Nukotoys

For kids today, technology isn’t just a want, it’s a need. And keeping up with what they’ve got and what they want is not easy— so, we asked them! Their responses showed us just how mobile this generation is, and how multifunctional they want their technology to be.

Research suggests that text is an important component of videogame culture, but we have few empirical assessments of what kinds of texts are involved or youth’s reading performance on them. This paper presents a series of four studies conducted to examine: What texts are a regular part of video game play? What is their nature, function, and quality? And what is the nature of adolescent reading performance within such contexts? 

Internet-connected toys are a major focus of the toy industry this season, but according to Nukotoy’s co-CEO Doug Penman, connecting the online and “real” world just is not in the DNA of the regular large toy companies. NukoToys is made up of numerous Silicon Valley veterans and counts gaming luminaries like “Wizards of the Coast” founder Peter Adkinson (the company behind “Magic the Gathering”) and screenwriters and directors Josh and Jonas Pate among its advisers. The company plans to bring a series of games to market within the next year, starting with Internet-enabled trading cards and then expanding into more complex toys like figurines.

Mattel and Hasbro reported  2% and 3% growth, respectively, over Q309…

…just as adults have a hard time putting down their iPhones, so the device is now the Toy of Choice — akin to a treasured stuffed animal — for many 1-, 2- and 3-year-olds. It’s a phenomenon that is attracting the attention and concern of some childhood development specialists.

88% say it is acceptable for companies to involve a cause or issue in their marketing; 85% have a more positive image of a product or company when it supports a cause they care about; and, 80% are likely to switch brands, similar in price and quality, to one that supports a cause

Kiva’s President gives testimony as to how important games have become to our culture, influencing and shaping it in unexpected ways.  Even the way philanthropic organizations will have to operate if they are to remain relevant, encouraging an exciting integration of games and gaming into their fundraising efforts.

Who is Kiva’s

If you rattled off a list of non-profit-centric startups, the micro-lending site’s President Premal Shah

Try Zynga

“I think our biggest competitor is actually, probably Zynga. It’s not other nonprofits it’s actually competing for people’s attention. That fantasy football player in Canton, Ohio who might play two hours of Farmville at night, how do we get them to think about Uganda?…If building a real farm on Kiva can be as compelling as building a virtual farm on Facebook, then I think we’ve done our jobs really well.”

That perception will dramatically shape Kiva’s

According to Shah, over the next few years, the non-profit will focus on the integration of game mechanics, social tools, mobile and new philanthropic verticals like green and water loans. In terms of numbers, Shah predicts Kiva will raise $1 billion in microloans by 2015.

Long before the words “lean startup” crossed anyone’s lips, Atari was leading the charge for what has become one of today’s most popular entrepreneurial philosophies.

National physical education experts say integrating active gaming into schools has merit.

Broadcasting the dance program at the start of a school day “sounds like a wonderful idea because it gets every kid moving,” says James Sallis, director of the Active Living Research Program at San Diego State University.

There are several advantages to these games, he says. “Students can do the moves in a limited amount of space. You don’t have to train teachers. You can push the button, and the kids get more activity.”

Thanks @Annie_Fox for this link

“They’re 4 years old, and their parents are getting them ‘Stuart Little,’ ” said Dara La Porte, the manager of the children’s department at the Politics and Prose bookstore in Washington. “I see children pick up picture books, and then the parents say, ‘You can do better than this, you can do more than this.’ It’s a terrible pressure parents are feeling — that somehow, I shouldn’t let my child have this picture book because she won’t get into Harvard.”

Literacy experts are quick to say that picture books are not for dummies. Publishers praise the picture book for the particular way it can develop a child’s critical thinking skills.

“To some degree, picture books force an analog way of thinking,” said Karen Lotz, the publisher of Candlewick Press in Somerville, Mass. “From picture to picture, as the reader interacts with the book, their imagination is filling in the missing themes.”

The $23 billion toy business – $45 billion if video games and consoles are counted – is expected to grow 1.8 percent this year, after falling 0.5 percent last year, according to IBISWorld Inc.

Kevin Jarrett has a very informed write-up of Mission to Planet 429.

Nukotoys’ groundbreaking 3D online adventure teaches 1st through 3rd graders how to “read to learn.”  See 3 amazing videos (scroll down).

Our nation’s future hinges on our ability to prepare our next generation to be innovators in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). Yet far too few of our students are prepared for the challenges ahead, and other countries are leaving us in their wake. Now, more than 100 companies are joining forces to work with schools and communities to change the equation for our youth and our nation.