Authentic Tech

To the left is an image from the Unity interface that uses blocking volumes.  The image is a 2D image. The green cube primitives are used as "walls" in the school labyrinth thereby blocking the ball. 

Last year one of my 3D Game Level Design students created an excellent 3D map of our high school.  I plan to use a 2D rendering of his map  as my labyrinth.  

We have a five minute passing time between periods.  If I add a timer and prescribe a student schedule, it would be a cool game for our students to play through.  By adding "collision detectors" in the incorrect rooms, I am able to script the ball to re-spawn in a specified start spot that we'll call "homeroom" as the clock continues to tick.

First, a bit of an explanation as to why the fascination with the iOS.  This is posted on my AR Blog for month 4, but I dont suspect much of a crossover audience here, so I'm re-posting it.  It was a sidebar to my AR blog, but it's relevant here:

OK, so I decided to play -- excuse me -- learn something about iOS programming this week.  I'm not completely without some object-oriented programming knowledge having dabbled in JavaScript, DHTML, Action Script 3.0, Java, and of course, C, C++, and C#.  And when I say "dabble" translate that as having superficial knowledge in everything except the first three.

I’m using Unity as the game engine, which I’ve worked with before, but never on a Mac. Nor have I ever used XCode -- Apple's Integrated Development Environment -- and a necessary component to a successful Unity project.

Unity recently (the last week in September) released Version 3. I had previously worked with version 2.6, and before that 2.5. Any software developer will tell you that increments to the right of the decimal point are relatively minor, while to the left of the decimal point are generationally major.

While Diigo may be a great tool and serve some well, it comes a tad late in the game for me.  I can see the value of containment and organization of content.  However by month four of my Action Research Plan, if I am disorganized, I'm dead in the water.  So I've already set up a means for my Critical Friends to communicate with me.  I use Zotero to organize my online research.  

I recall my first experience in Introduction to Research with Dr. Wyly.  I can easily recall the angst I felt when we were informed we needed to form a group.  A group?  I'm an only child... I like computers because they don't talk to me... I play singles tennis, not doubles... I don't do groups.

So in my first week of my pursuit of a Masters of Science, I had to form a group?!  With people I never met?  This was not a good thing.

OK, by the end of the course I got it.  The cohort made me responsible to not only myself, but to others as well.  If the need for "best work" was not inherent in me to start, I knew there were four others counting on my best effort.  And I gave it.  Our initial group is still together. In course two, we welcomed another member.  Despite the fact that ETC has not called for a cohort, we still are very much a team.  When we needed blog followers, we were there for each other - no mass E-mail invites were needed -- we are a team.

So despite the fact that I do research alone -- and enjoy it that way, I know that somewhere down the road in this course, I'll better understand the purpose of sharing it with others. The one benefit I can already foresee to publicly sharing resources comes from other like-minded people who are members of your Diigo group.  They benefit by your resources, and in return, you benefit by theirs as they post ideas and comments to the group.

Will I use Diigo beyond the scope of this course?  That remains to be seen.  For now, I'm willing to ride the wave.

My Action Research Project revolves around engaging students through Authentic Assessment.  Grant Wiggins (photo at left is from http://www.grantwiggins.org/)  is a nationally known expert on assessment and authentic learning.


One of the greatest dangers in education is to be complacent about methods. The concept of "I do it that way, because that's the way I've always done it and it works" paves the road to well -- no so politically correctly said -- mediocrity.  Yes, Geometry hasn't changed since the days of Euclid, but the kids sitting in front of you have.  They learn differently, they process differently, and they should be assessed differently.


Grant Wiggins gets that.  And he's spent a lifetime convincing others.  Pearson Publishing -- the textbook company -- is convinced.  Convinced enough to bring Wiggins on board to develop a textbook series Understanding by Design.

His Essential Questions are now a staple of lesson plans across the country.  If you are an educator, his Authentic Education is well worth the read.  You need not agree with it in its entirety, but it will get you thinking introspectively about how you do what you do.

Between his Blog and his Tweets, Wiggins keeps his followers in the loop about his movements, and the latest movements in authentic teaching and learning.  Well worth following.


MMORPG.com 


This may appear to be an odd feed to follow.  However, going back to my Action Research Project, I realize without even beginning the first cycle, that if the goal is to change assessment, content delivery will have to change as well.  Hmmmm... perhaps I should  re-read Grant Wiggins' Backward Design.

Massively Multi-player Online (MMO) games offer interactivity and submergence into an alternate realm.  Image students being as excited about going home and studying Algebra, History, or Spanish as they are playing Guild Wars.  A 3D virtual world, authentic learning game can do that.  Throw in the power of anonymity that the web has to offer and you've got them.

MMORPG.com keeps its followers up on the latest trends in gaming.  I follow them to see what I can incorporate into my classes.  I've used Guilds, where I place the students into a team -- a Guild -- and they challenge each other on projects.  Two Guilds enter into the challenge arena.  Their battle is the completion of the project according to the rubric.  The two remaining Guilds are the judges.  It is an engaging activity that would never had come to mind if not for an interest in gaming.

MMORPG.com is the most active feed I follow, generally putting out two dozen new articles per day.  Once you become an avid follower, you'll quickly dismiss those items of little interest and be able zero in on those that may be able to be tweaked for educational engagement.

TED.com
As students of Technology, Education and Design, it should come as no surprise that one of the first feeds I subscribed to is TED -- Technology, Entertainment, and Design. The logo at right (from http://www.ted.com) -- as simple as it -- says it all -- Ideas Worth Sharing.

Amazingly, TED is a small non-profit based.   I say "amazingly" only for the fact that nothing about TED is "small".  Their conferences always draw big names, big ideas, and big crowds.  For anyone even remotely interested in new ideas or new spins on old ideas, the blogs at TED are worth following.

Edutopia

Edutopia is sponsored by the Lucas Foundation. The vision of the foundation is to showcase and reward innovative interactive learning environments.  For a teacher long on desire to effect change, but short on time, Edutopia is a collection of ideas -- the best ideas.

Ironically (or is it just karma?), the first feed that came down from Edutopia was a Grant Wiggins interview.  But that interview really underscores the only problem I have with Edutopia -- they recycle.  No, I don't mean I have a problem with environmentalists -- I mean they recycle the articles.  It's very easy to assume that Wiggins interview was current.  But is isn't -- it's from 2009.

That being said, the RSS feed does include all comments that may have been posted to the article, so be sure to read the comments not only for their content, but also for insight as to when this article was originally published.

ISTE

The International Society for Technology in Education.  What more can I say?  ISTE exists to enhance teaching and learning via the effective use of technology.  If I can't find a thing or two at ISTE to assist in the Lit Review for my Action Research Project, then it's time to hang it up.

I've been a card-carrying member of ISTE off and on for years.  I've used surveys I've written based on ISTE's National Educational Technology Standards as springboards for both student and staff tech training.

Unfortunately the news feeds come down only once or twice a month.  In a field such as technology where things change in a nano-second, I'd like to see more -- and more often.

But for all that ISTE has to offer, it's still a feed worth following.