Dig-It Games had a blast last week at ISTE. The Conference was ideal for new technological experiences, ideas, learning, and networking. Our Education team presented on GBL and participated in the 3rd annual Game Night! For 4 days San Antonio became a magical, techy wonderland for all ISTE participants.

While at ISTE, our education team felt exhilarated by the big trends in technology for education! In education, we know that a lot of innovative ideas come out of conferences and they drive the education community to move toward new ideas and techniques that better prepare our students for the future. Some trends our team noticed were makerspaces, coding, mixed reality, and game-based learning.

If you are not familiar with makerspaces, it is time to get your students creating! At the conference, presenters urged teachers to not only allow their students to create but to give students opportunities to publish their works. (Check out this blog for ideas to help build a makerspace – http://ideas.demco.com/blog/lean-startup-approach-starting-your-makerspace/)

Coding is here to stay. Many companies are adding coding activities for students on their sites. There is a push to have students as young as kindergarten play and learn the concepts of coding. Robots are also becoming more accessible for classrooms and are allowing students to apply their coding skills into action! (Check out this article for ideas on coding – https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/250323)

Some new ideas on the rise in technology for education are virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (MR). Pokemon Go has created a whole world of learning through augmented reality that has now evolved into many new companies that are providing workable reality platforms that are allowing students to experiment with their understanding of virtual, augmented and the new mixed reality, which is a combination of both. (Check out this website for more information on mixed reality – http://www.cnbc.com/2016/06/01/bored-of-virtual-reality-microsofts-betting-on-mixed-reality-now.html)

Dig-It! Games was among many friends in the GBL community as games for education is still a staple at the technology conference. With new advancements in VR, AR, and MR, Dig-It! Games is looking forward to incorporating new technology into our games that will heighten the player’s experience. Get excited for new things coming from Dig-It! Games!