Educational Gaming Commons - Press Start

We have finalized the details for Blizzard's visit to Penn State!  The Director of Blizzard's University Relations program will be here to give a short presentation about Blizzard and talk about what it's like to work for the company as well as discuss job and internship opportunities.  We hope to see you there!

* Click on image for the full-size PDF

There were no major problems this week. Next week we will finalize the survey and focus group questions and begin planning for Spring 2010 and winding down the project thereafter.

This week we:

• Discussed final timeline & MOU with instructor.
• Wrote draft of focus group and survey questions
• Finalized plans to test and implement version of 1 of Typo before Spring 2010 semester begins.
• Jason has been intensively programing game this week and reports much progress.

Play2 is a new bar in South Philly with a twist. Games & whopping big screens to view the games. With 18 semi-private booths, 58" LCDS and a variety of gaming consoles, it's sure to be a fun place to gather with friends, eat, drink - and play games. Check out the pics!

To me, this is just another indicator on how our culture is embracing electronic games. Soon, the ability to play games in a socially interactive environment will be as easy to reach and as transparent as cell phones.

Bim and Elizabeth met for the first time over the phone (along with Jason). It was decided that Jason and Elizabeth will travel to Schuylkill on Fri Dec 4 to test the game with 2-3 students (to be video taped). This will be followed by a focus group with refreshments.

Jason, Elizabeth and Brad worked on a timeline and assessment plan to cover the end of the project. In terms of assessment, Bim will teach one section with the game and one without as a control. Assessment activities will consist of student survey (post Spring Break), student focus group (also post Spring Break) and comparisons of a proofing exercise and a writing exercise. We will also be able to access reports on student scores from the game system.

The next steps for Elizabeth and Bim are to complete the MOU and begin work on the IRB. Bim will also be working on content for lessons which last throughout the Spring 2010 semester. Jason will be concentrating on finalizing the version I programming by the first week of Spring 2010 semester then the team what modifications, if any, can be added by the end of the Spring semester.

Students have had several training sessions for the game, and some teams were already finished by last week. The game play itself was reasonably clear, but students struggled with items such as using the PrintScreen button and working with DosBox. Jason Kaveney revised instructions for some items based on what was learned in the training session.

The next step is to create the student survey in ANGEL.

Ever wonder what it would be like to work for one of the biggest companies in the gaming industry?  Come find out on December 3rd!

Blizzard Entertainment, the creators of Warcraft, Starcraft and Diablo, will be on campus for an info session December 3rd.  We will be hosting the Director of Blizzard's University Relations program who is recruiting students for possible internships and employment with Blizzard.  We are finalizing the time and location soon and will post information when available (the session will likely be late morning or early afternoon).

Opportunities like this are popping up with more regularity. Is this an indicator of thye sustainability of virtual worlds in education? Train the trainer exercises usually indicate a second or third wave of coming activity in a given area.

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In February 2010 Cornwall College will be piloting the first teacher training course of its kind.  Delivered entirely online, sessions will take place in Second Life and on moodle with a blend of other web 2.0 applications including Skype, blogs, wikis and Cornwall College's own streaming media server.  The course will be taught over 3 months and will require about 4 hours a week of study together with the submission of a final portfolio.
 
The course will look at key teaching concepts such as the planning, delivery and evaluation of sessions, group motivation and behaviour management, learning styles, barriers to learning, record keeping and inclusivity, equality and diversity in practice.  Participants will also deliver a thirty minute "micro teach" session to their peers.  This can be done in Second Life or filmed in real life, uploaded to our media server and assessed aysnchronously.  Please note that this course is for people interested in teaching adults and young adults only.
 
We believe that real life, transferable teaching skills can be taught using synchronous and asynchronous methods and assessment and are looking to put together a pilot group of 6 to 10 students, already competent in using Second Life, to trail the course.  In return, we will waive course fees and offer sucessful completers both a certificate of completion and a Flip video camera.
 
If you are interested in enrolling on this course or would like further information, please feel free to reply to this email or IM Bex Mavendorf inworld.
 
Thanks
 
Bex

bexferriday@hotmail.com

Bots, or robots, are a much-needed item in Second Life for complex simulations that require the user to interact with others. It's difficult to stage a complex simulation with live actors, but the advantage of doing so is obvious - there's a real brain behind the avatar/actor.

An alternative is to use bots. By attaching some clever response scripts to an inanimate object, you can create a reasonable semblance of interactivity. Some folks call this AI, or artificial intelligence, but it's not really that at all. It just a very limited set of programs designed for a very specific purpose.

For example, if you staged a disaster with real actors, they could respond to stange or "off the script" comments, such as a rescue worker commenting on your jewelry. A bot would simply not understand this - probably responding with a neutral comment that totally deflates and stops that particular line in the conversation.

Bots in Second Life are much needed for complex simulations that can be run by any one, any time. Some folks have dabbled with this over the years, but I've not seen anything of real promise, until recently. Check out

http://caledonianblogs.net/soh-secondlife/2009/11/02/aiml-test-bot-colin...

I hope Caledonian U contines to work on this and makes their efforts readily available. It would open up a new area for educators in SL.

Jason Kaveney will conduct a training session on HealthSim tomorrow in 108 Waring Commons. Both the installation files and the documentation have been loaded into Mark's HPA course in ANGEL.

Elizabeth and Mark will continue to work on developing an assessment survey as well as a focus group section.