EdLab at Teachers College, Columbia University

Gamed-based American History Course in Florida

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 22:54:07 -0400

Resonating with Virginia's application of video game in its state-wide pilot math program (see previous blog entry here), Florida Virtual School will soon launch its first game-based American history course for high school students (as reported by eSchool News). The 3-D game used by Florida Virtual is called Conspiracy Code. Anyone had experience playing this game?

"In this first course, students adopt the roles of fictional characters in an espionage-themed adventure game set in the fictional metropolis of Coverton City. In the 3D game, students must build their knowledge and understanding of American history to stop a vast conspiracy that is threatening to erase and change the course of history...The game is built on a foundation of challenges and missions that allow students to learn progressively... Based on each student's understanding of content and the use of clues, students self-select their path and pace through the course."

Meet Dan Paluska!

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:41:03 -0400

Forms of literacy

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:16:49 -0400

Here is a look at the constant evolution of language and its spread on a global level and second, the utility of literacy that draws distinction between the ‘old school’ and the ‘advanced’ learners. It makes me question who is really 'literate'?

To read the article please click here.

MOVE: Using Interactive Games as Art

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:01:43 -0400

I recently attended a session at a conference by Andrew Hieronymi, (bio) whose recent work focuses on the boundaries between games and art in physical environments. He is currently a professor of Interactive Design and Game Development at the Savannah College of Art and Design in Savannah, Georgia.

The particular project he presented was called MOVE. This project consists of a list of verbs that each embody a central game mechanic to make a series of installation art pieces. Each game is displayed as an installation using computer vision and full body interaction, allowing participants to experience six different types of actions usually performed by avatars in video games. These actions include avoid, chase, jump, throw, hide and collect.

The simplicity of the games have allowed them to be accessible to a variety of different audiences around the world where he has displayed his work. It also provides an opportunity to reflect on the kinds of interactions that are available and possible not only for interactive art but also for games. His focus on actually putting a person into the physical space of the game is an interesting approach and one that has long been valued by game designers in their physical prototyping phase. It is also becoming a more and more popular form of gaming as 'exergaming' or projects such as the Swarm that Saeed Zare shared recently in an EdLab seminar, continue to add more and more real world actions on the players part into games.

Andrew is also interested in coming to NYC to do an installation, so I will keep you posted if he comes, so you can check out the installations for yourself. In the mean time, you can check out the videos of people playing the games on his website- just click on the linked actions below.

Also check out his website for other projects he is working on and if interested have a look at this paper. Playtime in the White Cube- Game Art: Between Interactive Art and Video Games.

Inspiration on Design Thinking

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 14:43:14 -0400

Many may find this information elementary but it is a good reminder of how design impacts in a multidimensional arena.

In Search for Middle School/High School Participants for Seminar

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 14:30:01 -0400

Hi everyone,

As you all must be psyched about the upcoming Design Boot camp taking place on July 15th, we would like to request your help. We are aiming to get six student participants that are in middle or high school willing to role play for the seminar that day between 12-2pm.

If you want to get a head start on design methodology- think BIG! so friends, siblings, neighbors, friends of friends :D

Incentive for participants:
~ Learn about team work
~ Learn about EdLab
~ Meet the great minds at EdLab
~ Most important: Food will be provided

Please contact either Frederik or me if you need any other information.
Thank you in advance!

TC101 Project Mid-Summer Report

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 12:47:56 -0400

At the seminar at the start of the summer we said that there would be an opportunity for progress reports on the projects connected with TC101 sometime at the beginning of July. That time has come so the EdLab Seminar next Wednesday (July 8th) will be devoted to TC101 Progress Reports. Please let me know if you are planning on giving a report on your progress so I can organize the seminar accordingly.

Trends in Ed 7.2.09

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 11:31:28 -0400

If you've ever found guilty narcissistic pleasure in the Googling of your own name, AllofMe is the tool for you! Though it's still very much in beta, the new site searches a variety of sources for hits on your name and plots these results on a timeline, providing you with an ego-boosting macro view of your accomplishments and claims to fame online over time.

In all seriousness, however, I think this tool could have some neat ed applications. For one thing, it allows students to automatically create timelines of various subjects and then edit these timelines themselves (or collaborate with others), inserting or deleting relevant information. They could also compare timelines of other subjects to their own lives (something that reminds me a little of tools we've talked about including for the Obama resource).

Finally, in a more philosophical vein, it could be a good way to begin a conversation about real life vs. its digital representation and what it means to have your presence permanently documented online. All interesting stuff...

YouTube Architecture

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 07:45:58 -0400

For Critter Team or anyone who might be interested --

Check out this 2008 article about how the 9-person YouTube team efficiently maintains 100 million video requests every day. It lists groups of strategies, lessons, and management tasks they experienced from its early stage (however with many tech terms).

US Now - How our society is changing

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 21:22:16 -0400

"In a world in which information is like air, what happens to power?" A film project about the power of mass collaboration, government and the internet.

The film "US Now“ describes itself as a film project on collaboration of the masses, government and the internet. It shows British Social Media initiatives that are based on the collective intelligence. The main argument of the film is, that basically any institution or corporation like hotels, football teams, the government, banks and schools can be replaced by social media, which are controlled by humans.

"New technologies and a closely related culture of collaboration present radical new models of social organisation. This project brings together leading practitioners and thinkers in this field and asks them to determine the opportunity for government."

Us Now from Banyak Films on Vimeo.

Using Video for Learning

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 13:42:24 -0400

Following up from today's seminar, the Development & Research folks may want to take a look at this journal article that recently came out if you haven't already:

Rich, P. & Hannafin, M. (2009). Video Annotation Tools: Technologies to Scaffold, Structure, and Transform Teacher Reflection. Journal of Teacher Education, 60(1).

Also if you haven't seen these, you may want to look at the publications and presentations that have come out of the VITAL project.

Trends in Ed 7.1.09

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 11:50:42 -0400

At this week's National Education Computing Conference (NECC), the Project RED Coalition (REvolutionizing EDucation) announced that it will begin a series of reports on technology in education. The first report will include a large sample of "technology rich" schools and aims to demonstrate the cost-efficiency and improved academic performance that comes with including internet and software usage in schools. On Project RED's homepage there is even a spot where schools that 'made the list' of technology-rich schools can apply to participate in the study.

This article briefly describes the project's aim as well. An ambitious study, but necessary for the future of education just the same. Here at EdLab I think we would all benefit from how the study's results may increase motivations in tech ed.

The power of many individual voices and/or the joy of random youtube videos.

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 17:20:29 -0400

Two videos I really like about the power of bringing more voices into the game.

Also, these make me think, what are the defining characteristics of success in the web environment? Success is usually about removing barriers to information sharing and lowering the bar so that many people can participate (YouTube/Flickr/Facebook/Blogger/Twitter/Digg/Delicious/Wikipedia/etc...). This can create lots of "garbage", but it also creates a very rich environment for observation. It also empowers individuals to self organize without larger structures.

Trends in Ed 6.30.09

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 13:06:44 -0400

Surprises About Teen Media Use

Lately, I've been checking out the recent Nielsen report (embedded after the jump) on teens and media use, and have found their conclusions pretty interesting. A few tidbits:

1. Apparently, teenage TV watching has actually increased over the last five years, despite the rise in popularity of new media and availability of content online.

2. 1 out of 4 teens reads a print newspaper daily.

3. Teenagers spend less than half the time browsing the internet that adults do.

4. Teens' favorite websites and media content are essentially the same as their parents'.

Hm. So...despite all the hubbub over tech-literate teens who absorb information in a whole new way, the "teen tech pioneer" image may in fact only be surface level. Despite the Facebook/MySpace craze, teens don't really exhibit radically new media consumption habits.

Maybe this shouldn't be all that surprising. After all, the newest information-sharing fads like Twitter or social bookmarking aren't really teen-centric. When I think of the college and high school students I know, most of their online habits are restricted to Facebook, school assignments, and maybe the occasional YouTube video (though according to Nielsen, 25 to 34 year olds watch many more online videos than teens).

Kids as Design Partners

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 09:40:36 -0400

At the University of Maryland's Human-Computer Interaction Lab, researchers and kids work together to design new tech tools for children. The RA being interviewed has it right: kids are experts at being kids, so who better to ask for ideas? Where better to go for observing and understanding the needs for redesign?

This video reminded me of how important it is to challenge the power dynamics of any organizational situation in order to promote innovation and free thinking.

My favorite part? It's at 1:40 when a child says,

We work with the National Park Service a lot. Some of the games on their websites are sort of cheesy, so we help to fix them up and stuff.