowhere else could I have such a diverse and interesting work load. I get to work on various projects and interact with many different clients.

This opportunity has fuelled my passion for the games industry and I’m really looking forward to the rest of my time at PIXELearning.

 

Observations on LwF: So much innovation, so little time!

Our roaming graphical artist/reporter Anna Bailey attended the Learning Without Frontiers conference at the end of January and here she captures some musing of her day there….

Learning without frontiers showed me how things are changing within the classroom due to Leading Innovators within the field.

In my experience teachers have a reluctance to teach using technology.

Top Trends from Learning Technologies 2012

Any trade show is always an eye opener, you can’t help it. You meet so many interesting people, see and hear so many different ideas and get extracted from your little bubble for a few precious moments. PIXELearning and Intellego recently held a stand at Learning Technologies 2012, PIXEL’s first trade show in a good couple of years, but as the show was drawing to a close we’re already making plans to be back next year!

With 2012 drawing a record breaking crowd for Learning Technologies, almost 7000 registered attendees visited interacted and engaged with 100’s of exhibitors,…