Apparently they can. This is the story of Rhy, a 10 years old boy from a small city near Austin, Texas.
Rhy uses a platform called Gamestar Mechanic to design his own videogames. Named one of the 2012 Best Educational Websites by the American Association of School Librarians, Gamestar Mechanic is one of the most popular solutions for the teachers who believe that game design can have a dramatic impact on their students engagement at school, and at home.
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Like it or not, Common Core Standards are going to have a big impact on American schools. There are many pros and cons about the adoption of National standards for education, but we believe that with the right attitude, and the right tools, students and teachers could truly benefit from this change. How? Unifying the goals of public schools can do a lot to make students feel like they’re part of the same country, and that they can have the same opportunities, regardless of their social background.
We can’t stress enough how important this could be for America. Common Standards alone, of course, are not going to do the job. It’s still the teachers, the principles, the policy makers, the developers, the students that have to make the tough job, but now they are united in the goals they have to achieve.
Are Common Standards perfect? Of course they’re not.
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There’s been a lot of demonization of developers using in-app purchases inside apps aimed at children. A few days ago Apple had to refund customers in the U.K. when their five-year-old boy accidentally spent $2,500 in in-app purchases in just 15 minutes. The settlement obviously made headlines and the debate followed. Sadly, most of the comments ended up simply reinforcing a widespread misconception: developers who use IAP inside children’s apps are evil and should be banned by Apple.
Since we develop apps for children and one of them uses IAP, we took some time to clarify a few points. We’re pretty passionate about what we do, and we don’t like poor simplifications.
One year ago we visited one of the best schools of the world, “Al Centro Internazionale Loris Malaguzzi” in Reggio Emilia, Italy. This school is well known all over the world for being the international center of the Reggio Emilia Approach to Education. One of the main sources of inspiration for all the activities and stories featured on our magazine, Timbuktu.
Lately, we’ve been working harder than usual.
Today, we’re happy to tell you that the Timbuktu team started producing some new amazing titles both for iPhone and for iPad, both in English and in Italian! We’re pretty excited about them, and you should be too, because they are *amazing*. Let’s start with The Nutcracker, a great way to discover Tchaikovsky’s amazing masterpiece, and to enjoy a timeless story. Download it now at the special launch price of $0.99!
Stay tuned for the incredible new titles.
It’s that time of the year again, time to Doodle4Google! This year’s theme is “My best day ever…” and the competition is as exciting as usual. The winning Doodle featuring Google’s logo, will be shown in Google’s homepage and the winner will get a $30,000 college scholarship, while his/her school will get a $50,000 grant!
Every student in the United States can participate. 53 days missing! Are your students doodling for Google?
Do you remember this fantastic colorful school in Paris? Well, France did it again, and here is another school that will make both you and your kids pretty jealous:
A yellow giraffe as a pillar! Who wouldn’t want to go to a school like that?
Today on Timbuktu, you’ll find the guide to write the ultimate letter to Santa Claus. For additional inspiration, we’ve selected 10 incredibly funny letters to (or about) Santa!
1 – We need an architect!
Leo is worried that his mom’s chimney won’t be big enough for Santa to pass through.
The Christmas Spirit is not about presents, but how can we not think about toys when it’s almost Christmas? Gifting toys is just as fun as receiving toys, and we spend quite some time looking around for the best ones. Today, we want to share with you 10 classic toys that have been reinvented by modern designers with great results: they make for excellent presents for kids, and please the parents as well.
1 – The Toy Car
We think the toy car will never go out of fashion: even in the future, when we’ll be flying around like the Jetsons, our children will surely still play with little cars. Hopefully, they will be like this wonderful vintage car by PlaySam.
We know we are supposed to be “good” all year long. At the same time, we know that it’s hard. We’re stressed, overwhelmed, scared… This is why the weeks leading up to Christmas are a great time to slightly change some of our habits,and try to behave a bit differently at work, with our friends, and with our family. Kids love Christmas, not only because they get presents, but because they are able to spend more time with their parents and friends and feel energized by the magic of this festivity. If you are not feeling the Christmas Spirit yet, here’s how to awaken it!
1. GET SUFJAN STEVENS’ CHRISTMAS ALBUM “Silver and Gold”
It’s just beautiful. It will make you feel Christmas’ complexity and charm.
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