Rebecca Thomas Designs

Twitter Updates for 2009-11-10

2009-11-10T08:55:00Z

Does anyone know why Google Reader might delete all of your starred items? #
Food for thought, on many levels: http://xkcd.com/659/ #

Copyright © 2009 Rebecca Thomas Designs. This feed is for noncommercial use only. If you see this on a commercial site, please contact rebecca@rebeccathomasdesigns.com so we can take legal action immediately.
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Twitter Updates for 2009-10-03 On page 52 of 256 of Roger Zelazny's To...
Twitter Updates for 2009-08-24 Google finally fixed the Gmail gadget. iGoogle can serve...
Twitter Updates for 2009-07-08 The novel may have been dealt a serious blow....

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Questioning strategies as game deisgn?

2009-11-09T17:12:00Z

One of the issues I’ve been struggling with as I try to imagine how I would develop game-inspired educational material is how to incorporate my teaching style into my work. The problem is: I’m a Constructivist with Socratic tendencies.

That first isn’t too big a problem. Sequential story-lessons are easily planned out and created, and mythocentric game design makes a compelling argument for letting story-lessons that don’t rely on each other serve as a “level” that the learner can explore at will before being allowed to move on to the next “level” and building on what they’ve learned in lower “levels”.

The second, however, is a bit more challenging. I tend to direct my students through questions, helping them to make their own connections and to see why they’re doing what they’re doing. When the teacher isn’t present, though, it’s hard to know what sequence of questions to set up to help facilitate that type of learning.

After reading Emily Short’s series on modeling conversation in interactive fiction, I thought I had it somewhat figured out: create a Guide NPC to ask more common or basic questions to guide learner between encounters and to help the learner think through the problem when they’ve made a mistake. The Guide NPC could even go so far as to offer a review if the learner is completely off-topic.

The more I thought about that, the more I felt myself getting turned around because I felt I was making too big an assumption with the basic or common questions. Then, a former student and I gather around a virtual whiteboard to see what was going wrong on a homework assignment, and I found a preliminary answer. As we talked, I found the probing and directing questions I nearly always ask, mainly because she was asking herself those questions with a preface of, “I know you’d ask me…”

The next problem to either resolve or let go is wait time. I use that to help feel out where a student is in understanding what they’re working on, but I can’t exactly give a fictional character that same instinct.

The necessary, but unloved, skill The school year has begun, and I’m starting to meet...
The struggles of scaffolded math I’ve spent the last couple of weeks in and out...
The Online Name Game Yesterday, I signed up for Dreamwidth’s closed beta. I know...

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Twitter Updates for 2009-11-09

2009-11-09T08:55:00Z

I managed to make only my daily #nanowrimo word count, which still leaves me in a state of #nanopanic. #
Target word count: 13,336. Current word count: 8,018. Wish me luck! #nanowrimo #nanopanic #

Twitter Updates for 2009-10-27 I'm finally over the halfway mark on my #wriye...
Twitter Updates for 2009-11-02 I've added a #nanowrimo progress bar to my website...
Twitter Updates for 2009-11-08 I'm behind by 5,000-6,000 words. Definitely time for a...

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Twitter Updates for 2009-11-08

2009-11-08T08:55:00Z

I'm behind by 5,000-6,000 words. Definitely time for a #nanopanic (Actually, I can probably get this mostly caught up today if I try.) #

Twitter Updates for 2009-10-03 On page 52 of 256 of Roger Zelazny's To...
Twitter Updates for 2009-08-24 Google finally fixed the Gmail gadget. iGoogle can serve...
Twitter Updates for 2009-07-08 The novel may have been dealt a serious blow....

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Twitter Updates for 2009-11-07

2009-11-07T08:55:00Z

I just realized I can build a mood board on an SD card and run it in my digital photo frame. #

Twitter Updates for 2009-07-08 The novel may have been dealt a serious blow....
Twitter Updates for 2009-10-03 On page 52 of 256 of Roger Zelazny's To...
Twitter Updates for 2009-08-24 Google finally fixed the Gmail gadget. iGoogle can serve...

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links for 2009-11-06

2009-11-06T23:50:54Z

Slacker Personal Radio – Listen to Free Internet Radio Stations

(tags: radio)

links for 2009-05-18 35 Free Fonts to Enhance Your Designs | Fonts...
links for 2009-08-04 Everybody needs a personal "status" page | 43 Folders...
links for 2009-10-05 The new rules of news | Dan Gillmor |...

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Is fan fiction worthwhile?

2009-11-06T19:20:49Z

Creating fan art is such a hot button topic with people. Are the original creator’s rights being diligently looked after? Are the young people who create fan art being appropriately trained in what’s plagiarism and what’s deviation or inspiration? They’re appropriate concerns, ones I try to cover with any student who shows me something they’re working on.

I was approached over the summer by someone launching his own fan-fiction appreciation site, and part of his message asking me to evaluate his site struck me as odd:

“I also wonder if you take fan-fiction seriously, or if you don’t really care that much for it.”

He found me via FanFiction.net, so I really wasn’t sure why he was questioning my opinion of fan art. It turned out that he really wasn’t sure, either, so I gave him the following answer:

As an artist and fan, I think fan fiction, fan art, AMVs, and video parodies are valid ways of expressing your support for a favorite property. As a teacher, I find creating fan works can often be a useful way to learn the skills and techniques necessary to move on to create your own world in your chosen medium.

A number of my students and people I’ve met through various fan and art sites have started out creating fan art, learning the techniques for the craft in trying to mimic a favorite author’s voice or an artist’s style and then building on that to develop their own style, their own point of view. They use what they learn in creating fan art to create original works with a sharper eye than would have been possible when they were just starting out. Some of them let this growth lead them into a more creative career, inspired by that original foundation. Others continue on as just a hobby. Some use these skills to teach others what they’ve learned or to help guide them as they comment on others’ works.

Becoming involved in the creation and sharing of fan art benefits the artist by allowing them to gain skills, to gather feedback for improvement, to learn to deal with harsh criticism or criticism that missed the mark gracefully. and to give others constructive feedback.

Learn by experimenting For years, we sit in a classroom and learn what...
Recycling outdated business cards, or how to help out a fellow artist As part of trying to get myself organized back into...
Going with the (layout) flow When I was working on Writer’s Block, I was spending...

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links for 2009-11-03

2009-11-03T23:07:51Z

The Complete Guide to Google Wave: How to Use Google Wave

(tags: tutorials googlewave)

links for 2009-10-02 To Share or Not to Share, That is the...
links for 2009-01-17 OpenOffice.org Training, Tips, and Ideas (tags: tutorials openoffice) ...
links for 2009-01-24 1000 Blank White Cards (tags: writing-games) Cracking the Khipu...

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Game Play- Phoenix Wright, Ace Attorney: Justice for All

2009-11-03T18:28:15Z

A friend loaned me this game when I was laid up with tendinitis in my ankle, and I’ve been slowly working. my way through it.

Well, I was. The game play has finally pushed me too far, and I’ve lost all desire to return.

At first, I liked working my way through the conversations and the trial. But soon enough I was finding that a character would tell you exactly what you needed to know to break their testimony, but because they told you, there was no evidence to present and you actually had to figure out what piece of evidence sort of related to that testimony to get them to say it at the right moment. Except they didn’t seem to remember they had already told you that piece of information, and the judge would throw it out.

It got pretty frustrating after the first couple of times it happened in the first case. Add to that the repetitive nature of the movement and conversations (at one point, you have to have the same conversation with a character five times before you finally get the information you need to move forward in the case), and the game became fairly stale.

Phoenix and the Fey girls are fairly entertaining, but they aren’t enough to make you ignore the game play.

The gender of children’s play I was an unusual kid. I played dress-up, often using...
The Token Girl Ever since I was a kid, I’ve been keenly aware...
I keep trying to write my story In writing, there is a type of story called the...

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Twitter Updates for 2009-11-02

2009-11-02T08:55:00Z

I've added a #nanowrimo progress bar to my website for anyone who wants to see how I'm doing or wants to cheer me on. #
My #nanowrimo goal for today was to make the daily word count by noon. I met it and passed it by quite a bit! Yay! #

Twitter Updates for 2009-10-03 On page 52 of 256 of Roger Zelazny's To...
Twitter Updates for 2009-11-09 I managed to make only my daily #nanowrimo word...
Twitter Updates for 2009-10-20 I think I may have an idea for #nanowrimo...

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