http://penny-arcade.com/patv/episode/the-feeling-of-agency
Extra Credits is launching into a lengthy discussion about the meaning and importance of choice in games and game design. This first episode explains exactly what choice is and what meaningful choice is and how they are important and unique to games.
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http://acreelman.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/the-silent-majority-why-are-mooc-forums.html
Some well thought out ideas about the issues surrounding the use of forums in MOOCs – what happens when there are hundreds of pages of posts on the first day or subject experts dominate discussions?
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Some great usability tips that we can draw from board games
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http://blog.cathy-moore.com/training-design-workshops/
Particularly interested in the Scenario Design workshops – there’s an online one coming up and a recording of an older version that is available for free
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http://blog.wiziq.com/12-things-you-should-never-do-when-you-teach-online/
Some sound ideas about common mistakes that teachers can make when they start teaching online. Trying to hold on too tightly to control seems to be the main issue – that and neglecting your learners.
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http://www.newgrounds.com/wiki/creator-resources/flash-resources/swivel
This free SWF to video converter built by Newgrounds is a tool that I have been looking for for more than 8 years. In this time I have tried any number of hacks, kludges and workarounds to convert a .swf cartoon that I made to a reasonable video version. (I had a .mov and a .mp4 but only at 320 x 240 resolution) with a frustrating lack of success. Swivel let me export my movie in full 1440 x 1080 HD with no dropped frames and no loss of audio sync. (Well none that wasn’t already present in my rather rough and ready flash animation) Part of me feels like a bit of a saddo to be working on a video on a Saturday night but most of me is just excited to have fixed a long term technical problem. I’ll add the video – which isn’t particularly about tech or education – as soon as it finishes uploading to YouTube.
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This post by Cathy Moore (and another that I came across not too long ago here at Computing Education Blog ) struck a chord with me. In essence, they are both saying that learners can benefit by having their skills and knowledge tested right from the beginning of a subject. Whether it involves participating in a scenario and completing some kind of formative assessment, putting this activity up front lets your learners see what they are expected to know, what they don’t currently know and why this is a relevant and worthwhile part of their studies. The odds are pretty good that they will fail the scenario or quiz or whatever the first time around but as long as we make it clear that this is OK and that it’s just a part of learning, the memories of this experience will give context and meaning to everything else that they learn afterwards. I took this approach perhaps a little inadvertently in a digital literacy course that I trialled last year. I wanted to test the value of a particular quiz
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http://blogs.elon.edu/technology/where-is-this-qr-code-taking-me/
This post from the always interesting Elon University Instructional and Campus Technologies team gives me all manner of wicked ideas about misusing QR codes. (Not for nasty things, just for gentle mischief) Best tip by far is to only use QR code readers that display the URL before accessing it. (Of course, that begs the question, what if it is simply a bit.ly url?) On a similar note, the evolution of augmented reality technology – particularly the ability to use images instead of qr codes to link to websites – has me wondering what might happen if people start attaching their own resources/videos/etc to corporate logos?
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http://diverseeducation.com/article/54903/#
Some useful lessons about running MOOCs gained by looking at a poorly run one. The fact that these courses were still being built as they were being delivered – something perhaps not uncommon in face-to-face land but rarely an inspiring sign – should have been the first give away. It’s hard not to think that this was the result of a top-down “OMG, everyone else has a MOOC, we have to have one too, now, now now” mentality that even I have been bumping up against lately
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This article looks at some interesting research that suggests that getting your learners to take a short test on the content in your course before they’ve learned about it will actually help them to retain it later. At the very least I guess it gives them an overview of what they will be learning and what they do and don’t already know about it.
via Delicious http://computinged.wordpress.com/2013/07/30/taking-a-test-is-better-than-studying-even-if-you-just-guess/