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ETL523 Final Critical Reflection

This has been the most difficult unit I have ever taken. It was the Environment Scan Report that made it so difficult. I felt lost and did not know what to do. Thankfully, there was a book for download that described scanning in quite some detail (Conway, 2019). After I read that I was much more comfortable with scanning and began scanning the world for new technologies that could potentially impact the education industry. I found the learning module extremely fun. It was a great opportunity to work with other professionals on a project common to all of our goals. The collaboration opportunity enabled us to all take different sides of a similar concept.

I learned a lot about what it means to be a digital citizen. I think digital citizenship requires a more active role in the shape of the community one invests themselves into. To be a citizen is to have rights but it is also to have responsibilities. We must throw ourselves into the web not recklessly, but instead with caution understanding that what we do and what we say has concequences. I think this pandemic has increased our public awareness of digital citizenship as we stay at home on the Internet instead of being in school or out with friends. Digital citizenship also entails social media, and using social media to search for and curate one’s own news feed, as discussed in the forums with using social media to learn. I use YouTube and curate my own news through video that I regularly release.

I was really glad to be able to finish with recomendations for gamification. My passion lies in games and their potential to educate in the ways of wisdom. I took 4 units this semester but they were all very similar and the content crossed over a lot. To be honest, it was too much and very stressful on me, especially considering the pandemic. However, I just kept going, one day at a time, one reading at a time, even when I knew that I was behind I just kept on moving forward and eventually, I caught up and then was prepared for the assignments.

I found the group assignment very fun. As discussed in a previous blog, we worked together very efficiently, assisting each other where we were struggling. We worked on all aspects of a digital learning environment: interface, audio, and video. I think that is a perfect example of digital citizenship. A community working together efficiently towards a common goal, shining in the areas we are gifted in and given a hand in the areas in which we struggle. I found this semester extremely hard. So much so that I have decided to graduate with a Graduate Certificate instead of moving on to the Masters. Some of the things I struggled to do. A lot of the work felt over my head and it took me a long time to understand it.

Next semester I am taking a course in Game Development Foundations where I will learn Unity so that I can further the development of my own game. This Graduate Certificate was to teach me the educational factors behind gaming in the 21st century and now I will learn how to practically apply that theory.

This unit has greatly extended my knowledge of Digital Learning Environments (DLEs) by increasing the range of what I thought a digital learning environment could be. This unit has given me a strong foothold in digital leadership and supporting learners in a digital environment. It has increased my knowledge of the role of librarians and given me a deep respect for their profession and leadership role. Thank you Julie for your time and effort spent teaching me. Your toils are much appreciated!

Reference

Conway, M. (2019). Environmental Scanning: What it is and how to do it. Thinking Futures.

Almost Finished!

I am almost finished so I thought that I would end with a blog. I have completed all of my assignments now except my Environmental Scan Report. I am finding that assignment more difficult than any I have ever done before. It is very time consuming and took me a while to get the hang of it and understand what I needed to do.

This semester has been amazing. I was very glad to be able to customise my units to gamification (my passion). All of the units kind of blurred together because they crossed over so much. But that was actually very helpful to me in the end because I would find out information for one unit that would assist me in another.

I am going to finish with the Graduate Certificate and not worry about taking the Masters. This was a really difficult semester for me. I was worried about whether or not I would be able to complete it a lot. Twitter and Diggo were difficult to get into, however, I did post a fair bit on them. The essays were really fun and it was great to learn how to search using Primo and I very much enjoyed learning APA 7. I am used to using Chicago for referencing, however, I quite like APA and I am glad that I got a chance to learn it.

INF530 Critical Reflection

I learned a lot in this unit about how technology is transforming our educational structures. Digital online infrastructure has given us a new platform that can be utilized independent of distance of location. I very much enjoyed the forum discussions at the end of some of the modules. I also tried to blog on a regular basis, although it was difficult sometimes considering I am taking four units. I posted things I found to be fascinating on Twitter. To be honest, the units felt like they blurred together a little bit. There was so much crossover between them it felt like I was taking one huge unit. This was difficult keeping up with readings and things have been tough considering the spreading of virus. At times, I wanted to withdrawal because I did not feel like I could keep up with the workload. But I persevered and now I only pray that I pass all of my units.

As stated in my blog, “Update (Hard Work)”, I have been learning a lot about what it means to be an educator in the 21st century. There are many different theories and pedagogues and sometimes it feels like I am lost in a jungle. Some work felt above what I was capable of. Because of how hard this semester has been for me, I have decided against doing the Masters and instead just graduating with a graduate certificate. I don’t need a Master level qualification, and I am afraid that if I do another semester of this then I will sink.

It has been extremely enjoyable being able to tailor the content of my assignments to my own interests and life’s focus. I am not a typical teacher. I just teach whatever I want online. It was great to be capable of completing these units despite me being an alternative style teacher. I loved the focus on a multimodal approach to academic presentation. I was glad to be able to use my own platform for my digital essay. I was presently surprised that I was able to read from Gee (2014) for my book review. It opened my eyes and ultimately assisted me with all four of my units. There was so much crossover between the units and all the information helped me for every unit.

Ultimately, this unit has assisted greatly in my life projects. I ramify my writing. I ramify my videos. And I am literally creating a digital game. Gaming is my life and I would very much one day like to be employed by a gaming studio. I think that I would be able to greatly assist with design and I would love to be a voice actor. After I complete this semester I will be looking for work. It has been a long time since I have worked, so I am weighing up my options. It was great doing this graduate certificate in education because it shows where my interests are on my Resume. It was a tough choice choosing between a degree in philosophy or a degree in education. But I chose to do a degree in philosophy with a focus on the philosophy of education. Obtaining an education qualification completes my formal studies and now it is time to go out and try and find work while also remaining as an entrepreneur.

This semester has been a very strange one considering the pandemic. It has been very stressful but I have worked very hard and hope that I pass everything. It was a mistake to take on 4 units at one time but I did not realize the amount of content in the courses. However, even though this semester has been rough, I have learned so many wonderful things that are directly applicable to my line of work. I very much appreciate my teacher, Lori. Thank you, Lori for helping me through when I was struggling.

Reference

Gee, J. P. (2014). What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy (Second Edition). St. Martin’s Press.

Philofy (Learn Philosophy Through Quotes)

Philofy is a digital quote association game designed to enhance a student’s knowledge of the ideologies of the greats throughout the ages. It is targeted at second year philosophy students who wish to both enhance and increase their knowledge of ideas central to the philosophers of the past (L02). It achieves this through a question-and-answer type system that presents a quote central to a philosopher’s ideology (L01, L02). Each quote gives you sixty seconds to answer and speaking about the quotes to fellow players is encouraged if possible. The timer can be disabled for those who want to answer at their leisure. There are four possible answers as to who it was who is behind the quote (L02). The game is competitive insofar as whoever answers the correct answer the fastest obtains the most points, however, it does not have to be played in that manner if you have a large group like the classroom (Shapiro, et al., 2014, p.8) surrounded by others who just want to have fun and learn. Without the timer, the game is competitive insofar as obtaining the most correct answers. Although the game is designed for second year philosophy students as its content stretches broadly, it will also assist with the learning of a student at Open Source University as many of the philosophers included are regularly referred to.

Philofy can be played here.

Philofy is a “quiz” style game. Quizzes have proven themselves to be an effective learning aid if the rewards for participation is impactful on the student (Elikai, et al., 1988, pp. 252-253). However, Philofy is not a typical quiz-styled game. Instead of asking a question, it presents a quote and the objective of the player is to identify the origin of the quote (L02). From here the player merely needs to develop strategies for finding and placing the information in the correct position (Liu, C., et al., 2011, p. 678). The reward system is not all focused around points and winning. In fact, players will be rewarded by learning who it was who stated what as they progress in the game. The quotes are very popular and even those without a philosophy background may have come upon some of them within their life adventures. The process of identifying who said what by eliminating the answers one knows to be incorrect is, in itself, rewarding and educational. Getting the answer correct by process of elimination provides significant mental rewards and a feeling of accomplishment and captures the player’s partial knowledge of the subjects (Wu, et al., 2019, para. 3).

Philofy is a game designed to increase knowledge of philosophical topics by presenting a quote and asking who said it. The game encourages players to quickly identify the thesis the author is attempting to convey in order to identify who said it (Holowchak, 2011, module 4, para. 6). The game is designed to test knowledge on subjects and who identified these thoughts. It is designed to present a philosophy and the player responding with who advocated for that philosophy. It is engineered to be able to obtain the answer through reducing the possibilities and then honing in on the correct answer (L01). The answers can be divided into three categories: ancient, modern, and post-modern. Depending on the era, one can identify the potential philosophers who spoke it based on the time when they were alive in order to eliminate those who were outside of that era (L01).

Philofy is not a game that encourages rote memory. In knowing who said what, one only needs to know what X person advocated. This game is focused on learning ideas behind thought and not necessarily the ideas themselves (L04). Although some quotes will be quite obvious to some people, the skill in this game lies in the possibilities of deduction and not directly remembering what another individual said or wrote. The game relies on the player’s prior knowledge of the subjects presented (Kalyuga & Plass, 2009, p. 720) (L03).

Kahoot! was used to develop this game. It consists of nearly one hundred quotes from great minds of the past. This platform was chosen as it provided the necessary functions to perform this quiz-style game, albeit it not exactly being a standard quiz. The game could have been developed on other platforms which would have allowed for wider distribution, although resources were limited. However, it is searchable for other Kahoot! users to find and play alone or in a group. It works on all devices, so it is easy to include students in a game.

Learning objectives:

L01: Evaluate popular quotes and apply logic to determine its source.

L02: Explore the quotes of the philosophers of our past.

L03: Utilise prior experiences (as a second-year philosophy student) to assess and identify content.

L04: Analyse sentences to comprehend their broader scope.

References

Elikai, Fara, and Jack Baker. (1988). Empirical Evidence on the Effectiveness of Quizzes as a Motivational Technique. Issues in Accounting Education, 3, 248.

Holowchak, M., et al. (2011). Critical reasoning & philosophy a concise guide to reading, evaluating, and writing philosophical works (2nd ed.). Rowman & Littlefield.

Kalyuga, S. & Plass, J. (2009). Evaluating and Managing Cognitive Load in Games. Handbook of Research on Effective Electronic Gaming in Education. IGI Global. 719-737.

Liu, C.-C., Cheng, Y.-B., & Huang, C.-W. (2011). The effect of simulation games on the learning of computational problem solving. Computers & Education, 57(3), 1907–1918. doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2011.04.002

Shapiro, J., SalenTekinbaş, K., Schwartz, K., & Darvasi, P. (2014). MindShift guide to digital games+ learning. Games and Learning Publishing Council.

Wu, Qian, Laet, T. & Janssen, R. (2019). Modeling Partial Knowledge on Multiple‐Choice Items Using Elimination Testing. Journal of Educational Measurement, 56(2) 391–414. doi:10.1111/jedm.12213

INF541 Reflection

INF541 (Game Based Learning) has been an amazing unit to discover how games (both serious and commercial off the shelf – COTS) can be utilised within an educational framework. I went into this unit wanting it to help shape my game that I am currently creating called Ivory Heart. However, Ivory Heart was too big of a game to focus on, so I ended up settling on an easier game to make. This process introduced me to a variety of software applications made for building games. I also learned how to use Kahoot! and ended up making a really neat word association game from it.

Because of this unit, I am no longer afraid of making simple games. There are game engines out there that do not require programming. Developing a game does not have to be a huge time-consuming process. Some types of games can be developed very quickly and efficiently with relatively low or no financial overhang. One does not need to be a master of graphics in order to develop a game. Nor do they need a large workforce. There are game making machines out there that can make your project a lot easier if you only know where to look.

This unit has really opened my eyes to games and how to evaluate them. Previously, I would just play to have fun, but now I am thinking very critically about every scene and every game mechanic, as well as considering what learning objectives both serious and commercial off the shelf games can bring to the player. This unit has enabled me to see the background conditions of a game while playing it.

I very much enjoy the reflections at the end of the assignments. They allow me to carefully consider the things in which I learned throughout the unit and identify the aspects that were most important to me. Although my wishes about developing Ivory Heart were not met in this unit, this unit has provided me the framework required to continue this project on my own. Even though my game was not the focus of this unit, my game was significantly developed theoretically during my time in this unit.

I found the article by Adams (2004) fascinating insofar there being different ways a player can be immersed into their game. Adams suggests three types of player immersion: tactical, strategical, and narrative. Obrien (2011) also outlines four different styles of games: linear, competitive, strategic, and role-playing. How games capture and retain attention is fascinating, especially when it comes to games that take a very long time to complete. Flow is the name of the game and if a game can get you in the zone, then you can overcome its challenges.

I am very interested in techniques that pull the player in and this unit was not short of them. I am very interested in gamification and how we can turn monotonous tasks into games that help develop our overall sensibility. When I was a child my brother used to turn everything we did into a game. This eventually turned me into a life gamer. Everything in this world is a game to me. My studies and work are long-term games that I am frantically trying to beat. It was only through this unit that I had the opportunity to explore deeply into gamification. I gamify my life by setting daily tasks that I aim to achieve. Oftentimes I fail at my daily games. I aim for maximum production for each day. A successful day to me is 12-18 hours spent on study (formal and informal) and assignments.

I had so much fun in this unit. It was very challenging for me. I was overloaded this semester with four units. But I have spent countless hours around the clock studying hard, so I really hope to pass everything. The game at the end could have been much more powerful if I had the upgraded features. Some weeks I felt bombarded by readings but one by one I chipped away at them. I really tried hard this semester and really hope that I pass everything. Thank you so much Carole for all of your hard work.

References

Adams, E. (2004). Postmodernism and the three types of immersion. Retrieved January 12, 2015, from http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/2118/the_designers_notebook_.php

O’Brien, D. (2011). A taxonomy of educational games. In Gaming and simulations: Concepts, methodologies, tools and applications (pp. 1-23). Hershey, PA: . doi:10.4018/978-1-60960-195-9.ch101

DLE Reflective blog

I had a lot of fun creating this digital learning environment (DLE). The process really challenged me to consider how to best present the production of audio to students. My first digital artefact was over 35 minutes and I did not realise that it needed to be between 5-7 minutes. Once I learned that, I had to think of very creative ways in order to compress 35 minutes of content into 7 minutes. I had to decide on what was the most important factors in the production of audio. I had to cut a lot of theory out, however, the time spent did not go to waste as I utilised the 35 minute video as an “extra” link for those who want to learn more about the audio production process.

The group collaboration was solid. Our group took about a week longer than the others to form because COVID-19 caused the group to be abandoned from withdrawls. However, once we established a group, we worked very well together communicating through the Facebook Messenger platform. We used video calls for important times and we constantly messaged each other to see how everything was going. It was a slow process and I completed my parts faster than my team members, not requiring the extension in which we obtained. However, the extention gave time to my other team members in order to create a really tight website about digital learning environments and how to create them.

We used Weebly as our website interface and it worked well. I have never used Weebly before and some of its free limitations annoyed me. However, we were able to overcome those limitations and establish a website that will be of great benefit to teachers wanting to learn about learning environments, audio production, and video production. I am very happy with the website as it provides a great guide for teachers to learn their way around web platforms and how to optimise them for audio-video learning.

It was a very wise decision to show our faces in the videos. Many educational videos online today distance the teacher from the student by not showing their faces. This hinders learning potential because if you can’t see the face of your teacher then you will struggle to identify with them. I think that all online teachers should show their faces to personally connect with their students.

As far as how this module can assist with my own students, I shared it publicly with them. I want my students to learn how to use audio and video so that they can share their concerns with both me and the world. My online video teaching encourages others to teach collaboratively with me. In order for that to happen, they are required to learn how to produce audio and video. The skills of our website DLE are essential to encouraging students to interact with my content.

One “trick” that I did do was to show how to produce video at the end by combining all of the scenes into one. This is how I make my productions and in my opinion, is the best way to make videos. However, Elly’s Video Mastery section is very useful for those who want to make videos from inside the computer instead of outside of it. I am very pleased with the final results of our project as it is all-inclusive – classroom, video, audio. The only thing missing from it is the gaming aspect…

Update (Hard Work)

Most of my units encourage me to draw upon my own experience as an educator so it isn’t too hard (although there is A LOT of work) and it is fun! Becuase I am a very unique type of educator. I am learning a lot about games and how one could use game as an educational Digital Learning Environment (DLE). I am also learning a lot about digital citizenship and exploring what that could mean. I am taking four units and I do feel overlwealmed. One unit had this topic that took me two weeks of holiday time to finish. Although the readings are amazing, I feel that there are too many to properly contemplate over them and unfortunately neglegected my other units over the holiday.

At the end of the day I just have to digest the content quickly and then focus on my assignments. Hopefully what I digested will be good enough to pass my units. Some of this work feels above my capabilties because I am not a normal educator but I will work very hard to achieve a high level of quality in my work. I feel that I have too much to do and maybe next semester I will think of doing three units instead of four even though I wanted to finish my degree in one year.

I am learning a lot about what it means to be an educator in the 21st century. I am being exposed to many different theories on pedagogy. I am learning a lot about games and how they are/can be used for educational purposes. I am also doing a lot of film work that is related to my assignments that helps me clear up my comprehension of the subjects.

“Teachers” and Their Pride

The only thing that is worse than a doctor, is a teacher. Teachers all throughout my teaching career have refused to acknowledge me as a teacher, even though I provide many online courses as well as five books to teach philosophy. This degree is no different. The “teachers” are treating me as if I am not a “real” teacher. “Teachers” are an exclusive club similar to the Freemasons and they are highly threatened by alternative forms of education. If you show logical critique for their techniques, they will immediately reject them and fall back on, “well you are not a real teacher”. But the truth is that they are not real teachers. They refuse open source education and as a result, hold society back.

Today my teacher advised me (in similar words) that maybe I should withdrawl because I am not a real teacher and I am not dealing with real teacher problems. I hate social situations. I wish I could do my entire degree without speaking to anyone, including my “teachers”. When I speak to people, it always turns bad. The collective mentality rejects anything which is unfamiliar to it. Teachers that refuse to allow the open source revolution to occur are merely dinosoars attempting to survive their exinction. Teachers that refuse to acknowledge me as a teacher are these dinosoars.

IMDb

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Changing Our Thinking

If we are to change the ways in which our brain processes information, this will then reveal new information and knowledge. In this way, we become creators of knowledge. But how are we to change our thinking? Reflection is a very important part of thinking and it very closely relates to our creativity and our potential. Changing our thinking first requires for us to understand our current thinking. When we understand why we see the world in the way in which we do, then we are capable of standing back outside of ourselves and objectively examining the situation. This process will greatly assist our potential while critically thinking about subjects. I am an expert at reflection. My books are composed of many reflections put together in a particular order. Being able to examine who we are and why we are the way we are empowers us to be able to change who we are and what and how far our vision can see.