Games That Make You Smarter

Yearly Archives: 2016

One of the video games industry’s biggest annual events, the Game Developers Conference is underway in San Francisco. CEO Maria Burns Ortiz up to check out GDC and see what cool ideas she could come away with for our upcoming games. You can see all the advances in gaming and […]

7 Generation Games Is Live from GDC 2016

March 16, 2016 in Start-up Diaries by Maria Burns Ortiz

book — Note: While this is a positive review of a resource, no one paid me to write it and I would not know the founders of livebinders if they charged at me with a sharp stick. I just thought I’d provide a helpful suggestion to readers of this blog who are […]

A tool for teachers (and students): livebinders

March 16, 2016 in AnnMaria / Education: Innovation and STEM by AnnMaria De Mars

Welcome to “Parenting Like I Know What I’m Doing,” 7 Generation Games’ new blog that takes a look at parenting – well at least from one person’s perspective (mine)! If you don’t want to read the whole bio, the quick version is I’m Maria Burns Ortiz, co-founder and CEO of 7 Generation […]

Parenting Like I Know What I’m Doing: Welcome to Our ...

March 15, 2016 in Parenting Like I Know What I'm Doing by Maria Burns Ortiz

map — Where are all of the good educational games? Seriously, if you compare the games used in an average classroom and mainstream games like Grand Theft Auto or World of Warcraft, there is a pretty dramatic difference. Don’t even go with the GTA and WoW and other games with a seven-figure […]

Why We Can’t Have Nice Things in Educational Gaming

March 15, 2016 in AnnMaria / Education: Innovation and STEM / Educational Games by AnnMaria De Mars

Daylight Saving Time was clearly the idea of someone who didn’t have children to get off to school. This morning marked possibly the least favorite morning of the year for parents nationwide as moms and dads had to struggle with rousing young children out of bed for school an hour […]

“Mom, Let Me Sleep”: The History & Conflicting Math Behind ...

March 14, 2016 in Parenting Like I Know What I'm Doing by Maria Burns Ortiz

rabbit — TRUE STORY: When I was in the seventh grade, our school had a speech contest. I wanted to win simply because I was that obnoxious kid who had to win EVERYTHING. So, I worked really hard, did research, followed the exact format, practiced in front of a mirror, all of […]

Ed Tech, Investors and Bunnies

March 14, 2016 in AnnMaria / Education: Innovation and STEM / Start-up Diaries by AnnMaria De Mars

Happy Freebie Friday! The good news is that it’s Friday. The bad news is that this weekend we lose an hour of sleep thanks to Daylight Savings Time. Getting your child on a new sleeping schedule is never easy. They might stay up later or wake up grumpy and tired. As […]

Freebie Friday: AzTech Games – Denominator PowerPoints

March 11, 2016 in 7GenGames / Freebie Friday tagged Aztech / Denominator / Freebie Friday / Teacher Resources by Erick Salomon

Going through our archives, we came across this great post from May 20, 2014 “Is Social Media a Waste of Time?” that we wanted to share in case you missed it the first time around. I was asked to comment on how my use of social media contributed to my career as […]

Throwback Thursday: Is Social Media a Waste of Time?

March 10, 2016 in 7GenGames / AnnMaria / Throwback Thursday tagged AnnMaria De Mars / Dr. AnnMaria De Mars / Social Media / Throwback Thursday by Erick Salomon

Indians with a dog — You know that list of things that you’re going to do when “you get a free minute,” but then you never get a free minute? If you’re like us, you probably find that list keeps growing. We found that happening to our list of “game improvements we want to make” […]

How A “Hackathon” Leads To Make Many, Mini Improvements

March 9, 2016 in 7GenGames / Newsletter / Women in Tech tagged forgotten trail / Hackathon / Lists / Maria Burns Ortiz / newsletter by Erick Salomon

Congratulations! You’ve made it through another busy week. Today’s Freebie Friday is the perfect quick brain exercise, for you and your kids. We have three FREE math mini-games for Adding 3 to 6, Adding by 4’s and Adding by 5’s. Answer the problems correctly and you’ll be rewarded with short videos […]

Freebie Friday: Summer Site – Addition Mini-Games

March 4, 2016 in 7GenGames / Freebie Friday tagged addition / Camp Don't Get Dumb Over Summer / Freebie Friday / Mini-Games / Summer Resources by Erick Salomon

Going through our archives, we came across this great post from April 16, 2014 “The Benefits of Being Uncool” that we wanted to share in case you missed it the first time around. Tom Peters has written quite a bit about the huge market opportunities in providing goods and services designed for […]

Throwback Thursday: The Benefits of Being Uncool

March 3, 2016 in 7GenGames / AnnMaria / Throwback Thursday tagged AnnMaria De Mars / Educational Games / Start-Up / Throwback Thursday / Uncool by Erick Salomon

As I watched the pitches at Twin Cities Startup Weekend EDU, I couldn’t help but notice all the teams radiated the excitement and enthusiasm of those new to entrepreneurship. It’s that combination of idealism and idea that gets all of us into the startup life. I was really impressed by […]

There’s No Such Thing As Easy Money

March 2, 2016 in Start-up Diaries by Maria Burns Ortiz