Pages

Sunday, October 23, 2011

How Gaming Makes a Difference in Your World (Ted Talks)

Gaming is much more than trying to shoot down Space Invaders or battling between alliances and hordes in Azeroth or teleport through Portals. Jane McGonigal believes that increased gaming can help solve the problems in the world. Stuart Brown explains the benefits and necessity of having fun to create a fully-developed person.  What do you think?  How does this apply to your concept of learning?

Gaming Can Make a Better World
Jane McGonigal
TED 1998


Dr. McGonigal has a vision for the future based upon the propagation of playing games. She has bases her future ideas on stories of the past. Conversely, her plans involve a future that provides opportunities that are now available due to today's technological opportunities.

Explore Dr. McGonigal's website and share in her visions for the future.  You will notice that her website is presented within a gaming context.

Play is More than Fun
Stuart Brown
Serious Gaming Conference, 2008

The importance of play is apparent throughout society. Dr. Brown demonstrates how it is a necessary aspect of personal development for both human and non-human species.
How does this relate to gaming? What needs to be changed in your learning environment to begin to provide this sort of fun learning experience?

A Manifesto for Play, for Bulgaria and Beyond
Steve Keil
TEDxBG Talks in Sofia, Bulgaria
 
Steve Keil shares his ideas on how the whole culture of Bulgaria can be improved through allowing and pursuing play. Consider the culture he is describing where fun and play were squashed through years of communistic oppression.

Do you agree with his ideas for making change? What is he doing that is making a different world in the world? How does this relate to the messages that Stuart Brown is proposing?
Check out his http://playmanifesto.org to review his ideas.

Look for additional resources and add them to the comments below.  What can you find that will benefit your colleagues use in their understanding of our futures' possibilities?
Enhanced by Zemanta

Saturday, October 22, 2011

How is Gaming Different for Boys and Girls? (TED Talks)

Games for Girls
Brenda Laurel

Brenda Laurel explores her research into designing games for girls.  She questions what games for girls need to contain and how they might be designed to benefit girls.

Do you agree with them?  How does this align with your experiences?  If you were a girl once, do these finding match your feelings?

This is a 1998 TED video. Does it still apply? Find updated information and include it in the comments section of this posting.

Gaming to Re-Engage Boys in Learning
Ali Carr-Chellman

Ali really digs into the effect of today's classrooms on boys' engagement in learning. She
shares stats that show boys have 3 time the difficulties of girls in succeeding in the typical classroom. She advocates using gaming in schools to make learning relevant to boys' learning styles. She says that gaming is not the problem but a symptom of boys trying to make life relevant.

Ali identifies 3 reasons that school cultures are out of synch with boys' cultures:
  1. Zero Tolerance
  2. Writing
  3. Fewer Male Teachers
It is a video that makes you rethink how learning should engage boys.

Saturday, October 08, 2011

We Will Miss You, Steve

Apple Logo with Steve Jobs silouette
by Jonathan Mak Long
One of our greatest visionaries, Steve Jobs, has died.

I didn't know how much I looked up to him until I heard that he had passed. I felt an incredible loss. Here was the leader who I have followed for over 3 decades . . . and he was gone. I cried.

I actually met Mr. Jobs once. It was in 1983, I think.  I had dinner with him as a matter of fact. He was at the CUE (Computer-Using Educators) conference in California to make a big announcement. There were 8 of us sitting at the dinner table and we engaged in the regular small talk. I think that was because he was saving the big stuff for after dinner.

When Steve walked up to the podium, he began to share with us his dreams. He told us about how he dreamed of the day when he would be able to talk with Aristotle through his computer. He dreamed of capturing the essence of Aristotle through his works and teachings and using that information to create a virtual intellectual likeness of the philosopher. This would allow students to actually discuss concepts with this ancient thinker.

Along with his Aristotelian dream, Jobs dreamed of having computers in classrooms for students to use. He wanted to enable learners by making computing accessible to all.

His big announcement for that evening was a step towards this end. He announced that over the next year, Apple Computer would be donating 1 Apple IIe computer to each and every school in California. It was called the 1 Apple per School program . . . and it actually happened. Each school in California received an Apple IIe computer. This was quite altruistic, but it had a marketing slant to it as well. Apple marketing had determined that if a school gets a computer the first year, they would purchase 5 the second year and typically outfit a computer lab with 15 computer the third year.  You might say that Steve Jobs was playing Johnny Appleseed as he seeded the landscape.

This anecdote happened almost 3 decades ago but it shows the vision that Steve Jobs nurtured. He had visions but he turned his visions into action. You can read all about the great things he accomplished somewhere else. Here I just want to remember him as a man who changed the world by making his ideas and dreams come to life.

I can only hope that I can follow in such footsteps.

Z

Friday, September 30, 2011

VideoAnt Enables You to Annotate Videos

VideoANT from the University of Minnesota is an online tool that allows you to annotate videos. This system allows you to identify significant parts in the video and then make synchronized annotations.

It's not complicated but it can be quite useful.

Imagine that you have a video that you would like to have your students watch on their own, but you would like to include your own notes as they progress through the video.  This will enable you to do that.

Imagine that one of your students have just made a recording of a lesson that they taught in their student teaching.  She has posted it in her digital portfolio and then shared the link with you.  You have the opportunity to provide time-line based feedback.

VideoAnt is limited to working with files that are online. The only way that you can specify a video is to provide the URL for it. These videos must be .mov, .flv and YouTube files.  

How to Use VideoAnt

The actual process of using VideoAnt is quite well document through the University of Minnesota website.  They have a website which provides steps for the overall process.  



Examples:


How do you think that you could use VideoAnt in your daily activities?  Could you use this with your students?







There is also a video tutorial

Saturday, September 10, 2011

3 Excellent FREE 9/11 iPad Apps

The anniversary for 9/11 is here. It is not a celebration but a recognition that an event happened one decade ago what has changed the world forever.  I thought that it would be interesting to see what is available as apps for your iPad.


The 911 Memorial: Past, Present and Future  
(Free 9/1-9/12 $9.99 after)

This impressive app explores the construction of the Twin Towers, the disaster of 9/11 and the development of the Memorial Plaza and twin Pools.


This app includes 40 videos (including the 9/11 attack) along with site tours, museum updates, animations and original content. Over 400 high-res photos are used to enhance the story. Links are used to expand the resource to include an ever-current set of resources. This app provides a depth of experience that is beyond anything else I have seen.

Here is the website for 911 Memorial app.

Explore 9/11 - Free

This is the official 9/11 Memorial application has been created by the National September 11 Memorial & Museum as a guide to understanding 9/11 through the eyes of who witnessed the events. This can be used to learn about what happened and what can be found or it can be used to assist a group who is exploring the site. (Given the sensitivity surrounding the events of 9/11, viewer discretion is advised. )Here is a demo of the free Explore 9/11 iPad/iPhone app.  It is short but the site includes a number of resources that you can find useful.


9/11 Memorial Guide - Free

This app will bring the 9/11 Memorial to life for you. Along the bottom it allows you to Search for Names of victims. Once you select a name, it provides you with information and a photo. It will also point you to the panel in the memorial where the person's name is posted. In some cases, there are audio stories about victims told by their loved ones.

Here is a demo of the free 9/11 Memorial Guide iPad/iPhone app.

These iPad apps are educational and intriguing. I learned a great deal about the 9/11 Memorial and about 9/11 that I never knew before.

What are your resources for teaching/learning about 9/11?  What can you share with others about your experience in teaching 9/11?

Tuesday, September 06, 2011

Digital Portfolio Resources for You!

I have the privilege this week to participate in the University of Northern Iowa's all-day seminar on portfolios, The Learning Portfolio: A Tool for Student Engagement and Inquiry. They have invited John Zubizarreta, author of The Learning Portfolio: Reflective Practice for Improving Student Learning, to share his idea about how portfolios can be used for assessment and support of students' learning.

Dr. Zubizarreta will speak in the morning and then there will be a portfolio panel of UNI faculty. These faculty members include:
  • April Chatham-Carpenter, Communication Studies
  • David Grant, Languages and Literature
  • Patrick Pease, Geography
  • Donna Vinton, Office of Academic Assessment
  • Leigh Zeitz, Curriculum and Instruction
While I only have 5 minutes to describe how we have been using portfolios in Curriculum and Instruction, I have a number of resources that you should find useful to learn more about using digital portfolios.
How do you use digital portfolios? What additional support materials would you recommend for our readers?  


Enhanced by Zemanta