Kinect and Game/Gesture-based Learning: Interview with Johnny Kissko

Interview 16 of Education Voices

This week I had time to catch up with Johnny Kissko (@JohnnyEducation) on Skype. Johnny is a math teacher in Lubbock who is passionate about the potential of various technologies integrated effectively into the curriculum. What do we mean by effectively? In his interview, you will discover that he envisions and develops online communities where technology specialists, students, and educators can collaborate. He has developed the K12 Mobile Learning website. However, in this interview we talk about his most recent community, KinectEducation, that gathers developers, students, and teachers to collaborate on integrating the Kinect software into the curriculum. Kinect allows the user to use gestures to control any PC. The MAC software is also available but still developing. This means that students would be able to move while they learn. In most schools, students sit in uncomfortable desks for hours which is not healthy. Therefore, I was super excited to be able to discuss the possibilities of gesture-based learning and game-based learning with Johnny!

Bio

Johnny Kissko is currently a secondary math educator; his background and experience within the IT sector has afforded him the ability to assist school districts, individuals and education-affiliated companies effectively integrate technology into K12 curricula.  He was recently selected as 1 of 76 Apple Distinguished Educators and is Google Apps for Education Individually Qualified.  In addition to KinectEDucation, Johnny also owns and maintains K12 Mobile Learning, a website devoted to providing mobile learning tools and resources for education stakeholders.
His primary objective with KinectEDucation is to engage and develop learners with free access to Kinect applications along with a community of like-minded educators, developers, and students.  Find Johnny on Twitter, @johnnyeducation.
Stay up-to-date on Kinect in education by registering and becoming active in the KinectEDucation community.  Additionally, you can follow the Twitter hashtags #glearning and #kinectedu for instant access to discussion related to gesture-based learning in education.
Previous Interviews
Check out the previous interviews Twittering for Education- Jo and Phil Hart, Twittering for Education- Eric and Melissa Sheninger, Twittering for Education- Will and Elle Deyamport, Connected Principals- George Couros, 1:1 Programs- Rich Kiker, Mobile Learning with Kids- Scott Newcomb, Effective Leadership: Interview with Patrick Larkin, Using Skype for ELT Lessons: Interview with Marisa Pavan, Teachers as Leaders and Continuous Learners: Interview with Dr. Doug Green, Blogging with Students: Interview with Greta Sandler, What Does the Innovative School Look Like? Interview with Dr. Tom King, How Do We Animate Lessons? Interview with Ken Wilson, Building the Twitter Academy: Interview with Kelly Tenkely, Leading by Example and Teacher Evaluations: Interview with Akevy Greenblatt, and A Student’s Voice about Technology and Learning: Interview with Shantanu Bala.

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