Globaloria
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| Founded | 2006 |
|---|---|
| Founder(s) | Idit Harel |
| Industry | Education Technology |
| Website | www |
| Users | 17,500 (in 2015) |
Globaloria is an online learning platform oriented to K-12 curricula to teach students to design, prototype, and code educational web/mobile games and simulations with industry-standard technology as a means of learning content and creative innovation skills. Globaloria was developed in 2006 by Idit Harel as a project of the World Wide Workshop Foundation with the stated mission of providing all primary and secondary school students in the U.S. with STEM and computing education opportunities. Globaloria is noteworthy among MOOCs as it is based in constructionist learning theory and Harel's research in the MIT Media Lab.
As of May 2015, Globaloria was being used by over 500 teachers and over 17,000 students in over 50 schools. The product serves participants in 15 states: Alabama, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas, Washington D.C., West Virginia and Wyoming. Globaloria technology and content are designed to cultivate engagement in learning among students on a large scale, and has shown success among schools in rural and urban communities of varied socioeconomic status.
Globaloria was developed as a response to a perceived lack of computer science and STEM education opportunities in the United States. Following its stated concept goal of a "scalable, digital game-design learning platform, curriculum, and professional development system that is easily integrated into any school," Globaloria courses each provide a 40- to 100-hour game-design curriculum using industry-standard tools, a customized learning platform with dynamic backend and learning management system, programming and design tutorials, coaching by educators and industry experts, live and digital support systems, and onsite and online educator professional development within a facilitated social community.
Globaloria can be implemented in various formats: as individual courses or a comprehensive cumulative program as part of an existing core curriculum or elective class, or as a stand-alone course activity program such as for after-school programs or camps.
Globaloria students participate annually in a game design competitions called the Globeys, implemented as part of the Globaloria curriculum to enhance the rigorous nature of the program. Certificates, prizes and awards are given to the winning teams of each competition in the spring and summer at Globey Award Ceremonies. Student winners are awarded Game Designer Kits, which include a laptop and programming software. Each winning game is published in the Globaloria Game Gallery, where it is viewable and playable by visitors to the site. Each competition has its own deadlines, prizes, ceremonies and expert judges. Past judges have included executives from Adobe, HP, Microsoft, and Google; professional video game producers; education leaders; and government officials including Senator Jay Rockefeller and former West Virginia Governor Bob Wise.
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