If I were Steve...

If I were Steve, I would keep this class pretty much the same. I might consider moving the Boyd readings to earlier in the course because to someone with no understanding of terms like friends and forums and networks, it might be a good introduction to these terms and the readings might set the tone for the rest of what would be covered in the semester which is that the most important part of social software is that it is social.

As many of us have expressed before, I would pass on Brown & DuGuid and Anderson or shorten the number of required readings from those books.

Other than that, I wouldn't change anything. The course is well planned, well designed and structured in such a way as to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of social software. It provides the hands on experience necessary to give students the confidence to use these tools on their own outside of class even if they have no prior technological experience.

Amazing job and thanks, Steve!!!

I Got Thrown Off the Island...

So I was a little bit nervous about trying out second life and with good reason. I am a failure in my second life. Here is the sad story.

I created my avatar (really, they could give you more choices of avatars). I was quite perturbed to arrive on the Island to find that there were no less than four people exactly the same as me; I mean total clones. I was trying to adjust when I was accosted by someone called "My Brazilian"... great.... then a weirdo in a cape wanted to be my friend. Not a very encouraging start.

I couldn't figure out how to change my clothes, which was really annoying me. People kept flying in and out, which was unnerving and distracting and not helping me to figure out my wardrobe dilema. I asked if anyone knew how to change clothes. They answered me in Spanish. I asked for help in English.

Finally, a nice woman in thigh high boots and a belly top (Felicity) told me she was the help desk. This was a far cry from the uniforms at the travel desk at AAA, but what the heck, I needed new clothes, didn't I? So, off we went to a private chat, in which she set me up with some new duds -- all of which looked like they came from the set of a 70s TV show. But at least I was not dressed like everyone else.

Unfortunately this process took nearly an hour. Meanwhile, I used the time to figure out how to move around in this world. Finally Felicity told me to trasport some free clothes from what I thought was a website. It didn't work, so I told her this. Next thing I knew, Felicity was not happy and she told me to "get off the island." Seriously. Not that I blame her, by this point she had been helping me for an hour and I was still only half dressed. Well, I was dressed, it was just that nothing really matched or anything, I looked pathetic and I was obviously incapable of helping myself.

Next thing I knew there was a message on the right hand side of my screen telling me that Felicity wanted to transport me somewhere. Sounded interesting, so I clicked ok. When I ended up in a warehouse district, I started to think my safety might be in jeopardy and maybe it wasn't a good idea to piss Felicity off. But everything was fine and Felicity said that this was the place where you could get the clothes. Of course, I walked into the place and totally could not figure out how you are supposed to get clothes from the boxes. Felicity had disappeared, probably to help some other loser. So I left the warehouse, still dressed like a loser and quit the game.

Really, if second life is this frustrating, I will just stick with my first life, which is plenty frustrating on its own. Although I have to admit, with time, it did seem like it could be a little bit fun...

Here's an update ... I went back and there must have been some kind of problem with the software when I was playing the first time. The warehouse was full of items this time and it was easy to figure out how to purchase them. When you clicked on them, they immediately populated your inventory and I was finally able to get some jeans. I didn't change the top though. It still screams Starsky and Hutch.

Here is a screenshot of my second life character, Casey Blaisdale (??) in Free Dungeon shopping

If Everthing Bad is Good For You, then Libraries Need to be Willing to Take a Walk on the Wild Side

One thing libraries, librarians and educators can learn from Johnson's book, and from history, for that matter, is not to judge the educational merits of new media too quickly. It takes time to see how the industry develops new media and for a response to new technologies to be fully understood. From children's response to a new media, we can learn more about their learning styles and how best to teach them. By being open-minded to new technolgies, however frivolous they may seem to us at first blush, we can provide more authentic learning opportunities for children and at the same time ressusitate young patrons' interest in our libraries.

Playing Games

This screencast records my son and I playing "Let's Get Cookin'" a game we found on shockwave.com. We are both playing, although I guess I am the only one talking (what a surprise!) One player uses the mouse while the other uses the space bar. The players have to work together to prepare a healthy meal.

Unfortunately, since Jing cuts off after 5 mins, you miss the plating of the final product, so I am adding a screen capture of the pasta primavera dinner we created.



Here is the screencapture of the final plated meal:



You view the screencast by clicking on this link:

2008-12-07_1819

Mistakes teach valuable lessons about screencasting

The most valuable thing that I learned through the mistakes I made in screencasting is the importance of planning in advance. Since I felt that I knew the subject area of my screencast, it seemed at first like a waste of time to write a script... that is until I made three or four recording attempts with no success. After that,the time writing the script seemed well spent.

I also realized that I needed to plan in advance where I was going to move the cursor, what items I was going to highlight or whether I was going to open another window or not. Leaving these things to be decided on an impromptu basis inevitably led to dead air on the video, a cursor that just zipped around the page aimlessly and a product that with which I was unhappy.

With some forethought and planning, screencasting can be a valuable tool to use for all kinds of tutorials and teaching aids and even for simple day to day among individuals with questions requiring explanations relating to forms, maps, catalogs, indexes, or any other documentation that can be found online.

Choosing a Gaming System

If I were choosing a gaming system for our elementary school library, I would probably choose a computer based system, not a console system, since there are already 12 computers in the media center and it would be less expensive to use them than to buy consoles. In choosing software, I would ask students what kinds of games they enjoy playing. I would also read reviews of games. I would talk to teachers about where they think games might be a useful addition to the curriculum and how they could be implemented. I would want to be sure that the games I chose were in an appropriate area and that they reinforced skills that would be valuable and so that they would be actually used by the teachers. I might also talk to the IT person to see what information he had about games and the best way to set them up for students in a classroom/library setting. I would talk to librarians I knew to see if they were using games and if so, which ones, and ask about the benefits and disadvantages and try to find out which games were well received.

I would probably start small. That is, I would probably find one teacher or group of teachers who was willing to try working on a project including gaming. Once the project was successful, I would then approach other teachers about incorporating games into their curriculum (or hopefully, they would approach me) and then, I would purchase more games with their assistance.

Do games "sophisticatedly deliver stupidity?"

It's probably no surprise that I am not a gamer. Never have been, not even as a kid. I find electronic games confusing and even a little stressful, really. So, I never quite understand why my kids and husband find it relaxing to play games that make lots of noise, go so fast and require so much concentration!

I probably did think that games were a form of sophisticated stupidity. Until I read more about them. Now, I would have to say that I value the learning benefits that games have to offer. I agree with Johnson that "it is not what you are thinking about when you are playing a game, it's the way you are thinking that matters." Games allow for collateral learning to take place because the player must make strategic decisions througout the game. Playing the game involves evaluating an objective, analyzing circumstances, weighing evidence, determining goals and making judgments. Any activity that requires all of these functions is fairly sophisticated in my book.