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You may have heard your students talking about questing or getting their epic mounts or selling bars of gold on the auction house. If you have, you’re probably dealing with a World of Warcraft player.

As a long-standing gamer and a doctoral student interested in virtual worlds and games and their potential use for teaching, I was thrilled to learn that a recent issue of Science magazine called for participation in a unique conference – one that would take place within the massively multiplayer online game, World of Warcraft (WoW). For three days in May, participants in the Convergence of the Real and the Virtual conference created characters and joined players from around the world to participate in scholarly discussions about the game while hanging out in a virtual world.

The conference was comprised of three sessions: one about the possibilities for research within the game, one about the relationship between the game and the “real world,” and one about the future of such virtual worlds.

I was particularly drawn to the second session because it featured both Constance Steinkuehler who researches the potential for learning and literacy in games, and Julian Dibbell, who researches cultural and sociological aspects of games. These scholars are two of my most favorite within this community. This particular session shed some light on the learning potential in games.

Steinkuehler believes there’s serious learning and knowledge creation that occurs as a result of playing WoW. For instance one conference participant related a story about how his son wanted to find a specific pet within the game (yes, players can have virtual pets in the game) and spent several hours researching how to find and obtain such a pet. This example uniquely illustrates the development of critical thinking, research skills, and strategic planning - indispensable skills in high school, college and beyond. Other threads of discussion in this session included the notions of:

1. How real is a friend in WoW?
2. Are the relationships that are formed in-game meaningful?
3. Is the social space of the game completely different from real life, or does it simply mimic real life?
4. Can leadership be learned in WoW?
5. Can skills developed within the game world transfer to the real world?

If you are interested in learning more about the potential for learning in games, I recommend you start with Steinkuehler’s work. After all, 10 million people play WoW; and some of them might be your students! -LAURA CHRISTOPHERSON

Johnny Lee, a YouTube personality and “human-computer interaction researcher” is changing the way we use existing technology through simple modifications, and he’s sharing it with everyone. This amazing demo proves that using something as inexpensive and highly obtainable as the Wii Remote, he can create an interactive whiteboard. Lee explains that while the whiteboard isn’t exactly the quality of it’s $3000 likeness, you’ll still get “80% there for about 1% of the cost.” He notes that teachers are able to access this technology for use in their classrooms, and many already are.

Lee makes no qualms about making this sort of technology available for anyone who wants it. He’s put the software on his website, and at the time of this demo, it had been downloaded half a million times. View the demo for the full extent of what other uses Lee is finding for the technology, and visit his website if you want to learn more. -JEREMY S. GRIFFIN

Johnny Lee’s $40 Interactive Whiteboard

Johnny Lee Computer-Human Interaction Researcher

I love Rube Goldberg devices. Why scratch your back when you can spend hours rigging up a complex system of levers, pulleys and aquaphobic dwarfs to scratch it for you? That’s why the folks behind  Mechanical Madness are my kind of people.

Like the previously reviewed Launchball, Mechanical Madness lets you harness various machines to transport a sphere from a starting point to a goal. These devices aren’t nearly as sophisticated as those in Launchball, but should still provide a fun challenge for elementary students. One thing Mechanical Madness lacks is levels - only the Easy and Medium levels were working when I tried it. However, even these are good introductions to problem solving for young students.

Mechanical Madness, like Mouse Trap, illustrates that sometimes an efficient solution isn’t as exciting as a complex one. Using complex machinery to transport a baseball from one side of your screen to another may not be practical, but it sure is fun. -BILL FERRIS

Mechanical Madness

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From what I can tell, Mind Mapping is all the rage right now, and I should probably learn how to do it. In fact, you should, too. Lucky for us both, that information is made available at Brain Dance’s Meta Learning Handbook. The online walk-through is based on the information in Patrick T. McGee’s Brain Dancing handbook. Ideal for students, Mind Mapping is a great visual way of processing input and doling out clean, organized output. It’s a tool that can be used to help you read more efficiently and retain more information on what you’ve read.

Using this visual-based way of thinking, “Brain Dancing” will help you also improve your memory and learning skills. We’d love to hear from anyone who has given this a try, or if you want to be a guinea pig and test it out. Let us know if this site has your gray matter doing the cha-cha. -JEREMY S. GRIFFIN

Brain Dancing for Students

How to Proof Your Paper Like a Pro – 8 Proofreading Tips
If you’re sick of students turning in assignments with spelling errors and confusion among there, their and they’re, this post from studenthacks.org is a must. Drop what you’re doing and send your students there. Or should I say “they’re”?

101 Web 2.0 Teaching Tools
Pretty much what it sounds like, which I guess means you won’t need us anymore. Tomorrow on Instructify: best chicken soup recipes.

Vermont’s 23 Things
Every once in a while, it’s important to review the basics of Web 2.0 tools for folks who came in late. Vermont’s 23 Things gives you a rundown on blogs, wikis, RSS, all that stuff, so you can begin using it in your classroom.

Top 10 Harmless Geek Pranks
Just in time for April Fools Day, Lifehacker has a few computer-based practical jokes you can play on friends and coworkers. Who knows? If you get your printer to say “Insert Coin,” it may be the impetus for your administration to pony up some more dough for supplies. -BILL FERRIS

Photo credit: jurek d. on flickr

40 Quick Tips for Career Happiness and Success - Sickeningly adorable blogger couple Marc and Angel present this great list to offer advice on making sure you are living the dream job you’ve always wanted. Be sure to check out some of their other nauseatingly optimistic musings over at Marc and Angel Hack Life.

More than 100 Free Places to Learn Online - and Counting - A new presenter for MBTN - and hopefully, a repeat player - Mission to Learn gives us this list of great online learning resources. The article presents the sites in a very organized way, with categories ranging from How-To’s to Higher Education. Things get even more specific in the Topic Areas, which cover such things to know as Art, Law or Theology. Finally, I can learn to wakeboard online without having to get my toes wet.

Ten Whatchamacallits and Their Real Names - A few months ago, I noted to our friend Bill that the little thing on the end of your shoelace was called an “aglet.” Right now, spell-check isn’t recognizing this word, and back then, neither did Bill. It was just one of those things I knew. Now, thanks to The List Universe, you can know that one and nine others. I love information like this, and I hope you do too.

10 Simple Ways to Save Yourself From Messing Up Your Life - I know, I know, Lifehack; I’m botching everything by not doing this or doing too much of that. Maybe if there were an article that could give me some tips to stop being so focused on failure and to start seeing the brighter side, I might be able to dig myself out from this merciless toil. What? There is an article about it? Yay! -JEREMY S. GRIFFIN

(photo credit: misocrazy on Flickr)

From the comfort of our living rooms, we can build make-believe cities, play lead guitar in a rock and roll band, and dance like John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever. As computer games continue to dominate our students’ leisure time, educators are asking how to incorporate this popular technology in the classroom.

As educators, one hurdle we face is how to keep students’ attention while teaching important lessons. Now, thanks to the folks at the United Nations World Food Programme, we have an opportunity to enlighten students to the problems and concerns of world hunger by integrating the fun of computer games into a learning environment.

Food Force is a downloadable computer action game aimed at 8-13 year olds. The game consists of six missions that allow students to see and make a situational assessment of a hunger crisis in a fictional country. Each subsequent mission builds on skills learned and allows students to make valuable decisions about food distribution and logistics. And teachers, don’t miss the links page where you can find numerous sites providing research and background on the global hunger crisis.

Given the persistent problem of world hunger, Food Force is an entertaining way to teach younger students of this treatable epidemic. With this exciting and inventive site, we have the chance to allow students to turn virtual problems into real solutions that can alter our reality for the better. —DAVID BARGER

Food Force

Related Stuff:
Test Your Vocabulary and Feed the Hungry with FreeRice

50 Tricks to Get Things Done Faster, Better, and More Easily - Lifehack presents a list of things that you can (and should) be doing in order to make your life easier, thus making you happier and more productive. Most of the tips are about efficiency and time-management, but there are some things you can do in order to make yourself healthier and more prepared for success. Number 51: Be a Robot.

7 Questions To Ask If You Want To Solve a Problem - From makeGENIUS comes this quick list of the kind of things you should be asking yourself when faced with a challenge. Whether in the classroom or in the carpool, we all have tough decisions we have to make, but they only become problems if we let them.

Five Sites to Help Teens Find Part Time Jobs - It’s Spring Break time, which means Summer is right around the corner. Summer means fun with friends, lazy afternoons, pool parties, and of course - Summer jobs… I had them, you probably did too, and your students are going to have to have them if they want that fancy new motor car. Luckily, the web is there to help them do something that doesn’t necessitate saying the words “do you want the combo with that?” WebUpon has this list of sites and explanations that will aide in getting your rising sophomores hired.

110+ Resources For Creative Minds - Feeling stuck? Want to give your students a project that will enhance and utilize their uncorrupted creative minds? Try checking out these resources from SkellieWag which include links, tips and tricks.

(photo credit: Wetsun on Flickr)

Top 5 Open Source Wiki Engines - Wikis are Web 2.0 incarnate, but they can also seem a bit overwhelming at times. TechCorner gives us these five open source resources for manageable wikis. Be careful of the atrocious grammar in this article though. Too bad the article isn’t a wiki you can edit yourself.

Top 10 Underhyped Webapps - Lifehacker presents these webapps (some of which we’ve touched on here before, including Jott) so you can make your online life as simple as it should be. Some of my favorites include Meebo and Remember the Milk.

11 Tips to Carve Out More Time to Think - Lifehack is the source for life management, and they don’t relent when it comes to bringing great articles like this one to help you deal. These tips include such gems as Walk, Talk, and Type.

50 Inspirational Quotes to Make You Think - via Goal Setting College - While we’re already thinking about thinking, delve into these quotes to give you something to think about. These quotes from such legendary thinkers from history such as Helen Keller, Winston Churchill, and Confucius will have your brain exploding with deep thoughts. Unfortunately, Jack Handy is nowhere to be found.

10 Ways to Green Your Bathroom - Luckily for mother Earth, being green is still in. There are ways we can all do our part to get in on the action, and there are chances to conserve and reduce in almost every area of our lives. Tiny Choices presents these ways you can do your part even when it comes to the nitty-gritty of the grittiest of places - the bathroom. Give one or more of these a try - maybe even recycled toilet paper (not as gross as it might sound). –JEREMY S. GRIFFIN

photo via pualv or flickr

Tom and Jerry was by far my least favorite cartoon growing up. I mean, I’d already gotten a handle on the predator-prey dynamic from the Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote. Plus Sylvester and Speedy Gonzales provided me with all the cat and mouse hijinks I’d ever need, thank you very much. But most importantly, Tom and Jerry are profoundly unfunny.

So it’s with mixed feelings I write about Tom’s Trap-o-Matic, a game more fun than all the Tom and Jerry cartoons combined. Trap-o-Matic is more or less a flash version of Mouse Trap, where kids use creativity and problem-solving skills to help Tom the cat construct elaborate Rube Goldberg devices to trap that smug mouse, Jerry. Students have an array of launching, rolling and cutting items at their disposal such as a cannon, a hamster ball, and a radio-controlled helicopter, respectively. Work around floor obstacles like furniture and a sleeping dog. Each item has a specific range, so your machine will self-destruct if you don’t align the devices properly. The game is a maddening good time (tip: work backwards from the trap at the end). I got a little frustrated at first, but the thought of one of the irritating title characters getting eaten at the end was enough motivation for me to persevere.

Based on Tom’s Trap-o-Matic, I admit Tom and Jerry are not completely useless. But if I ever play it again I’ll just pretend it’s Itchy and Scratchy instead. -BILL FERRIS

Tom’s Trap-o-Matic