Every once in a while focus is grabbed by media. Found this machinima while looking up scholarly references and just had to make reference to it. I have written a script to make a video machinima of the class project based on virtual juror, but I do not have the skills yet to make it or to learn just now.
Here is a video tribute to artists of the past, humanitarian scholars of the present, and technologies of the future. Quite the mash up. As a former Air Force wife, I am partial.
Monday, January 16, 2012
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
From Grant Writing in EM830 to Web Privacy in EM835
My semester and year ended really well in December 2011. How wonderful to feel the exhilaration of accomplishment, personal growth, and have products resulting from assignments that are useful professionally. I ended up writing a comprehensive grant modeled for a National Science Foundation program for Transforming Undergraduate Education in Science, Technology Engineering, and Mathematics (TUES). The grant focused on training GTAs to not only teach courses and science labs, but to create immersive, interactive content suitable for virtual labs and eventually a serious game. While the particular concept may not move forward, the goals of comprehending what is sought by the funding agency, how to make a worthy case, manage a large grant, and perform innovative research are truly thrilling.
January 2012: EM835 Information Accountability and Web Privacy poses intriguing questions about the future. How interesting that game developer extraordinaire, Will Wright, has a new venture that relates somewhat to the topic of our class.
Am I the only one who recalls the Hive Mind from the Ender's Game series by Orson Scott Card? Let's see what Wright does with this new adventure. He is still for me, the most eclectic thinker I have ever seen.
During the December break I read Dr. Jane McGonigal's 550 page dissertation on Alternate Reality Games (ARGs) and ubiquitous games. Her research has given me so much to think about for my own research into game-based learning. I sent her a tweet to let her know I read it and Jane replied that I beat her husband in reading her dissertation. Now, to apply it! Onward.
January 2012: EM835 Information Accountability and Web Privacy poses intriguing questions about the future. How interesting that game developer extraordinaire, Will Wright, has a new venture that relates somewhat to the topic of our class.
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| Will Wright's photo from Reuter's Article By John Gaudiosi RALEIGH, North Carolina | |
During the December break I read Dr. Jane McGonigal's 550 page dissertation on Alternate Reality Games (ARGs) and ubiquitous games. Her research has given me so much to think about for my own research into game-based learning. I sent her a tweet to let her know I read it and Jane replied that I beat her husband in reading her dissertation. Now, to apply it! Onward.
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Lessons from Steve Jobs' TED Video
The tributes from around the world are moving for Steve Jobs and I add my condolences to his family and those inspired to think differently.
The irony of how Steve Jobs did not finish college is apparent to me in how much I wish to have Steve' perspective on my dissertation as it applies to the value of informal learning using new media.
The networked seminar for new media has enabled me to engage deeply with colleagues and acquaintances through a combination of the Internet, Second Life, bold leadership, and faithful facilitation. I wonder what Steve Jobs would contribute to our voluntary discussion that is a blend of formal and informal learning.
The lesson for me is clear. The more learned, the more understood how little is known whether from informal or formal means. Do what you love, includes learn what leads you. Awe transforms my life when learning occurs on terms of personal engagement. I take Steve's advice, along with others like Randy Pausch, to relish the journey of discovery, especially with those who are also "all in." Live and learn well.
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Digital Reveries (I'm Awake!)
Learning flows abound in which to revel and dance with scholars at work (UCF) and school (CTU). The typical social media outlets such as Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin and soon Google+ are my constant source of learning to keep up with my field of learning technologies.
In September 2011, I became a participant in the New Media Faculty Seminar held in Second Life based on a course called, Awakening the Digital Imagination offered at Virginia Tech by the prolific blogger, thinker, and renaissance man, Dr. Gardner Campbell. The immersion of the virtual world is engaging for me filling a deep cerebral yearning. Examining great scientists and inventors is made novel through perspective comparison with current technologies. The networked seminar represents an instantiation of a massive open online course (mooc).
Discussion and collaborative reflection is based on the New Media Reader published in 2003 and edited by Noah Wardrip-Fruin and Nick Montfort. Small groups around the country gather on campuses to share insights applicable to teaching with new media. It feels as if history is being created as this new model of education achieves greater momentum.
Our intrepid facilitators are Robin Heyden and Liz Dorland who have created a NetVibes site to help group members keep up with all the happenings in this international networked seminar.
Part of the expectation in the seminar is to blog one's reflections. A grand challenge to me as I am a novice blogger. I decided to use this blog as it represents a sort of eportflio of all my learning. Cheers to all who surf learning flows online.
In September 2011, I became a participant in the New Media Faculty Seminar held in Second Life based on a course called, Awakening the Digital Imagination offered at Virginia Tech by the prolific blogger, thinker, and renaissance man, Dr. Gardner Campbell. The immersion of the virtual world is engaging for me filling a deep cerebral yearning. Examining great scientists and inventors is made novel through perspective comparison with current technologies. The networked seminar represents an instantiation of a massive open online course (mooc).
Our intrepid facilitators are Robin Heyden and Liz Dorland who have created a NetVibes site to help group members keep up with all the happenings in this international networked seminar.
Part of the expectation in the seminar is to blog one's reflections. A grand challenge to me as I am a novice blogger. I decided to use this blog as it represents a sort of eportflio of all my learning. Cheers to all who surf learning flows online.
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| The New Media Seminarians meeting in Second Life Sept. 28, 2011 |
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Strategic Use of Virtual Worlds EM825 - Virtual Juror
At my day job I get to be involved with some incredible people and initiatives that inspire me to become more of a "player" in the field of higher education. One such group for which I am involved is the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU). Each year, my institution has hosted a conference with AASCU and EDUCAUSE that engage senior leaders about the strategic use of technology for transforming education. It is always fun to recruit students to share their perceptions of campus use of technologies for learning and student support. Enter my own perspective.
July 2011 marks my third quarter as an adult student at Colorado Technical University in the Doctorate of Computer Science Emerging Media Program. Dr. Cynthia Calongne and her trusty assistant, Lyr Lobo, attracted me to CTU for their work with the New Media Consortium. I am pleased and honored that Dr. Calongne has agreed to be my mentor and dissertation chair.
This quarter I am taking EM825 Strategic Use of Virtual Worlds with Dr. Andrew Stricker who along with Dr. Calongne won the $25,000 prize awarded by the Federal Virtual Worlds Challenge for the Mars Expedition Challenge. A more complimentary team may not exist than these two extraordinary, talented, positive deviants.
EM825 features group projects using a studio design process. Now I am enjoying how to better collaborate with students whose majors differ and are in different states and time zones. Our project focus is on community and civic engagement. A fellow doctoral student at UPenn, Cecilia Orphan, worked for AASCU to create the American Democracy Project to raise awareness and promote the values of engagement. This initiative made a significant impression upon me as it originated from pure will without substantial resources. Celilia's reflections of the project are captured in this blog post.
My group decided to pursue "Virtual Juror" as a project. We have chosen to contrast the legal systems of the USA compared to South Africa, Iran, and India, and specifically the use of jury trials. Just think about that idea. How much do you know about what is legal and what punishments may exist in these countries? Perhaps if we do a good job, when you see the "Jury Summons" in the mail, you will appreciate the opportunity to serve.
July 2011 marks my third quarter as an adult student at Colorado Technical University in the Doctorate of Computer Science Emerging Media Program. Dr. Cynthia Calongne and her trusty assistant, Lyr Lobo, attracted me to CTU for their work with the New Media Consortium. I am pleased and honored that Dr. Calongne has agreed to be my mentor and dissertation chair.
This quarter I am taking EM825 Strategic Use of Virtual Worlds with Dr. Andrew Stricker who along with Dr. Calongne won the $25,000 prize awarded by the Federal Virtual Worlds Challenge for the Mars Expedition Challenge. A more complimentary team may not exist than these two extraordinary, talented, positive deviants.
My group decided to pursue "Virtual Juror" as a project. We have chosen to contrast the legal systems of the USA compared to South Africa, Iran, and India, and specifically the use of jury trials. Just think about that idea. How much do you know about what is legal and what punishments may exist in these countries? Perhaps if we do a good job, when you see the "Jury Summons" in the mail, you will appreciate the opportunity to serve.
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Double Dose of IRB and Usability. Payoff? Presentations
Obtaining Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval for research projects is integral for institutions and researchers to maintain ethical inquiry. For my first class at CTU in the Doctorate of Computer Science (DCS) Program in Emerging Media, October 2010, I had CS820 Usability and Interaction with Dr. Anne Marie Armstrong. A requirement for the course was to perform a usability study.
Performing research in one's workplace is a risk that requires careful consideration. I had been working with staff several years to build a software application called Kogneato that we were trying to launch in tricky budget times. The project was not funded as part of a grant and we were building the application on a shoestring budget. We did not have assistance with technical writing nor documentation.
Since I work at a major university, I had to obtain IRB approval from both CTU and the University of Central Florida in order to involve faculty to test our system. My boss was supportive so I applied for approvals hoping to obtain approvals in time to complete the study by the end of the quarter.
My study was approved, the timing worked out, and best of all faculty involved in my test were very responsive to Kogneato. UCF's Psychology Department decided to adopt Kogneato for one of its funded research projects for course redesign addressing online labs, large classes, and the shortage of lab facilities. Their project is described in this article about online labs. Currently, we are seeking support to license Kogneato under an open source license to be able to attract more development in the tool.
Kogneato is not only being used for Psychology at UCF, it is also being used in several online courses and being developed for use in faculty development by my department, the Center for Distributed Learning. My colleague, Dr. Francisca Yonekura and I put in for call for proposals and were accepted to make a presentation in June at the New Media Consortium's annual conference in Madison, WI. Fortunately for us, the NMC event is taking place along with the 2011 Games, Learning, and Society Conference for which we were accepted to present as well.
It is not yet clear to me whether I can do my dissertation on the use the Kogneato, but it is possible. My direction seems oriented to the use of serious games in virtual worlds, but it may involve authentic assessment and adaptive learning.
Last year, Dr, Yonekura and I presented at the annual New Media Conference on the topic of another software application we made at UCF and how it is being used for an accreditation initiative that involved information fluency. We are also seeking to open source that system called, Obojobo.
During the presentation, we did a live demo of the software and shared the slides we made on Prezi.
We were honored to have in our presentation Christina Engelbart, the daughter of Douglas Engelbart, who is known for inventing the mouse and giving the mother of all demos. Christina now runs the Douglas Engelbart Institute.
I hope to align my doctoral research with my work activities so that inquiry stays real. In CS802 Qualitative Data Analysis, I did a paper on the topics of authentic leadership and competency management systems. Each activity sheds light on possible topics and research designs. Few things are as rewarding as working/studying with dedicated scholars and it is exciting to be able to share findings at national conferences.
Performing research in one's workplace is a risk that requires careful consideration. I had been working with staff several years to build a software application called Kogneato that we were trying to launch in tricky budget times. The project was not funded as part of a grant and we were building the application on a shoestring budget. We did not have assistance with technical writing nor documentation.
Since I work at a major university, I had to obtain IRB approval from both CTU and the University of Central Florida in order to involve faculty to test our system. My boss was supportive so I applied for approvals hoping to obtain approvals in time to complete the study by the end of the quarter.
UCF's Kogneato Casual Gaming System, built with faculty involvement. Designed and developed by UCF's Ian Turgeon, Zach Berry and with the support of Dr. Francisca Yonekura (pictured below).
My study was approved, the timing worked out, and best of all faculty involved in my test were very responsive to Kogneato. UCF's Psychology Department decided to adopt Kogneato for one of its funded research projects for course redesign addressing online labs, large classes, and the shortage of lab facilities. Their project is described in this article about online labs. Currently, we are seeking support to license Kogneato under an open source license to be able to attract more development in the tool.
Kogneato is not only being used for Psychology at UCF, it is also being used in several online courses and being developed for use in faculty development by my department, the Center for Distributed Learning. My colleague, Dr. Francisca Yonekura and I put in for call for proposals and were accepted to make a presentation in June at the New Media Consortium's annual conference in Madison, WI. Fortunately for us, the NMC event is taking place along with the 2011 Games, Learning, and Society Conference for which we were accepted to present as well.
It is not yet clear to me whether I can do my dissertation on the use the Kogneato, but it is possible. My direction seems oriented to the use of serious games in virtual worlds, but it may involve authentic assessment and adaptive learning.
Last year, Dr, Yonekura and I presented at the annual New Media Conference on the topic of another software application we made at UCF and how it is being used for an accreditation initiative that involved information fluency. We are also seeking to open source that system called, Obojobo.
We were honored to have in our presentation Christina Engelbart, the daughter of Douglas Engelbart, who is known for inventing the mouse and giving the mother of all demos. Christina now runs the Douglas Engelbart Institute.
I hope to align my doctoral research with my work activities so that inquiry stays real. In CS802 Qualitative Data Analysis, I did a paper on the topics of authentic leadership and competency management systems. Each activity sheds light on possible topics and research designs. Few things are as rewarding as working/studying with dedicated scholars and it is exciting to be able to share findings at national conferences.
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Aikido for a Sustainable Environment: Our Gift to Planet Earth?
Dr.William Halal in his book, Technology's Promise writes of a forecast describing challenges in transitioning a consumption-oriented, global society to one that manages sustainability for survival (p. 17-30).
Halal references Russell Ackoff (1919-2009), a pioneer of management science, as defining a constellation of interrelated problems like this a mess... (p. 18). It was an honor for me to meet Dr. Ackoff in 2004 at a systems thinking conference held in Philadelphia. His life's work was evident in his peers. The environment was not the primary focus of the venue, rather the focus was on interrelationships whether illustrated in game theory or funding government innovation and research.
The environmental forecasts summarized in Technology's Promise include many that now dominate our news channels thanks to the political turmoil in the Middle East and North Africa. The forecasts came from input given from experts contributing to TechCast LLC, a virtual think tank for which Dr. Halal is the CEO.
- Alternative Energy
- Desalination
- Distributed Power
- Genetically Modified Organisms
- Global Warming
- Green Business
- Organic Farming
- Precision Farming
Considering the advances in nanotechnology and a globally networked society, I wonder if geothermal energy should be the focus of a Green Manhattan Project. Materials are improving and costs are decreasing for production. From an astronomical perspective, I suspect the probability that other galactic societies have mastered geothermal energy is likely.
Dr. Michio Kaku writes about the work of Russian astrophysicist Nikolai Kardashev who created a scale of civilizations based on energy management using physics and thermodynamics. For Earth to achieve an upgrade from a class 0 to a class I civilization, we must harness the sustainable energy of the planet including geothermal energy. As Halal suggests, managing the transition to a sustainable environment for our global environment is necessary for survival. In my view, mastering geothermal energy, is necessary for Earth to achieve interplanetary and galactic travel. What is our fortune?
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