BuzzLion for the week of February 17

Posted on February 22, 2008 
Filed Under BuzzLion

A wintry week indeed here in Happy Valley, and the BuzzLion’s thoughts are turning toward spring….and the TLT Symposium. The Symposium is really occupying our time here in ETS, as it is quite a bit of work to organize such a major event. Unfortunately, all 350 attendee slots are full, although you can go to the Symposium site and sign up for the waiting list. You can also attend the Symposium by proxy, so to speak, by reading blog postings about the event and viewing videos of the presentations.

Oh, and by the way, the Symposium is on Facebook. Hey, what isn’t on Facebook.

Now that we are on the subject of Web 2.0 technologies, ETS Instructional Designer Elizabeth Pyatt recently posted to her blog on a Web site for German teachers that looks Web 1.0, but actually makes great use of the Web 2.0 tool del.icio.us. It also kind of offers people who are not yet Web 2.0 denizens a way to ease themselves into it all.


ETS Senior Programmer Chris Stubbs offers some really interesting thoughts on the concept of educational gaming. And it involves famous TV private eye MacGyver. No, really. He makes an interesting point playing off the ingenious fictional character who fought bad guys without the use of violence in his latest blog post.

Resident ETS design master Dave Stong discusses how to incorporate innovative design, humor, and education all into one package to teach students complex concepts. He shows us how and offers some examples.

Over at the Digital Commons Community Hub, there is a fantastic example of creative use of multimedia to teach course concepts. Scott Miller uses a video series to teach his Introduction to Astronomy students what makes up a comet. It’s funny, and informative. By the way, if you are wondering why his assistant has an eye patch and is on crutches, it’s a running gag that he always gets hurt during the demonstrations.

ETS Lead Instructional Designer Brett Bixler has been very prolific this week posting to his Educational Gaming Commons blog. Among the subjects are The THON in the virtual world Second Life (no kidding), IBM launching an Environmental Educational World, ELI Webinar - Virtual Worlds as a Tool for Situational Learning, a game whose aim is social reform, and a chance to put in a proposal for a gaming conference.

And finally, the Educational Gaming Commons is holding an introductory event Thursday, February 28 from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. in Room 209, IST Building. The Penn State community is invited to stop by during that time and see what is already underway at Penn State involving games; meet faculty, staff, and students involved in the Penn State Gaming Community; and learn how to get involved in the Educational Gaming Commons. The event will also feature access to games such as Rock Band and others.

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