5th Irish Symposium on Game-Based Learning: Call extended to 22/04/15

The 5th Irish Symposium on Game-Based Learning (iGBL2015) will be held at IADT on 4th and 5th June 2015.

There will be presentations and workshops from a wide range of topics related to the use of games and game-based approaches for formal and informal learning.

Teachers/developers/researchers who are interested in presenting and sharing their experience of using games to instruct, are welcome to submit an abstract for a presentation, a poster, or a workshop, on or before Wednesday 22nd April, using the online submission system.

See https://igblconference.wordpress.com/call-for-submissions/

StoryToys Wins a Bologna Ragazzi Digital Award

My Very Hungry Caterpillar wins the BolognaRagazzi 2015 award

StoryToys, based in Dublin, have been awarded the prestigious Bologna Ragazzi Digital Award 2015 for ‘My Very Hungry Caterpillar’, an app for children based on the work of renowned illustrator and author Eric Carle.

The BolognaRagazzi Digital Award is given by the organisers of the Bologna Children’s Book Fair, the world’s leading event for children’s publishing since 1963. The award is designed to identify and promote innovation and excellence in children’s digital publishing, and is one of the most prestigious in this rapidly emerging global industry. In 2015 the international jury considered 192 entries from 27 countries. For 2015, the “jury decided not to award separate fiction and non-fiction categories, but instead to award a single top prize for an outstanding app that unifies both genres.”

In My Very Hungry Caterpillar the much-loved Very Hungry Caterpillar character appears for the very first time in fully interactive 3D form. Children can nurture, feed, care for, and play with their very own caterpillar in a beautiful 3D environment based on the classic illustrations of Eric Carle. The app delivers a wonderful new experience for the millions of fans of this classic book, first published 45 years ago, and has topped app charts in 30 countries around the world, including the UK, Germany, Japan, France and Italy.

“Everyone in StoryToys is incredibly proud and grateful to have received this recognition from the Bologna Ragazzi jury” said Emmet O’Neill, Chief Product Officer of StoryToys. “Our team did an amazing job building this wonderful app, supported at every step by our partners from The World of Eric Carle and the Joester Loria Group.

We always believed that we had created something special with My Very Hungry Caterpillar. We wanted to create an immersive, personal experience that helped children to connect with Eric Carle’s iconic character in a new way. It is very gratifying to have our work recognised by such a renowned organisation as the Bologna Children’s Book Fair.

I believe this app demonstrates how the creative use of technology can bring magical new experiences to the children’s publishing industry.”

About The World Of Eric Carle™

The World of Eric Carle™ is a design-driven licensing and merchandising program based on the beloved picture books by Eric Carle. A prolific author and artist, Eric Carle has written and illustrated more than seventy books which have sold over 125 million copies worldwide. Like his books, The World of Eric Carle brand draws upon Eric Carle’s approach to creativity, discovery, play and development. Licensing and merchandising programs are ongoing in the US, Japan, UK, Australia and Europe. For more information, please visit: www.Facebook.com/theworldofEricCarle

About StoryToys

Headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, StoryToys creates and publishes highly innovative and entertaining software for children including interactive books and games.

Games in Education conf.

The ICT in Education conference will take place on the Thurles campus of LIT on Saturday 25th April.

The theme for this year’s conference is ‘Make, Bake, Take’. The theme places an emphasis on creativity and a series of presentations and workshops will showcase how technology can be used effectively to foster and facilitate creativity in the classroom.

Keynote presentations will be delivered by Dr. Steve Bunce, Mary Loftus, Stephen Howell and Paul Hopkins. A range of break-out sessions will see presentations and hands-on workshops delivered by practicising teachers across primary, secondary and third level education. These sessions will cover a diverse range of topics such as Minecraft in the Science classroom, Digital Protfolios. Virtualisation, computer Games in the new Junior Cycle, Langauge and Technologym the Effective use of Images and Video in the classroom and Developing Digital Literacies. Full details of the programme and online registration can be found at http://lit.ie/ictedu.

A Maker Meet will be held on Friday 24th from 7-9 pm. This will be an informal pre-conference opener which promises to be a fun filled evening of making, sharing and learning with a hint of challenge and competition for good measure!

Early bird registration is currently open and will close this Monday 13th April, the early bird rate is €40 with a special ‘Bring a Buddy’ rate of €70 for two. A student/unwaged rate of €20 is also available. Registration for the Maker Meet is also open at a rate of €10.

Upcoming Animation Skillnet Courses

A number of the following short courses may be relevant to readers here.

DUBLIN

1) Python and CG Pipelines (5 Wednesday Evenings) –
2) Production Management for 2D Animation (One Day – Saturday) –
3) Introduction to Grooming with XGen in Maya (5 Tuesday Evenings) –
4) Creating Great Children’s Content (5 Tuesday Evenings) –
5) TVPaint Essential Training (5 Monday Evenings) –
6) Introduction to Anime Studio Pro (One Day – Saturday) –

GALWAY

1) Toonboom Harmony Training (Galway – 3 Days) –

2) Storyboarding with Storyboard Pro (Galway – 3 Days) –

A volunteer run information site on the games industry in Ireland (2002-2022)

Month – April 2015