Phwoar.. I just learnt Kung-Fu - Being plugged in

It has been a very long time since a proper post, but I have been busy trying to graduate, work and take care of the wifey. Now I will be busy working, taking care of wifey AND (drum roll) a new baby boy.
Yes that's right, this noobie just got himself a nublet.

I have been asked by a school I am working at, to help with using iPads in the classroom. Mainly this will be for stage 3 students (grades 5-6). So I went home and started looking up some useful apps and errm, uses, of the iPad in a classroom setting and of course whilst doing this, checking my emails, tweets, facebook, youtube and forums. In the background I had a playlist of podcats and songs chugging away as well. Suddenly, it dawned on me.
I am not getting ANYTHING done! (gasp/shock/really?!phwoar!!)

Well actually, I still was, but in my own multitasking ways. I had my Diigo bookmark bar saving every relevant page for me to check on my iPad in bed later. I made a playlist of the new videos from the channels I'm subscribed to in Youtube, also to view on my iPad in bed later. I had facebook Sims Social app open on my second monitor (because it is so depressingly slow, it is a good game to play whilst doing other things) whilst waiting for some of these iPad in classroom videos to load.

So I guess I lied. In the end, I did get a lot done, but the problem for me is, I'm not sure how much of this information will be digested by my memory. If I got rid of the so called 'distractions' and solely concentrated on one task, it may as well help with the amount of information retained afterwards, but is it more effective?

We have phones, tablets, computers and now even TVs that can display websites, videos, emails and more. Isn't it more effective then, to do it all at once, save/check for later, bookmark/tag for reference etc, all the while doing other menial digital tasks? I mean, sure, I won't retain or recall most of the information I find, but do I really need to memorise it all? I just need to pull out my phone, push the bookmark link, and voila! Instant information. (unless you have a bad mobile provider or terrible, terrible wifi)

This is of course all subjective and varies from person to person. But I was just thinking about it the other day, I wake up, wash, dress, eat and leave for work. During the drive to work I listen to various podcasts (usually on games that I currently play). I normally arrive early so I grab a coffee, and goto smh.com.au for morning news feeds. During breaks, I check facebook or twitter for any interesting posts and also address any important emails. After work, I listen to more podcasts on the way back, arrive at home, get changed, eat some food, depending on the day do some exercise, turn the computer on and prepare for any additional work. While doing this, as mentioned above, I will be multitasking with other 'leisurely tasks.' Normally when all this is done, I would play some games for an hour or two, go up to bed, flick the iPad on, and watch something before falling asleep.


-Some (kind of) random thoughts whilst I was thinking about this-

Come to think of it, I never watch TV anymore. Only reason I would turn the TV on, is to play the PS3...
or watch a blu ray.

But there are still times, where I feel like all this information is too much. Sometimes I step outside the house and leave the phone inside, so I can be 'unplugged' for five minutes or so.

I wonder how it is for students? Maybe they are more used to this because they grew up with it? Though at the same time, they go to school and in some cases, force fed even more information. And if this information feels irrelevant to them, their minds may put it at the back of the queue.

In most schools, there is no social bookmarking, there is no google or wikipedia. Mainly because these devices are prohibited. So the students who can absorb and recall the most info will be at an advantage.

I feel that we are at a stage it is not about what you know, but how you use that knowledge. Information is everywhere and most of it freely available. Information is no longer a skill, but a tool. The new age is about creation of content, rather than consumption of it.

Though not a direct connection, this video gives an example of just how YouTube is driving this innovation.

Sorry for the very scattered structure of this post. It is being written whilst (you guessed it) I am multitasking with other things! I've come to the conclusion that this is the only way I will be able to put any thoughts down in this blog because in the past I have always tried to 'make time' for it, but I never get around to it.

Will be experimenting with alternate ways to post in the future (try it via smartphone or tablet perhaps?) and see which way/s feels best to do so. I have been making notes in my phone for any ideas I have been getting for the blog since last year, so this page WILL be getting many more, frequent updates.

So to the few who do read it, what do you think about being plugged in? Do you feel it is too much? Do you think it is not enough? Let me know in the comments below.

Some notes to self

• Have a plan!
• Scout situation as often as possible.
• Be ready to adjust (but don't sway too far off the plan)
• Don't panic!
• Evaluate performance and see what can be done to improve NEXT time.
• Have fun!

Some over-arching mindsets that are good to have, whether for gaming (as repeated constantly by Day9) or for teaching!

Testing

Omgz I can has blogz on iphone!

(i know I am waaay behind the curve..)

No more excuse on having no time to post.
More updates to come! (for the few who actually care lol.)

Violence in video games and Stereotypes.

As per my last post, I decided to do some research for any scientific studies done on violent video games and its effects on children.

Seems like, there were more than enough articles written on this.

From what I have gathered and read so far, there seems to be no actual, accurate, scientific evidence of violence in video games affecting children in such negative ways that this would make them violent beings. The ones I have read all end up with the words, "may have links" or "could lead to." Of course, like with anything, violent video games (and just normal video games, in fact) have both its pros and cons. The few we see on the news, or by politicians, etc, which claim that there are definite causal links to aggressive behaviour, particularly about the brain scans and how the different parts lit up during the playing of these games, well watch the link below, and a pair of doctors make a good argument against this.

There also seems to be quite an outrage on the issue of censorship of video games, especially in Australia. Interestingly, one of the consistent statistics I saw in all these articles, was that the majority of 'gamers' are aged 21+. Seems logical to then, introduce an R18+ rating? At least give us a choice. But again, there is a ton of discussion and articles on this, simply google "censorship video games australia" and see for yourself.

Back to the discussion of violence. I found that Penn and Teller actually did an episode of their show, "Bulls#@!" on, you guessed it, violent video games.

Although, I do find them quite obnoxious at times, some of the things in this episode did seem very interesting; especially the point they make at the end about football. Due to the nature of the show, and also this particular episode's content, I have not embedded it, but rather will link it.

WARNING: Contains graphic scenes from violent video games, and frequent high coarse language! Not for the squeamish nor the aurally sensitive. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

Youtube part 1

Youtube part 2

As stated in this episode, I would say the general public of 'non-gamers' still view a gamer as an anti-social, introvert. But looking back at my own life going through school, I didn't really feel like an outsider. In primary years, games were a cool thing. We played sports at lunch time, but if we went over to play at each other's house, we'd play the ol' NES (Nintendo Entertainment System), Sega Master System, or for the few who were lucky enough, a PC. In high school, again it was similar during the junior years. Most of my group of friends were into playing games, and this is where I started to take a bigger interest, buying gaming magazines as well as basketball magazines. We would goto internet cafes to play against or as coop in games such as Starcraft, Diablo, Rainbow Six and Counterstrike.

It wasn't really until the final couple of years of high school and particularly university where it hit me that 'admitting to being a gamer' turned you into an outcast. It was almost as if it was taboo. I still enjoyed the other aspects of "RL" (real life), went out to socialise and meet new people, but I noticed nobody ever talked about games. It was cars, fashion, tv shows, music and movies. After a while, I just couldn't be bothered to do the same thing night in and night out. I rather stay at home or meet some gaming friends and spend the night playing video games. I would be socialising either face to face or virtually with these friends, but of course, this is not considered the same as, for instance, meeting someone in a popular drinking venue.

I remember the first few years I started playing World of Warcraft with a few close friends, and my then girlfriend, now wife. One of these friends was really, really into it. He would analyse all the different stat bonuses gained and lost from different sets of items, how one class could counter another, how to fight a certain boss next time to kill it, etc. He used to come to our place often after a WoW session to just relax and chill, and we'd end up talking about WoW forever. However, when we met him outside, in a social setting with other non-WoW players, it was quite different. Sometimes I would use WoW to strike a conversation with him, and after about 10minutes, he would say "Let's stop talking about games." and stop it. I found that quite confounding. This guy, who once said to me "WoW is more than a game to me," even he was aware of the social implications of revealing himself as a gamer. 

Even until recently, I tried to hide the fact that I am a gamer. At the different places I worked at, I've had co-workers who were gamers, and even to them I tried not to talk to them about it too much, and interestingly, they didn't really want to either. We would maybe talk about a game we're playing, something interesting that happened in it, is it good or bad, and then move on. (Possibly before other co-workers come and judge us?) It wasn't actually until I heard Deborah Evans say at the macICT session we had for SciTech, "raise your hand if you are a gamer. Be proud!" (I actually didn't raise my hand, but told her later on.) Another person to note is Sean "Day9" Plott, who does daily video casts on starcraft 2. He begins nearly every show with "Welcome to the Day9 daily where we try to be better gamers." He is unashamed and very proud of being a gamer and having so much passion over games, that it is hard to not have that kind of enthusiasm rub off on you. Also, he would be a great spokesperson on gaming and education; just watch any of his 'Newbie Tuesday' dailies and you can see the cognitive and metacognitive strategies that he puts into place and tries to make us, the viewers, from doing the same when reflecting upon our matches.

Links to both the macICT website and Day9 daily videos are on the right hand side of this blog.

I think that about sums it up for this entry. Not really education-related, but more of a self-reflective post. Maybe I should've split this into two posts, but hey, I'm a noob at blogs, and that's what tags are for right? :)

Magicka - Science game in disguise?

I've had an absolute blast with a game called Magicka, an indie RPG (role playing game) that goes for about $10US on steam. Especially when you play it with friends... Boy oh boy, your stomach will be begging for mercy from all the laughing that will inevitably be happening...

Here's a short clip on the basic concept and mechanics of the game:




If that link doesn't show, you can watch it from YouTube here.

Not sure about you, but that seems to me like a great collaborative inquiry based learning game!
There are basic science concepts like the different elements which do not work too well together (eg. you cannot queue up electricity and water spells at once) or use at your own advantage (and so can the enemies), but it occurred to me that a lot of what this developer said in the video was close to what my friends and I did when we "seriously" buckled down and tried to complete some levels. (The first 2-3 hours was just plain experimenting different and humorous ways on how to trap/stun/knock off map/basically destroy each other!) Some would take certain roles, make plans, re-adjust these plans if they don't work out as intended, discuss alternative solutions and so on. We were doing this with none of us realising it! Something I took away from the recent macICT think-tank session, was about "Immersion" and the difference it has with "Engagement," and I can really see how immersion can really just make one lose themselves in something and subconsciously create their own learning experience. Without knowing, the four of us gained skills in collaboration, problem solving and to a certain extent metacognitive ability (Last attempt I tried to slow them, why did I think that was a good idea? Was it due to poor execution we couldn't succeed, or was there a flaw in our strategy? Other variables such as latency, disconnects, etc?).

I was thinking about this game when doing some research and work on a current SciTech group assignment. We set our IBL (inquiry based learning) unit question on "How do things freeze?" and whilst finding some awesomely interesting and informative videos and websites, the experiences of playing this game kind of crept into my head and it just got me thinking about it.

Ultimately, one major factor that this game can't be used in a classroom (especially a Primary one at that) is plain and simple. The dreaded V word. Violence.

Such a shame, and it is something i want to write about in the future here. The whole validity of violence and sex, not just in video games but other forms of media. But I have some questions first, so would like to at least do a LITTLE TINY WEENY bit of research before I do. Main question I am asking is, who came up with the notion that at age 15 people can watch/play something with low/mid level of violence and low level of sexual reference and some drug use and at age of 18 can experience everything else? Is there actually any scientific research done on this? Or is it just another generalisation/dodgy research like the one about how video games make children into psychotic killers? (Interestingly, in the U.S, M rated games are called T -Teen- and for ages 13 and up, the equivalent of our MA 15 rated games, are M -Mature- rated games over there and are for ages 18 and up, whereas in Australia R rated games are denied classification. Just shows what the rulemakers think of games and gamers. That is, made for kids, used by kids.)

If anyone actually has any answers or even links, insight, commentary, thoughts about this, please comment away as it will make my own research more clearer in direction.

Anyway, that's all for now, GAME ON! errmm.. I mean, write essays :(

To start press any key. Where's the any key?

I booted up my xbox 360 the other day, for my daily dose of some NBA2k11 action, when it occurred to me that upon loading, a message pops up "Press START." Kind of made me think, yes on most (if not all?) consoles, there indeed is a start key. What if you were a PC user? Would some people think the windows key is the START key? Since pressing this key triggers your start menu in Windows?

Reminded me of an old article I read during my late high school years in a magazine I am still reading (and subscribed to!), PC PowerPlay. I think this was a time of Playstation 2s and Nintendo Gamecubes, and also for PC gamers in particularly, Console Port ins. These were basically console games which were "ported" over to the PC platform. Popular examples were Final Fantasy 7 and Metal Gear Solid. Now, the writer of this article (pretty sure it was Timothy C. Best) mentioned that not only were most of these ports released several months and in some cases over a year later, he expressed his frustration that simple touches, such as changing messages such as, "Press X to kick" would not be changed to the appropriate PC control key scheme.

Being in high school with very, very limited income, I couldn't exactly go out and buy these games to see what the fuss was all about. All I knew was, my friends owned playstations and sega saturns, and darnnarnit I wanted one too!

Fast forward a few years, and working part time, I finally saved enough to buy my very own console for the first time. Alas, my partner (now wife), though she doesn't see herself as a gamer (played World of Warcraft with me for a few years, and is a KILLER PRO spider solitaire and freecell player! If there ever was a professional competition for spider solitaire and freecell, OMG she would own those so hard, even professional starcraft players would come to watch her AMAZING APM!), didn't like "violent games" but loved "Mario."... You guessed it, my first console, was a Wii. Nothing against it though, we had loads of fun with it, so many times we couldn't stop laughing, especially when we had friends over, but I couldn't play the so-called "blockbusters." So in the end I had to resort to buying PC versions of these games, which wasn't a big deal, since most of these were FPS (First Person Shooters), which I prefer controlling with the classic keyboard and mouse setup. (Keyboard for movement, mouse for aiming and shooting).

The big thing was NBA2K10. I bought that on steam, for PC, so excited about buying a basketball game for the first time since 1999, I eagerly awaited this download to finish. Once done, I patched it up, and off I went to the loading screen. I played a few games and thought, 'hey, I wanna learn some of the moves' and went into practice mode.' First thing I saw was "To do a stepback, hold the Left trigger and move your left analog stick back." ...... Make a long story short, I now have an xbox360 and 2K11 is NOT on my PC.

Going back to the FPS thing. I also read an article in a recent issue of PC PowerPlay by the tech editor, Matt Wilson (issue 187, Feb 2011 for those who may want to refer to it), about him building a gaming rig for his younger brother and installing steam and Call of Duty for him. To this his brother asked "Can you use a controller on this PC?" and which to this the tech editor was simply flabbergasted, as most PC gamers would agree, 'Why on earth would you opt a controller over the precision of mouse and keyboard?'. Maybe this is just a generation thing? I mean I've tried playing Call of Duty: Black Ops on the xbox a few months back, and I was absolutely hopeless. Yet, look up on Youtube and you will find loads of video replays of players doing some awesome things, things that I would be assuming were done using mouse and keyboard, not a fidgety controller. I've noticed a lot of my younger friends (still in high school), who grew up on consoles, are so good at using these controllers.

It's almost like being left handed or right handed. Of course there are those ambidextrous in this sense and are proficient at both modes of input, but generally people seem to have a preference.

I know this has been a long entry, but one last final interesting note. I was scrounging around teamliquid's website for some starcraft 2 strats, where I stumbled across this article. 
Titled, Bumblebees Guide to Playing with low APM. For those who are not RTS players (real time strategy games), APM stands for (actions per minute), which is simply a measure of how many actions a player makes, generally not a be all end all measure of skill, but an aspect of it. Being a noob at starcraft 2, and thus naturally having very low APM I hastily opened this and had a read. It turns out that this particular player has a medical condition which hinders his ability to have high APM, but he has figured out different ways to work around this obstacle. The article goes really in depth, and even has a section on different types of input devices which people who have similar conditions, could use as alternatives if for the chance that they find the mouse and keyboard setup too uncomfortable.

Just a snippet,

"Replacing the mouse
      The mouse is usually considered the optimal cursor device for most people. I realize there are many, many options and accompanying opinions about what mouse is best so I will only discuss alternatives to the mouse. I'm going to assume for this that you are not so disabled as to require some form of eye or head tracking to control the cursor. If you are, and are playing starcraft, please message me!

Trackball - Trackballs are the common solution for people who have physical difficulties operating a mouse. The main advantages are that a trackball can be operated without arm movement, and the buttons are independent of the tracking device. For general use trackballs are probably the optimal solution for those with physical difficulties. I spent a good amount of time playing SC II and other games with a trackball and I found some problems with trackballs for video game usage."

(from http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=163299) 

So next time you load up your favorite game on whatever platform it may be, be it PC, Mac, console, smart phones, tablets, etc, have a think, are there other ways people use controls to use this game? Even simple things as key bindings, think about how you bind your keys on a keyboard/controller/whatever, and think why you have set it up as so.

EDIT: Just realised there's also motion sensor type controls such as via the Wiimote, Playstation Move, and Xbox Kinect. Looks like we're moving towards the whole no physical control scheme of things, but at the same time, I don't think these will completely replace them in the near future either. Reason being, certain games just will not feel right, or will not work well with motion sensor technology. (RTS being a prime example) So until we start seeing gaming platforms completely rewriting the ways we play ALL games, and start innovating some new ways to produce today's and tomorrow's genres, your mouse/keyboard/controller will still be in good shape.

Apologies for the wall of text!

Qualities of a gamer, learner, teacher?

Just as I posted that last one, I hopped over to the macICT blog, and found a very interesting article indeed.
Titled, Top 10 qualities of an innovative teacher. Here are some of the qualities DEVANS17 listed in her top 10,

"....

1. Innovative teachers are problem-solvers. They are never too busy to find answers to problems. So when a problem occurs, they don’t see the problem. They are usually already trying a workaround, and usually searching for a solution at the same time.

2. Innovative teachers are perseverant. If the solution to a problem doesn’t come immediately, they persevere until they find one.
3. Innovative teachers are risk-takers. They usually don’t take ‘no’ for an answer too easily. They are willing to make calculated risks, to break rules and often test untried territories on a regular basis.
4. Innovative teachers are gracious and giving. They usually say ‘yes’ when someone asks for help or needs support. They are never too busy to share their expertise.
5. Innovative teachers are not afraid to fail. They see mistakes, errors and wrong decisions as learning opportunities.
...."


For the full article, you can check that out here.

Also check out this video

It's called Jane McGonigal: Gaming can make a better world



If the video doesn't play properly, or if you'd rather see it directly through YouTube, you can do that through this link.


So after reading through the article and watching the video, as a gamer, do you share of these qualities mentioned? How about as a learner? How about as a teacher? Personally, I found it interesting that I share most of these qualities as a gamer, more or less the same amount as a learner, but not that many as a teacher... As a preservice teacher this is something I now know I must work on harder to achieve!