CTLT and Friends

The expression "you can't fatten your lambs by weighing them" may be an expression in southern illinois but it was also used by Jonathan Kozol in his keynote speech to the Children's Defense Fund in the early 90's. I know. I have the tape of the speech. Obama likes to take the words of others and use as his own. Comment by catherine - September 10, 2008 at 6:32 am

A transparency in grading discussion that hits on an area of interest. Hmmm

Note that WSU is rated in a tie as number 25 (Wall Sreet)

The way the winds are blowing

Re: Capella U.'s "CHEA" award: it appears that CU is located in Lake Woebegone, where all the children are above average...

a small but clear stress made for independent review

This is about games to improve employee work.

This is about using online games to engage employees in work. This is very much the core of what I was talking about, except for education. For those more knowledgeable about software design: my thoughts so far were on using Google's V8 Javascript engine and a 3D engine, such as Ogre3D, perhaps wrapped by QT or SDL. The worlds would be managed on the server but code for each object type shipped to the clients and run, sychronized there. Everything would be an "object"--even a world itself (a container object). Each object would comprise of four code modules plus its media files (3D models, sounds, etc.): Affector -- this receives sensory input then filters and translates that to the object's internal properties. Intrinsor -- this is the object's behavioral programming. For example, it can be the functions of an espresso machine object or the AI and/or user-interface connector of an animate object, etc. Mitigator -- this is the code that controls the internal environment of any objects contained within this object. It mitigates the effects of contained objects to the affects of others. For example, a world object, a boat, a house, or a bag. The physics, weather, and such will depend on what they are contained within. The mitigator may also initiate effects to contained objects. Effector -- this provides the API for action attempts to the Intrinsor. It then filters and translates the action attempts to the objects actual action attempts that are read by this object's containor. (Yes--I mispelled some words above intentionally) This design provides a framework for a persistent world of decent individual performance. The V8 engine compiles to fast machine code (and caches). Only very minimal data need be communicated over the network. Objects can run in parallel precisely the same, so if a client fails the system continues. Updates of virtually any kind can be made on-the-fly without stopping the game. New object types will be relatively easy to b

Not the best example but the problem, I can attest, is very real. In general from my experience, exams tend to be tailored for a superficial memorization of facts such that any comprehenisve understanding is penalized severely. My guess is that about 40% of questions, on average, are like this. I learned very much the hard way that understanding a subject better is at some point detrimental to passing an exam on it. The key is to learn what expected answers are and learning to let technical truths go. In other words, to dumb ones understanding down for the sake of passing. I have grumbled to myself about this on most exams I've even taken, short of those I truly knew little about.

In my view, our society has become suicidal in a number of ways, such as fructose in everything. I wonder if our ever poorer health contributes to psychological issues such as these..

Browsealoud makes using the Internet easier for people who have: * Low literacy and reading skills * English as a second language * Dyslexia * Mild visual impairments Browsealoud is _not_ a replacement for a screen reader, but is convenient for some classes of users. As critical learning functions move increasingly online, we will need to know about this kind of affordance.

The real drive behind accountability....

To make sense of it all, we have compiled key information, definitions, and links related to the launch of Google Wave. This in-depth guide provides an overview of Google Wave, discusses the terminology associated with it, details information on Google Wave applications

You can define a robots behavior in the google wave chat... From Mashable: "Robots are the other type of Google Wave extension. Robots are like having another person within a Google Wave conversation, except that they're automated. They're a lot like the old IM bots of the past, although far more robust. Robots can modify information in waves, interact with users, communicate with others waves, and pull information from outside sources. Because it acts like a user, you can define its behavior based on what happens in the chat. You could build one as simple as "change the word dog to the word cat" or one as complex as a fully-functional debugger. We'll probably start seeming some very advanced robots in the near future."

You can define a robots behavior in the google wave chat... hmmm... From Mashable: "Robots are the other type of Google Wave extension. Robots are like having another person within a Google Wave conversation, except that they're automated. They're a lot like the old IM bots of the past, although far more robust. Robots can modify information in waves, interact with users, communicate with others waves, and pull information from outside sources. Because it acts like a user, you can define its behavior based on what happens in the chat. You could build one as simple as "change the word dog to the word cat" or one as complex as a fully-functional debugger. We'll probably start seeming some very advanced robots in the near future."

First in a series from the Urban Institute on outcome management for non-profits, for an audience of non-evaluation-savvy leadership and staff. Lots to steal here if we ever create an Assessment Handbook for WSU.

This article compares the Google index rating of canditates who allowed the posting of voter generated content on their site with those that didn't. In other words: Web 2.0 vs. Web 1 approach relative to the number of pages google had indexed from the site.

Probably worth scoping some of their writings. This little tid-bit may well have substantial implications for our work.

Lumina proposes that the US "adapt and apply the lessons learned from the Bologna Process in the EU, which has developed methodologies that "uniquely focus on linking student learning and the outcomes of higher education" -- tautological though that sounds.

Apparently the "audacious" discussion in the WCET webinar yesterday (to be linked) featuring Ellen Wagner and Peter Smith is old hat in Europe. A national "degree framework" is almost inconceivable in the US, but 'tuning' -- "faculty-led approach that involves seeking input from students, recent graduates and employers to establish criterion-referenced learning outcomes and competencies" -- sounds a lot like in goal-setting.

Using the right tools, anyone can create 3D computer games starting in say 30 minutes or so. Try downloading and running Alice at http://alice.org/ to see what I mean. This article discusses the use of game creation for educational purposes. I think you could greatly expand upon this to include a very broad mix of different subject matter. It requires imagination but in making games, imagination is what it's all about.

"Participatory Learning includes the ways in which new technologies enable learners (of any age) to contribute in diverse ways to individual and shared learning goals. Through games, wikis, blogs, virtual environments, social network sites, cell phones, mobile devices, and other digital platforms, learners can participate in virtual communities where they share ideas, comment upon one another's projects, and plan, design, advance, implement, or simply discuss their goals and ideas together. Participatory learners come together to aggregate their ideas and experiences in a way that makes the whole ultimately greater than the sum of the parts."

Theron helped me keep up with developments at HASTAC by socially sharing this bookmark and excerpt in the CTLT and Friends Group. I add this comment to acknowledge his contribution to my ongoing professional development. The comment function also gives me a link (perma?) to his bookmark.