Interesting.

The “fun factor” is not what will work, even though that seems to be the main motivation for people to make “educational games” today. Fun is good, don’t get me wrong, and people like to have fun. But Perry mentioned that at game conferences, the talk is about “emotion, purpose, meaning, understanding and feeling.” Boiling this down to help someone design a game for education purposes may seem difficult. Yet, let’s think about why we should be educating anyway.

If we (educators) cannot show students the purpose of what they are learning, we probably fail to educate. If we cannot help them realize how this information can be used in their lives, we probably fail to educate. If we cannot help them like what they are learning, we probably fail to educate.

We must show, or teach, the meaning of what they are learning; the purpose of it. Look back at the list: emotion, purpose, meaning, understanding and feeling. When teaching, we must help them grasp the meaning, the purpose and the understanding. Then, and possibly only then, will they have the feeling or emotion related to their learning.

Now, if I were to design an “educational game” or a game for learning, I may first start with the emotion and feeling to get them started (to “hook” them). Then I’d make sure the plot or story line (or goal) of the game made sense and kept them emotionally involved, like it could be “real.” I would also have to keep the purpose foremost and understandable. All this to help the student remember the meaning and purpose of it all and work toward achieving the goal.

Can it be done? Well, fortunately, there are educators who do this – even without a game.

The “acquire, test, master” model is still intrinsic to game design, but unfortunately not to education. We need to help students master – before we test. Then allow adjustments, repeated attempts, and the possibility for students to feel free to try things and to learn without being judged or penalized. The judgment in education, the grade, is mostly seen as negative unless the student gets an ‘A’ but evaluation should be formative, supportive and helpful as the student strives toward the mastery goal.

Educators need to help students see the application of what they are doing. Many do not; many assume it is obvious; many don’t take the time or feel they have the time to show relevance in everything they teach; many think that the relevance will make itself manifest later on.

Progress toward the ‘goal in education – is that the graduation? In the article, Stuart states, “It’s all about communicating the player’s position on the arc, so they have a strong motivation to keep playing.” This approach should be used in education as well. Every now and then (more often than not) educators need to show the students their progress: toward the end of the lesson’s goals; toward the end of the school year; toward the end of their education; and possibly toward the end of their career or further.

One last idea is a challenge for educators to incorporate, but I think it would be so fun to do: “failure can be an important factor in keeping us entertained.” How cool would it be if the students would actually try to fail at a lesson once in a while because they know the end result (or ‘reward’) would be entertaining? Imagine the work needed to do just the opposite of the goal – understanding the goal, figuring out its mirror opposite and working toward that. Then, everyone having fun (somehow, not really sure . . . the educator would have to be creative here, or get students’ help in the result, too) when the absurd results are presented. Fun in education – how odd would that be?

The collaborative, problem-solving approach to games is the skill focused on. And making the investment in time toward a more applicable problem instead of some virtual world or reality would be the key. She has created a couple games that start down this path: (http://www.worldwithoutoil.org/) and (http://archive.superstructgame.net/). Quite interesting, and good models for future work.

I like the approach and goal of this thinking. I know the world could be better with the effort she suggests – one hour a day from 21 million people. Wow!

How do we start? We educators can continue to push toward the awareness of working for goals ‘beyond ourselves’ and the need to give to or provide for others. And we can keep trying to produce educational games, quests, lessons, etc. toward those ends – and as McGonigal suggests, making them epic! As for the “non-educators” they need to see that making money is not the epic end, but sometimes using their resources to help better the world or society is also necessary – and probably epic!

In ‘gamifying’ education, the set up is important. Experts say that student should start the class with the idea that they are at zero (0) and have to work their way up, instead of starting out thinking, “I have an A+!” then everything from there on is only down. This attitude shift itself seems to be a large change in the culture, but it probably can be done.

When planning and implementing the ‘game’ the teacher needs to be sure to have specific skills at each level, or in more education terms, have observable behaviors that can be demonstrated. All of these would be working toward the objectives or goals of the course, of course.

The difficult part would be to tie in any group achievement – making sure that the lower students (who will never ‘win’ the ‘game’) also progress (learn). But planning, again, could help assure that peer support and assistance could be worked into the lessons (er, ‘game’). It would be important at many educational levels that this is planned and implemented.

The implementation of ‘gamifying education’, however, is still the sticky part. How many educators know how to design a game or have the technology to implement more complex games – let alone the time to plan it out? Gamification of education will be a slow process (at least good gamification).

Dudley Dreamscape at CAVE Island

So all of us educators, practitioners and others interested in learning in this 3D virtual environment have a pile of resources to use – and help from all who work and visit there, too.

The other good news is that the pile of resources can fit so easily in a little space! This is just one of the many imaginative resources in SL. Join me, Dudley Dreamscape, in SL and see what you or your students can learn!

It was by Koreen Olbrish and her blog summarizing it can be found at: http://learningintandem.blogspot.com/

As a learning experience, as well as with games for education, the planning is the most crucial aspect. We educators need to be very careful to not use an approach because it is really cool or because we like it. That has been my struggle with using technology in my teaching. But when it comes to games, I think we educators are more succeptible to the ‘do it because it is fun’ trap.

I would consider ARG for my organizational communication classes because I can see a situation where this type of ‘simulation’ could work. Now, I have to decide if I have the time (want to take the time) to think of the proper setting, goals, and game story.

I have enjoyed writing some. Now I’ll need to set a goal for myself.

Back from the Conference on Distance Teaching & Learning, and back to a little more blogging.

First, the conference, sponsored by the University of Wisconsin-Madison and organized by: Distance Education Professional Development, specifically the Distance Education Certificate Program. A large crowd of diverse backgrounds – educators, administrators, designers, government and private sector – all working to improve the quality and delivery of distance education. Good ideas, techniques and approaches were shared, and I came away refreshed and ready to tackle more.

Second, back to blogging. My work responsibilities have changed, giving me more flexible time along with the different duties, so I will continue here as before – discussing new media and new approaches to teaching and learning.

See you again soon.

Campus Technology Virtual Conference

I plan to attend, and have even blocked out the time on my calendar so no other ‘live’ meetings will interrupt me.

I attended a similar event before and loved the interaction available with people from all over the world and the ease of linking and sending links to more, related information (web sites, blogs, PDFs, etc.). A great use of our technologies.

It also helped me go beyond learning and begin a practice of using the various emerging technologies — during the conference itself.

I came away from my desk refreshed, and look forward to being invigorated again AND without the jet lag or wear and bother of airports that comes with traveling to conferences!

I’ve still been looking into various emerging media, but more in an ‘applied’ approach instead of looking around and trying out things. As I look around and tried things now, I consider if I can use it in what I do now before spending my time with it. Seems obvious, but when distracted by the glitter and glitz (and fun?) it is easy to get off track.

What have I done? Well, I used the Voki in my course management system (yes, it works there in a widget well). My plan is to introduce some topics for my students and point them to the more important information and activities with my Voki. I figure it would be more effective than another BOLD HEADLINE or something for them.

Also, I’ve learned Prezi (http://www.prezi.com) to provide a different look to information than ‘yet another PowerPoint.’ I plan to take turns using it and the Voki to introduce topics and overviews for my students. Again, I see how it can be linked from or embedded in my course management system, so I like it.

Let me comment on Prezi for a moment. It is an interesting approach to presentation software. I do like it. However, after reviewing some of the examples and trying it out, I can see how it can be used as simply another type of PowerPoint.

“What do you mean?” you ask?

I mean, that it is, or should be, a different approach to presenting information. Think about it. You are not linked or limited to a linear presentation, so why just make a linear presentation? Use the tool so that you can allow yourself to zoom in/out, to skip to, to skip back. You don’t have to show everything you put in the Prezi — keep it small and ‘hidden’ unless you need it (and you don’t have to remember the slide number to skip to a piece of information).

And, I think it should be used with care — in designing the Prezi, you should consider DESIGN. All the visual elements that make something look good should be regarded as much as possible. This thing is not just another way to lay out your slides. Zoom out and see if it really looks good.

**NOTE: you may have to grab a friend who knows design to let you evaluate this, but I think it is worth it in the long run to make sure you are able to truly communicate well. Good communication happens when it is not just the words but the entire communication experience which includes visual, sounds, etc.**

And that is one of the other reasons I had to step back from my learning and blogging: I was getting lost in the tool (the ‘fun’) and not keeping my focus on the goal = the utility of this emerging media.

Back on track . . .

I like the tabs for various pages (found in other software, too) but it also provides links to your blog, Facebook/MySpace, twitter, g mail, YouTube or Flickr . . . and more, I guess.

Still learning that, but pulling my stuff together to help me stay connected, update more easily, and use this emerging media more efficiently (or more like it should be?).

Sweet!