TLT Community Hubs

See http://cio.co.nz/cio.nsf/tech/E9AAD1FBA10D072CCC2574830010E2BE#
Here's an article that talks about gamers in the business world and how they will transform the leadership that occurs. Important stuff, and something that higher ed has to account for in its curriculum designs!

See http://ets.tlt.psu.edu/gaming/KoLAnalysis for an article by yours truly.
I take a look at this silly game, list why I think it's a good game, and list some possibilities for a KoL-type game in higher ed.

See http://connect.educause.edu/Library/ELI/7ThingsYouShouldKnowAbout/47105
The Wii is very neat for Kinesthetic learners. I can see some revolutions around learning based on this device, not just because of the games it has, but because of the interface and input devices it uses. If you haven't seen a Wii, try to find a friend that has one and play a game or two on it!
 
 

I stumbled across a great addition to Bloom's Taxonomy, titled appropriately Bloom's Digital Taxonomy. For Instructional Designers, Bloom's taxonomy is a must-know tool in our bag of skills. It's benn around for 50+ years, survived several (somewhat unknown) updates, and now Andrew Chuches has made a stellar attempt to bring Web 2 into the mix, with descriptions of tasks and rubrics we all can use.
What does this have to do with educational gaming and virtual worlds? Not much - yet. I do see a great potential here to take what Andrew and others have done and extend it into these areas. I've been looking for examplars of educational games and virtual world activities for the past several years. I'll contine to do so. Yet there us another way to go about that, and it's by using a sound taxonomy to build some relevant, if theoretical, examples and rubrics.
Who want's to join me? I'd like to gather a small number of interested people, and get the ball rolling. The time is ripe for this! Let me know by emailing me with your interest.

LinkedIn is a social site designed to bring professionals together. Looks like a new Serious Games group on LinkedIn has formed. So if you are interested in joining, read on!

Subject: LinkedIn Serious Games People group

Dear Serious Games Group member,
 
Don’t worry, this isn’t a broadcast spam. I just wanted each of you to know that,
within the short space of two weeks the group has now reached the magic 50 number.
Encouragingly, it includes very many people whom I have not had previous
contact with. I look forward to talking and collaborating with all of you
in the near future. Likewise I hope that in some small way this new group
allows you to find partners, customers, suppliers and….well, just plain
old interesting folks to connect with.
 
All the best,
 
P.s. please feel free to spread the word – let’s get connected!
 
LinkedIn Group: http://www.linkedin.com/e/gis/138591/3FF77053B050

One of the more interesting presentations from GLS was done on Inform - a text based interactive fiction builder.  A very easy to use tool with almost no barriers to entry, Inform represents a cool opportunity to bring gaming to more writing or humanities focusssed subjects in a way traditional games can't match.
For a longer recap of the session and the possibibilites, feel free to check out my blog post on the session, or just hit up the source, at inform-fiction.org.

At Penn State, the libraries are always looking for better ways to serve the students, ways to make access easier and more enjoyable. This past April 18 was "gaming @ your library day," and the EGC had a blast participating. We set up games, played a few ourselves, and talked to many, many people about games in higher education. Despite the heat that day, it was a very successful and fun time.
We have information technologists at PSU very interested in the virtual world space. Soon we'll have a modest space for the PSU Libraries to investigate Second Life and the use of three dimensions for information representation.
So if your conception of a library is the dull, dusty, and quite place, think again! Libraries are reinventing themselves. Look for gaming events at your local library - you might be surprised what you find!
And if you are a librarian, you should check out this new resource,
Bringing Gaming (and Gamers) to Your Library: 100 Tips and Resources
a good place to get started.
 

Joey J. Lee wrote:
Hi everyone,
Just wanted to stay in touch and tell you about a 2-week Computer Game Design course (as part of Summer Study at Penn State) that I just finished teaching.  It was a fun experience for the 15 high school students and myself alike.  The students first designed and made board games in groups to learn basic game mechanics and principles, and then they moved on to making simple computer games using a free tool, Game Maker 7.  They learned about values in games, designer meta-goals, Serious Games, narrative, and basic game design skills.  The highlight was when they made "Games for Good," basically serious games for change / social impact computer games.  They chose to design and create games that incorporated themes including peer pressure, cigarette smoking, teen pregnancy, obesity, and making wise choices.
You can play their games (.exe files) at the course webpage:   http://gamedesign2008.pbwiki.com/   (you can view screenshots and a few photos there too).  Some games are definitely more polished than others (some are a little bit... crude and buggy) -- but they're all playable enough, and some have neat ideas buried within.
This class was valuable for me, research-wise (helping me think about some thesis ideas) and otherwise. The students seemed to really enjoy the class, giving it really high ratings and some going out of their way to say nice things to me.  More importantly though, some students indicated that they're more inclined to consider computer science careers, and that they have the power to impact society through technology (especially through digital games, a medium with such potential for expression and persuasion). Anyway, feel free to check out the students' work if you have time.

Start: 08/12/2008 - 10:00
End: 08/13/2008 - 15:59
Timezone: Etc/GMT-4
This is for Penn State Learning Designers and other interested PSU faculty and staff. See the 2008 Learning Design Summer Camp Wiki for complete information.

PSU Hangman
Download PSU Hangman
The Game
A fresh look for an old favorite, PSU Hangman is a Flash version of the word guessing game.  This game will randomly pull 10 questions from a bank that you provide and allow players to fill in the words by picking the correct letters to spell the answer.  Each correct answer will earn 100 points, for a maximum game score of 1,000.  Players will be given up to 6 wrong guesses per question, at which point they will loose the round and the correct answer will be provided to them. 
Because it is Flash based, PSU Hangman is easy to post online so that anyone, anywhere, can access your game whenever they like.  The more questions you add, the more replayability it has.
Possible Applications
Hangman is a great way to reinforce basic basic concepts, ideas, or course vocabulary.  

• Create a hangman game to help students study before an exam
• Recap important terms at the end of a lesson

 
Playing the Game
As soon as you unzip PSU Hangman, you can play a sample game by opening the PSUHangman.html file.  This file can be renamed something more appropriate to your course or subject matter if you wish. 
 
Customizing the Game
Customizing your copy of PSU Hangman is as easy as following a few simple steps. However it will require that you have a working copy of Adobe Flash.
Customizing Questions and Answers