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In the Summer of 2010, I taught an online class called the Fundamentals of Interactive Entertainment for the University of Tasmania, via the Human Interface Technology Lab under the sponsorship of Dr. Thomas Furness of the University of Washington. This course provides an overview of interactive media - video games and real-time interactive simulations. It includes information concerning the history, theory, technology, design, and social impact of these emerging communications media. The course consists of thirteen modules, and in the Summer of 2010, was made up of two weekly events: 1) A lab session which met every Tuesday to provide discussions, team planning meetings, and hands-exercises and 2) a live classroom session which was videocast directly from Seattle to a University of Tasmania classroom in Launceston, Australia. I posted more information regarding this project on my Web2.0 Chronicle blog. PLEASE NOTE: This narrated screencast runs two minutes past the 5 minute recommendation given by Jennifer.

Bruce, applying the Boettcher/Conrad 10 Best Practices to a course you have already taught, was brilliant! It is always a source of learning when we can go back and critique our own work, finding needed areas of improvement or simply discovering how "right on" we were from the get-go! I enjoyed seeing this piece of your creativity!

I found your presentation very smooth and professional.

"The 21st century is a world in constant change. In A New Culture of Learning, Douglas Thomas and John Seely Brown pursue an understanding of how the forces of change, and emerging waves of interest associated with these forces, inspire and invite us to imagine a future of learning that is as powerful as it is optimistic."

Mary Ann - do try to view the video interviews of Seely Brown & Thomas- very eloquent and thought provoking! The underlying message of this book has truly captured my imagination. Thank you, Jennifer, for sharing this. Some of my biases and hesitations about educators "competing" w/internet, social media learning are being challenged (I love this!) I'm beginning to understand the potential if you view knowledge the way JS Brown does - "information in flux." For educators, its about recognizing our change in role, how we frame or present information, and most important, how we allow our students to "play" with new information and the dispositions for learning we foster. Brown states, " . . . the role of educators needs to shift away from being expert in a particular area of knowledge, to becoming expert in the ability to create and shape new learning environments." For those of us who work with educators in K-12, this will be harder to articulate and sell, but I am excited by the thought. I totally agree with JS Brown, this is a major issue and calling for public ed. especially in the 21st Century. Jennifer, what is the best way for us to purchase this publication? On-line? Amazon? and do we get a student discount?

Helen, I hadn't thought that far ahead! I'll see if the bookstore can order things at a discount. I usually put things on reserve at my local library. If they don't have them, there's a form to order them. When I buy books, I always end up giving them away.

Another review on Turkle's "Alone Together."

OMG...how totally eerie. How predictive! Amazing, thanks for sharing that Bruce.

The "cultural rachet effect" was particularly interesting to me. (For grown-ups, learning a new skill is painful, attention-demanding, and slow. Children learn unconsciously and effortlessly. Because of this, each new generation rapidly acquires all the accumulated innovations of the past without even knowing it. ) It becomes the new "normal", so rather than the computer, for example, being something new, its integrated as part of lives. It changes our footprint in the world and, therefore, the world.

Jennifer's email to us was a catalyst for this post to inquire about your digital prescence experience. I, like Jennifer, have aliases that I use on social networks. It is a challenge, though, to manage multiple presences and even when I do, often have a feeling of unease about the information. For example, in this course a suggestion was for us to update our profile. Although I don't feel secrative that I am taking a course at Bellevue College, the email/signature I use for this course is also the one I use for some other professional endeavors (such a technology consulting). I is not something that is a "need to know" by everyone. I chose, in this situation, not to update my general profile. When we are conscious of what/how we are posting and putting up, is one thing. Often though, I get on a mailing list, that I have no idea how I was included, as I probably forgot to check a "do not include me" box on something I have bought on line. This article was particularly interesting to me, as it talks about a survey that 23% of children get a digital presence even before they are born - having a lasting imprint.

Good article to bring things into perspective about 'online presence.' I found a similar article that compared statistics relating to age and online presence. 92% of children by age 2 have online presence thanks to parents and grandparents. As Jennifer mentioned in her discussion of facebook -- maybe we don't want the world to see what we did in our high school days...we were 15/16. Can we separate a personal online presence from a business profile...

I do separate my profiles by having different email aliases. There is overhead in having multiple ones, however, so not ideal.

Ahhh...my favorite place...second life and virtual worlds! I was watching a video and found a speaker named Terry B, a prof at Montana State U. His strikingly beautiful virtual hair lead to instant "virtual love."

Do you spend much time in SL? I have 2 avatars but haven't been in ages.

No Jen...I just got crazy after that lesson in Wiggins on Backward Design. Then when I read your postings in Diigo, I researched it a bit more. Never seen an Avatara or a virtual world (as posted in this citing) or until last night when I read this post and the one I posted on Avatara. I play Farmville on Facebook now and then and Cafe World. Other than that, I escape into the recesses of my own mind and create my own reality in cyperspace. I cannot take serious too long. Sometimes reality hits me like a ton of bricks and I retreat to the only place I feel safe...creation and humor. Intellectuals get too stuffy for me. I like action!

"For years, in our schools, teachers have told students that school is preparation for real life - a statement that divorced the meaning of school from the lives kids led in that moment. With the research, creation and networking tools at our disposal, we have the ability to help students see that the lives they lead now have meaning and value, and that school can be a vital and vibrant part of that meaning. We can help students to see the powerful humanity that exists both within them and all around them. And technology can be an essential piece of how we teach and learn about that. "

Joy, good point. The internet allows for international connectivedness that wasn't possible before.

I think we will be hearing more about this in 1-3 years Ann.

Precisely how we communicate in these moments of historic crisis and transformation is important. The medium that carries the message shapes and defines as well as the message itself. The instantaneous nature of how social media communicate self-broadcast ideas, unlimited by publication deadlines and broadcast news slots, explains in part the speed at which these revolutions have unravelled, their almost viral spread across a region. It explains, too, the often loose and non-hierarchical organisation of the protest movements unconsciously modelled on the networks of the web.

"The current and future health of America's 21st Century Economy depends directly on how broadly and deeply Americans reach a new level of literacy--'21st Century Literacy'--that includes strong academic skills, thinking, reasoning, teamwork skills, and proficiency in using technology.", says the 21st Century Workforce Commission National Alliance of Business

Another great read and thanks, Ann. Something this article doesn't address is the growing concern about the "digital divide." Not all segments of our society has equal access to the internet. I recently heard a lecture at NSCC addressing this problem. Many outlining districts in urban areas(and rural areas) do not have the infrastructure to receive Wi-Fi. Students is poor neighborhoods (many who don't have computers at home) must go to their local public library to get internet access. Yes, our public school system needs to incorporate more technology "know-how" into their curriculum and instruction, but equally as important, our society needs to take a closer look at what segments of society are presently at a big disadvantage in terms of equal access to technology, both in and out of school. As technology redefines what it means to be "literate," then we also must address equity and accessibility to resources.

Helen, I like your astute comments and observations. The poor in this country may have access to computers in the library and at school, but many of them are homeless and living in cars. Anywhere from 2000-5000 people are homeless in King County and 80% of these people are women with children and suffering from DV incidents. If we go further, I have a friend working in Chimbote, Peru. Most of the people living in the barrios do not even have running water, much less the ability to buy or use computers. I suspect worldwide, you would see extremely large percentages of children without food much less computer access or skills.

An introduction to careers in the future by today's futurists. Children are an asset and treasure this country cannot afford to leave behind or to be out done by foreign governments. If they work collaboratively, what a wonderful world they could create, inspite of the not so wonderful things that exist in our world.

Cute! It's always amazing to listen to a child and hear what they imagine for the future. It will be interesting to see what they make out of some of the things we've messed up!

Matthew Taylor explores the meaning of 21st century enlightenment, how the idea might help us meet the challenges we face today, and the role that can be played by organisations such as the RSA.

I know I am certainly "split" on the internet - sharing more detailed information with family and friends, than professional acquaintances. For example, I have two Facebook accounts with different emails. Its not so much the boundaries are different, but how I implement them and the time and overhead I take to do it.

Ann, it's important that you feel empowered to have that kind of control over your participation online. I hope we'll start to see more of that. I love to introduce people to new technologies, and share how they affect me, but everyone has a different experience, and it's so important that we respect the way others choose to engage.

I just finished reading E-Habits, by Elizabeth Charnock, CEO of the company who puts out this blog. It was fascinating (and scary!).

I think there's more of an opportunity for us to recognize that with so many different ways to communicate, the nuances of interpersonal communication are more important than ever. I think the people who will be successful, are the ones who truly learn to connect with their audience and make the digital seem personal. I grew up with a dad who taught English and was an Air Force public affairs officer. My writing style has always been formal, and cold, and I've had to learn to add warmth in digital spaces. I'm still trying to figure it out!

My experience with your style is you are very intellectually based in your writing style, while your personal style when dealing with this student was warm and open, encouraging and sharing. Okay, it is one opinion among many, I am certain; but this one is mine. I spent many years with the military as a family member and the mother of soldiers. One has to be careful in the civilian world when it comes to interacting with others, because military directness and crispness can get in the way of showing warmth and interest. Hopefully, I have mastered a more civilian way of speaking over the past several years.

Joy, Your posts are quite sobering, regarding your own experiences working towards completing your university education. I strongly agree with the following quote in your post: "In sum, it is time for educators to make college and higher learning relevant to their students. It is not about us, it is about them. We are the facilitators of their learning. We must prepare them for the world they will find themselves in when they leave the protected walls of our colleges and universities" I found the recent events in Cairo to be fascinating, where large numbers of people suddenly rose up against an authoritarian and out-of-touch government. This largely peaceful uprising was fueled by the same Web2.0 technologies that are underpinning this class. It's possible that many traditional schools will soon find themselves in a similar situation to the Egyptian government, where students pass them by in favor of lower cost and more relevant educational experiences - many of them available online. Bill Gates recently came under fire for making the statement that valid online college degrees may soon be available for $2000. He may have said this to exaggerate a point, but the evidence of a growing number of online low cost educational resources can't be ignored. One of them is the Khan Academy - run by an MIT graduate who has created a large free archive of mathematics courses that are used by students all over the world - many who claim they are better than their university courses. Colleges and universities ignore this development at their own peril. It's not clear yet how we'll make this transition to relevancy for students, but the next decade will be very interesting...

Thanks you for your comments Mary Ann...the bottom line reads, we may be killing off our aged population by sentencing them to give up and give in to old out-moded concepts!

Joy: I've been following your blog postings for some time now and have been meaning to let you know I always learn and find your postings valuable. Keep the information coming our way.

Just click and play. If you want to know what kinds of skills your students need and will be using in just 5 years from now, it may be important to follow futurists and developing technology...for instance, holograms and touchable holograms which will certainly benefit medical students. I had the experience of a robotic operation using the De Vinci robot. Only a handful of doctors were able to operate this way. Mine was a prof at UW, a respected researcher with Fred Hutch and a practicing surgeon with Swedish. Swedish was, at the time, the only hospital with that capability. He sat at a computer...several feet away and operated by looking at the computer.

P.S. It was major sugery and I was sent home the next day. I was back to work in less that two weekends and one work week!

This is the girl grown. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXGwqbI37Ks&feature=related

What's funny, is that when this video was put online, it was passed around and most people didn't know it was an older video. Once we became aware of that, everyone wanted to know what she's up to now. She started getting a lot of speaking gigs, so you can find more of her presentations online now.

Your welcome Mary Ann. I did see several videos with her newest info on you tube. I did include one link above.

This is from last year, but it's got some important considerations in it. You've got to watch it until the end to get the full message, though.

The observation in this video is quite powerful. We have always been motivated by incentives, but the internet and technology has taken this to a new level. Small incentives can become big ones. We've always behaved this way - like coupons for food - a few cents makes a different buying decision. However, his discussion on how egames have become a major financial source for Facebook and the virtual world is replacing the "authentic" world shows how technology is transformational. The point - about how everything we do is being recorded and kept - and will this change how we behave is true.

I can't wait to see what you come up with for this. Actually, I wish we had time for all of us to create a full course. There are such interesting topics coming up!

I liked the term "research team" - says it all about collaboration!

Mary Ann, You really have a lot of great visual material to pull from to create your science safari of the Galapagos. Have you thought about incorporating any satellite and other ground level images of these islands from Google Earth?

"It's often said that services like Facebook, Foursquare, Twitter - you name it - are not the product, you are. Each and every bit of information you share and action you take is used to create a profile of user behavior, which is used then to either advertise directly to you or to people on a whole. But how can we ride the fine line? How can we have great, world-changing services at a price (read: free) everyone can afford without completely selling out the end user?"

I think it's going to have to be redefined. But I also think we're in the process of defining new commodities. We need to decide what we value.

I think this issue of privacy and use of personal information by online service companies is a very big deal. I'm also beginning to make use of some of these cloud-based applications (especially from Google) as part of my standard approach to teaching hybrid classes. Up until this past year, I've relied on the tried and true Vista/Blackboard to manage student projects and interactions, but I've found it to be sort of a dinosaur compared to the speed and ease of use of other Web2.0 apps. But if I'm working outside of Vista/Blackboard, I need to be especially careful of privacy policies and procedures of the companies behind these online apps. In the 'Sharing and Privacy' article, Mike Melanson makes some interesting points. He says: "...the companies themselves - the Googles and Facebooks and Twitters of the world - realize that correctly handling these issues of privacy are center to their continued success." and... ""All things equal, the company that's going to want to win in the next couple years will have the best privacy model." When I was doing my own investigation into this issue last winter, I asked myself, "What are the most conservative and and security conscious organizations using for social networking tools?" So I went up to the US Army website to find out. Certainly they have a heightened need to be careful what companies they choose for their social networking tools. I posted the results of this online research on my Web2.0 Chronicle blog. The results aren't surprising... Google, Facebook, Twiter, Wordpress, Flickr... among others. I see no need to rush into this area, and am willing to wait until the dust settles and user results come back from dependable sources. Jennifer's recommendation of Diigo is a good example of this. For myself, I've already left a significant "digital footprint" over the past 15 years - which is now out

I started this over the summer while taking the first course for this certificate. Please feel free to follow my postings on blogger as we continue in this course.

My end of class reflection is located on my blog.

Thought I had posted this...to keep my blog in order, I post dated this to 2/28/11.

This is my portfolio post for week 5

http://www.mercurynews.com/opinion/ci_17396167?nclick_check=1 - This is an OpEd piece by David Brooks of the New York Times, which came out this week. "It could be that the nature of technlogical changes is (causing) a shift in values". This is not an opinion about education, but goes to the point about preparing students for the future/present even that assumes technology. Maybe our values are and how we assess things has to evolve, as well.

I truly thought that blog was thought provoking! I absolutely agree about changing values. But, I think that change must come from this generation and what they want for themselves, for their community and for their country. Hopefully they can think that broadly about themselves and the world. I believe they can and do!

This was shared by professor Alec Couros on Twitter this morning.  skim through the comments and see how many people are responding to help this person have a virtual world tour before they pass.  It's certainly interesting to observe. Of course, you never know if this is a truthful post, but it's interesting to see how it is handled by online society.

And an interesting response to it all. https://img.skitch.com/20110306-njsrk6k5wk8kjesmsf87hc8s6.jpg

Hmmm..rather disturbing. I think committing suicide is a violation of everything I value about humanity and life. Yet, I can only imagine some of the horrors this person has gone through and must go through to die. My son made his decision and I can never know if he regretted it at the tender age of 19. I am not certain why some of us have to suffer as this person is. I can not say what my choice would be, if it were me and it easily could be. But I do believ,e if there is a God, somehow there would or should be a purpose to the suffering.