Marbelous Minds
playful & brainful learning
Have you ever had a
Marbelous Mind?
It is a feeling of playfulness,
confidence, and wonder. It is the
feeling in which your brain
learns best.
We wish you this feeling,
anytime, anywhere.
To realize this,
we develop
brain-inspired
game-based
learning experiences
to support teaching
and learning.
Marbelous Minds
playful & brainful learning
Have you ever had a
Marbelous Mind?
It is a feeling of playfulness,
confidence, and wonder. It is the
feeling in which your brain
learns best.
We wish you this feeling,
anytime, anywhere.
To realize this,
we develop
brain-inspired
game-based
learning experiences
to support teaching
and learning.
News
01-18-2016: At Horizon 2020 information meeting
Looking at the options for the ‘Gaming and Gamification’- and
‘Technologies for Learning and Skills’- calls. We plan to setup a
grand collaboration, together with the Donders Institute, to
build the MindSort platform.
01-17-2016: New website online
We launched our new website, giving a broad picture of what
we love doing. We are still very much starting up and love to
work with you, just contact us for info.
01-01-2016: Marbelous New Year!
We wish you a Marbelous New Year, in which you can live life the
marbelous way: full of wonder, confidence and playfulness!
Gamification
Gamification is the application of gaming techniques to non-
game situations. Marbelous Minds applies gamification to
education, both in the classroom and in digital solutions (see
Serious Games). That is, digital means are no requirement for
gamification, merely a tool. Game-aspects like a storyline, clear
goals, a feedback & reward system, coöperative and
competitive interaction can be applied to any course and
classroom situation. Currently we are working on:
GoFuture
In GoFuture, students develop an entrepreneurial attitude by
setting up their own company, organisation or event in the real
world. Meanwhile, they receive experience, kudo’s, and badges
and can lose trust, reflecting their growth as an entrepreneur.
Teachers learn how to motivate students, helped by the gaming
tools and principles. A digital learning management system
facilitates the process. Developed in cooperation with Kuseema
and Serious Game Media. More info at
www.kuseema.nl/gofuture.
Want to apply gamification techniques in your school?
Contact us to learn how to do this. We either give advice, help
develop a gamified course, or train teachers on how to use
gamification techniques. Not a gamer? No problem:
gamification techniques are in essence motivation techniques,
Brain-based learning
The human brain is one of the last frontiers of science. A
frontier on which incredible progress is being made. And also a
frontier eager for applications in daily practice. Brain-based
learning is one of the many applications of neuroscience
knowledge, to help foster faster and more effective learning.
However, the growth spurt of neuroscience has another side:
neuroscience and brain-based learning have become a hype.
And with the hype, often come unfounded claims on
effectiveness, larded with colorful brain images. We do not
follow this view of brain-based learning.
Instead, we promote a more realistic version we call ‘brain-
inspired’ learning. Here, we debunk many of the neuromyths.
Instead, we bring you the story on how the brain preferably
processes and learns information, without the myths, with a
solid basis in both science and practice.
Interested to learn how?
Contact us to learn about our advice and training on brain-
based learning.
Serious games
Serious games (a.k.a. applied games) are games that are meant
to help or educate the player. Marbelous Minds designs and
develops serious games aimed at education and raising
awareness, grounded in science. Current projects are:
MindSort
MindSort is a transformative way to learn factual knowledge. It
is founded on the way the brain represents information; in
similarity maps, and plays as simple as classic Memory (a.k.a.
Concentration).
InEquality
With InEquality, we transform the scientific data on social
inequality into a game. In InEquality, everyone can experience
how unfair the world is and how important it is to share our
prosperity equally.
Do you have a great idea for a game?
Contact us, we are always open for new games to work on. And
if we don’t have the expertise or time to take up the project, we
are happy to forward you to someone in our network. In this
way, we can make the world more marbelous together.
Design
We design gamified and brain-inspired learning experiences.
We combine the most effective elements of games and
knowledge on how the brain learns into fun and effective
learning situations. We do so on multiple levels:
Digital games
Designing a good game is a significant part of making an
effective serious game. We help design games by taking up the
full design, or by contributing to brainstorms with domain
experts and/or other game designers and developers.
Generating and discussing ideas, coming to a great design
together, is what we love most.
Real-world lessons and courses
When designed well, any lesson or course can be made into a
marbelous experience; into a game. We (help) design gamified
lessons and courses, after which the teachers (with help from
us) can implement it.
Organisational design
To make true marbelous education possible, also
organisational changes can be needed. For example in the
rules, the freedom of students, teachers, and other staff, or the
atmosphere of the building. Sometimes these changes can be
small, sometimes large, depending on your wishes.
Development
Development means putting ideas and designs into practice;
into a product with which teachers and students can work. We,
in cooperation with partners, develop both digital and real life
learning experiences in the following shapes:
Serious games
The classic kind of development: implementing an idea into a
digital serious game. We preferably work in Unity3D to
implement games for all platforms.
Gamified courses/lessons
Getting a gamied course or lesson into practice, requires the
development of lesson plans and learning materials. We are
happy to take up or facilitate this part of the process of
becoming a marbelous school or teacher.
Want to develop marbelous learning experiences?
Contact us, we can help. If we don’t have the manpower or time,
we will involve partners and/or point you to a valuable
alternative. We want to world to turn marbelous, all
development in that direction is a treat.
Training
When you want to add brain and gaming principles in your
teaching style, we can help you get started. We train teachers
and other educational personnel in how to teach in a
marbelous way. This training can be individual, in small groups
or larger audiences, as long as it serves the purposes of
making the education system more marbelous. Topics include:
Gamification in education
How to include a storyline, personal growth (e.g., levels),
feedback systems (e.g. badges, experience points), cooperative
and competitive learning into your lessons?
Motivation for learning
What drives motivation for learning and how can this
motivation be stimulated on a personal, class, and
organisational level?
Brain-based learning: Neuromyths and realities
How does the brain optimally process and learn information?
How should material be presented? How important are factors
like physical interactions and making errors for learning?
Digital tools
How to directly apply digital tools and (serious) games in your
lessons?
Educational advice
Sometimes no full-fledged design or implementation of a game
is needed, nor extensive training. Sometimes a bit of advice can
already bring you a long way. We also love to do that, in any of
the following shapes:
Personal advice for your lessons
Just let us know how we can help you make your lessons more
marbelous and we are happy to help.
Public talk or lecture
We love to spread the word on brain-based, gamified learning,
to foster marbelous minds everywhere. Just let us know when
and where and we will ‘marbelize’ the audience.
Analysing current education system
Maybe you are not sure yet how your education system ranks
on marbelous measures. We are happy to analyse your course
or school to see where improvements can be made.
Ongoing advice
Maybe you are setting up a new course, study or school, or
working on a educational vision for the future. We love to
advice you where possible, to help bring your project to the
next level!
Who we are
Frank Leoné
The founder and main drive behind Marbelous Minds.
Passionate about making people learn effective and with
pleasure. Background in Cognitive Neuroscience (PhD, MSc),
Artificial Intelligence (MSc) and Psychology (BSc) and as
teacher and trainer.
Galina van der Weert
Scientific expert for the InEquality project. Passionate about
making the world a more fair place. Background in Psychology
(MSc), Public administration (MSc) and as teacher and trainer.
Partners:
