More on Van Eck

You can find Richard Van Eck's conference overheads at http://idt.und.edu/news.html
The flash from 13&14 Feb is a little erratic on timing, you can see a similar powerpoint under Oct 14

Simulation, games and learning symposium

Highlights for me of the MCEETYA ICT taskforce Simulation, games and learning symposium were:

Richard Van Eck
Associate Professor, Instructional Design & Technology http://www.und.edu/instruct/rvaneck/ Rick Van Eck is an associate professor at the University of North Dakota, where he has been the graduate director of the Instructional Design & Technology graduate program since 2004 (idt.und.edu). He currently teaches several instructional design and technology courses, including developing computer-based instruction and using simulations and games for learning, and recently completed a year-long study of game play, game design, and workgroup composition with 5th and 6th grade students.

and

Andrew Carswell http://www.core-ed.net/efellows04/andrew/summary.html who investigated the effectiveness (attitudinally and academically) of virtual reality (computer gaming) technology on students' learning in a year 11 science classroom

Get off the computer and go outside and play

I am still impressed by the learning in World of Warcraft. I did some research on my 13 year old son's guild. They include:

• a registered nurse in Florida
• a health and safety co-ordinator in Australia
• a health care worker in Alabama
• a manager in Kansas
• a marketing production/designer in Nashville and
• a network manager somewhere in cyberspace

I wish he'd go outside and play with some kids and get some social skills

Simulation, games and learning symposium

I'll be attending the Simulation, games and learning symposium on Monday and Tuesday. Its an interesting program. I have Googled the presenters who are an interesting bunch. Its a bit of a Who's Who of educational games. These are not necessarily the links that the presenters would have chosen to represent themselves, there might even be a case of mistaken identity (sorry).

Diana Oblinger, Educause http://www.educause.edu/

Dr Olivia Clarke, program implementation advisor, The Le@rning Federation http://www.thelearningfederation.edu.au/tlf2/

Laurie Campbell & Mark Piper Education Queensland http://www.learningplace.com.au/deliver/content.asp?pid=24029

Andrew Carswell, Maureen Lambert, Ministry of Education, New Zealand http://www.core-ed.net/efellows04/ministry.html

Peter Maggs Australian Children’s Television Foundation http://www.kahootz.com/kz/

Students - Doncaster Gardens Primary School http://www.doncastersc.vic.edu.au/innovation/contact.htm

Margaret Meijers -New Town High School http://www.mindtools.tased.edu.au

Tony Forster - ASISTM Project http://www.freewebs.com/schoolgamemaker

Dr Robert Fitzgerald http://creative.canberra.edu.au/digital/wordpress/

Professsor Catherine Beavis Deakin University http://education.deakin.edu.au/members/show4newWeb.asp?Member=411

Dr Andrew Stapleton Swinburne University of Technology http://www.andrewstapleton.com/

Martin Stone Curriculum Coporation http://www.curriculum.edu.au/who_are_we/whoarewe.php

Sue Beveridge DET, New South Wales http://www.cli.nsw.edu.au/cli/contacts/contacts.shtm

Adrian Denyer - TDT Australia http://www.tdtaustralia.com/newsletter/august05/newsletter.html

Matthew de Moiser - Serious Games http://mc2.vicnet.net.au/home/pollen/index.html

Lynn Davie -DET, Victoria http://www.det.vic.gov.au/edulibrary/public/publ/research/publ/Painting_a_Picture-Lynn_Davie-prs.pdf

Students - Taylors Lakes Secondary College http://www.sofweb.vic.edu.au/innovations/docs/Taylors%20Lakes%20SC.doc

Oxley College www.oxley.vic.edu.au/

Vincent Trundle – ACMI http://www.acmi.net.au/games_lab_culture.htm

Students - Haileybury College http://online.haileybury.vic.edu.au/sites/edrington

Martin Owen Richard Sanford NESTA Futurelab www.nestafuturelab.org/

Edward Castranova Indiana University socialstudygames.com

Vanessa Pittard BECTA http://www.becta.org.uk/corporate/corporate.cfm?section=9&id=3245

Compute Club website

Haileybury computer club website has been updated with 8 new games and 2 new powerpoint animations

Birthday / LAN party

My son's birthday, sleepover & LAN party. Thought I'd play with the immediacy of web self-publishing so the photos went online throughout the party.
Saturday 3pm extra keyboard required, thanks Mike for the emergency delivery.
Saturday 1opm, Rhys broke a mouse with his head, not really his fault, the others were hitting him with it.
Saturday 11pm intermittent power supply problems.
2:30 AM ultimatum "get of the computers and go to bed"
3:30 AM pulled the internet plug
Sunday 1pm remove adware/spyware

Engage Me or Enrage Me

Engage Me or Enrage Me

I liked this podcast, particularly the second half, the first half was a bit slow for me.

Prensky says "Content is going to go away, what will last is the engagement of learning." This sounds right to me. This is very like the sentiments in the overview to the Victorian Essential Learning Standards "students need to develop a set of knowledge, skills and behaviours which will prepare them for success in a world which is complex, rapidly changing, rich in information and communications technology, demanding high-order knowledge and understanding"


Later he says "Whats different about the new technology is that its programmable...whenever you do a Google search you are programming, whenever you create a word document you are programming ...... .in the middle ages, if you wanted to write a letter, you went to a scribe ..... programming is the new literacy of the 21st century." I like that, Prensky is a good communicator. Like Papert, when he says something, you think "I already knew that, I only wish I could have put it so well myself".

I had to laugh at the quote "the cookies on my daughter's computer know more about her interests than her teachers do"

Re MMORPG's (such as World of Warcraft) , he talks of the social organisation of up to 200 people self organising to fight a campaign. This rings true to me. My 12 year old son has learnt how to buy and sell at auction in WoW. He regularly organises into big parties and has learnt the necessary social skills to be accepted into parties and guilds. He installed Teamspeak with the help of his American friends, meanwhile I am spending $300 on a teleconference. His friends said "charge your dad $200!" We were both surprised, when we could hear them, to discover that his friends were adults including a mother of two. I am impressed with a game that teaches the necessary social skills that will allow a 12 year old to work co-operatively with adults.

Look at the photo of Tim Rylands, I love it. I had always imagined him at a desk at the front of the class. Look at the photo, he's in the body of the class looking to the front. Did he read Papert “there is such a thing as becoming a good learner and therefore … teachers should do a lot of learning in the presence of the children and in collaboration with them.” What is Logo? Who Needs It? © Logo Computer Systems Inc. 1999