Navta Associates

Carnegie Mellon University Professor Jesse Schell’s inspiring talk at DICE 2010. Well worth the 28 mins!

As an answer to “the pundits” bemoaning about how kids today are terrible writers, Clive Thompson wrote an article last fall that appeared in Wired Magazine, arguing that the advent of technology is actually enabling a literacy revolution. He argues against placing judgment on the quality of their writing, rather that we should recognize that kids are starting to think about writing in a whole new way. Two factors are at work, enabling students to communicate more effectively: 1) knowing your audience, and 2) knowing the reason for writing. Apparently, kids have been demonstrating that they can use texting appropriately, and overall they are writing more than any generation before them.

Very inspiring! Students are adaptable. The web offers a new means of expression, they can reach a larger audience than ever before, and they have responded by becoming more prolific.

This could apply not only to literacy, but other competencies. Technology offers the medium by which students can connect with a more like-minded students than ever before. Together the strength of their interest and curiosity could be more powerful than independently. How can we help students make those connections? Seems logical to use their mobile devices. Is the iPad the answer? Smartphones? SMS on “dumb” phones? Mobile devices can bring distance learning and online learning one step further–into students’ hands. Literally. What are educators waiting for?!

Frustrated by Facebook’s new terrible photo uploader? Want to share hi-res photos with your Facebook friends? I’ve discovered a new Facebook app called Dojo. Not only can you share hi-res photos, but you can apply filters to them, decorate them with stickers, and make a free-form collage of a bunch of photos. It’s so cool!

MovingLearningGamesForward, by Eric Klopfer, Scot Osterweil, and Katie Salen With contributions by Jason Haas, Jennifer Groff and Dan Roy, is one of the most useful reports about games in education that I’ve read in a long time.  This is an Education Arcade paper, from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The report intelligently answers questions regarding the use of video games in education, and provides numerous resources for continued investigation. “Educational games” are placed in rich context, including historical background and recommendations for implementation in the “classroom”. Very much a must-read for anyone even vaguely interested in this timely debate.

http://zigzagphilosophy.com/

This was the best excuse yet to take my boys, ages 13 and 15, out of school for the last couple of periods in the day. We had the opportunity to watch the “best of the best” virtual worlds projects generated by this year’s crop of ETC students—an entertaining, mind-bending, stimulating array of “experiences”.

Here’s the “official” info:

On Wednesday, December 2, 2009 at Purnell Center’s Chosky Theater, we at the Entertainment Technology Center will present the annual Building Virtual Worlds Show. From virtual reality to audience interaction and everything imaginable in between, this live showcase of the most impressive student work from the semester is truly a must-see event!

Over the course of this semester, BVW students are collaborating in four-person interdisciplinary teams to create a series of virtual worlds, each of which must be completed within a one to three week time period. We look forward to sharing a variety of these worlds with you.

http://bvw.etc.cmu.edu/content/show

If you are not able to join us in Pittsburgh, please join us live on the web at 6pm December 2nd through our webcast:

To view the webcast, you will need a broadband internet connection, and

• For Windows computers, you will need Windows Media Player 9 or newer.
• For Macintosh OS X, Flip4Mac is recommended.
• GNU/Linux computers, VLC is recommended.

A couple of recent articles that I’ve stumbled across recently are in connection with libraries getting rid of their card catalogs, and how they go about doing so. For many, there is some nostalgia associated with this ever-increasingly common occurrence, and some libraries have found creative ways to commemorate the occasion without going overboard.

As much as I am completely for progress, it’s not without an occasional backwards glance that I forge ahead into the digital age. It’s hard to forget the mounting feeling of anticipation that I felt sitting in one of my college courses after a research paper had been assigned. There was usually a mad rush to the library, where students would each grab a drawer or two from the card catalog, and the hunt was on! I wonder how I would have felt if someone had told me that in my lifetime each student would be able to perform basic research on their cell phones. At that time, the card catalogs were the first stop on an analog trail of research, one that led deep into the stacks of books and, inevitably, to a hole where the sought-after book had resided before a fellow classmate arrived there first.

The articles to which I refer:
The cARTalog grows from the empty drawers of the University of Iowa Libraries’ main card catalog, which was retired in 2004.
At the University of South Carolina, the Card Catalog Makes a Graceful Departure.

An interesting article about girls and video games. Thankfully, the trend towards more girls finding their way into the professional gaming industry is on the rise. Getting them interested at an earlier age seems to be one of the factors that makes the most difference.

There is a Microsoft project, MILO, that has been generating some buzz. According to some, MILO is a more smoke and mirrors than real technology. I’m not inclined to get involved in that debate, and merely enjoy the possibilities. It’s one of the first really creative new video apps that I’ve seen in a while.