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Monday, April 28, 2008

Even Spies Play Video Games


One more high-stakes government agency has joined the growing ranks of organizations that are using video games to teach life and death concepts. In the Wired article U.S. Spies Use Custom Videogames to Learn How to Think the author explains how the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency has taken delivery of three PC-based games under a $2.6 million contract. The goal is to quickly train the next generation of spies to analyze and respond to real-life complex issues that face them on the job.

As the article states:
Given a choice between a droning classroom lecture or a videogame, the best method for teaching Generation Y was obvious. "It is clear that our new workforce is very comfortable with this approach," says Bruce Bennett, chief of the analysis-training branch at the DIA's Joint Military Intelligence Training Center...

The games themselves are actually a surprisingly clever and occasionally surreal blend of education, humor and intellectual challenge, aimed at teaching the player how to think....

The games put the player into the shoes of a young, eager but sometimes hapless DIA analyst...

Intelligence videogames are an example of the way in which the government's training methods are changing. Traditional decision-making exercises have been done through the classroom BOGSAT (Bunch of Guys Sitting Around a Table). But videogame technology offers the possibility of running long-distance exercises with human- and computer-controlled avatars.

The article also does a good job of explaining that video games are not a panacea, they have limitations like other forms of training.
...Videogames won't fix what some analyts see as systemic flaws in American intelligence, where conclusions by analysts are distorted as they work their way up the chain of command. "A lot of problems are stated as analytical when they're management problems," Rossmiller says.

And games as teaching tools are only as effective as the assumptions behind them, says John Prados, a designer of hobby war games as well as an historian who has studied U.S. intelligence. For example, prescripted events in a game will tend to reflect the biases of the game's designers as they steer the player toward certain decisions.

These are two excellent points. Video game-based training, or any training for that matter cannot overcome management issues. If an organization has management problems, training is not the answer.

Second, if a video game is not programmed carefully with the proper assumptions and parameters, it will not be as effective as you need it to be. Game design elements are critically important for any effective use of a video game as a training platform. Spend as much time and effort (if not more) on the design of the game as you do on its programming.

Finally, if you do not work for an intelligence agency, you may want to consider some commercial, off-the-shelf spy games that put you into the role of a super spy. My all time favorite is James Bond 007: Nightfire by Electronic Arts because it casts you in a first person spy mode. You are James Bond for the game. Very fun.

Thanks Jay for pointing me to this article.
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Thursday, April 24, 2008

Roll Up Your Sleeves and Get to Work

Whenever I tackle a new instructional design project one of the first things I do is look through my files for old instructional design projects. Where is that audience analysis checklist I developed? In what folder is that chart I use to explain concepts to new designers? Where is my template for creating and teaching a software procedure? (actually you can find that here.)

It gets tough when I have to start from scratch. Creating a tool or instrument I haven't before is a long, careful process.

This is where I have to roll up my sleeves and get busy. I'm always thinking...Wouldn't it be great if I could look to my book shelf and find an example of needs analysis questions or e-learning storyboards? And wouldn't it be even better if I could then have an electronic version of the tool so I wouldn't have to re-type the entire thing again?

Well, my colleague and fellow writer Jane Bozarth has done just that...she has created a valuable resource containing all kinds of examples of tools used in the instructional design process. The book is titled "From Analysis to Evaluation."

Jane goes through the ADDIE model and provides practical tools and examples for every step from analysis tools to evaluation tools and everything else in between. And the templates and tools are on a CD-ROM (how quaint) that comes with the book so you can take those samples in MS Word and get to work modifying and changing them.

These are sample audience surveys, data gathering worksheets, checklists, tips on getting management buy-in, templates for conducting risk assessments and cost analysis and other really valuable materials. It is a great book of samples and examples that any designer, seasoned or wet-behind-the-ears would love to have. It is a toolbox of instructional design tools ready to open so you can begin building effective learning events. A great concept.

I contributed a few tools to the work as did many, many other people. These multiple contributions give you a wide range and perspective on the various tools. A great supplement to any ID text book.

But alas in reading the introduction to the book...one of the laments of Jane was that she didn't get many ROI tools submitted to the book, so here is a contribution which for some strange reason, I didn't send Jane this material for the current edition but will send for the next. In the meantime, you can read  How to Conduct a Performance-Based ROI.

So a great book and I suggested anyone designing instruction to pick it up. You'll find it very helpful.

As a side note, I had so much fun on my Blog Book Tour that I'm trying to talk Jane into a Blog Book tour. So if anyone is interested in joining the tour, let me know and I'll pass the word to Jane.

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Wednesday, April 23, 2008

NASA Jumps into the Game Development Universe



Are you trying to "sell" games internally as a valid method of teaching content. Perhaps if you mention that government agencies like NASA are investing in this methodology, you might have a better chance of making your case. Also, guide them to Games Teach Life Saving Skills: Accidently as an argument as well.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has announced the creation of a Massively Multi-player Online, or MMO, educational game to interested development partners.

The game is
Designed to enhance learning in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM, the game would be designed to draw players into a synthetic environment that can serve as a powerful "hands-on" tool for teaching a range of complex subjects, officials said.

Check out the article NASA tech might be used for Web gaming
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Sunday, April 20, 2008

Work at Learning, Learning at Work


Manish Mohan is helping to create a Working/Learning blog carnival. I think it was originally created by Dave at Dave's Whiteboard and then Manish agreed to host the April edition. You can read about the definition and thought behind a blog carnival at Dave's blog.

So, here are my thoughts on "Work at Learning, Learning at Work"

There is a mistake that most people make. They think learning should be easy, simple and straightforward. In my experience, it is anything but...

To truly learn something one must exert effort, work up a mental sweat and slog through information and data and try again and again until the information is learned. Think back to learning the multiplication tables or even the alphabet or a new language.

A work hard and try-try-again approach is the exact opposite of how learning is done in most corporations. Most often, the employee is sent to a one or two day session and then expected, at the end of that session, to know everything they need to know with no additional training required. Even a few weeks later if the employee has a question the boss will say "didn't you just go to training for that?" There seems to be a perception at work that learning only takes a one time exposure to the topic.

This is simply not the case. Learning is a process. Learning at work requires an effort, a mental sweat and time for reflection. Does that happen in most workplace educational events...not in my experience. Even e-learning is a one and done.

In fact e-learning is seen as task that the learner/employee should attempt to speed through as quickly as possible. I once evaluated a web-based compliance training course at a financial-related company. The reason for the evaluation was because an employee had done something wrong and caused a federal investigation into the non-compliant event. I investigated the effectiveness of the training course and found the average amount of time employees spent in the e-learning course was 12 minutes. So once a year, for 12 minutes the employees received information on what not to do and it was expected that those 12 minutes would be enough to ensure compliance. Obviously, it wasn't.

Learning at work requires work to learn. Becoming an expert or seasoned employee or even a contributing employee requires work to learn new technologies, new regulations. It requires work to learn about the application of information to new problems. It takes work to learn how to stay up on new concepts and ideas in the field. It takes work to learn to be a manager, supervisor or any other leader of people.

Employees need to work at learning and companies need to allow employees to learn at work. In the long run, it benefits everyone.
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Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Problem-Based Learning in 3D Environment

Today I am presenting on the topic of Designing Problem-Based Learning Environments in a 3D On Line Virtual World at the 19th International Conference on Teaching and Learning. And I am receiving an Award for Innovative Excellence in Teaching,Learning and Technology (I was nominated by Bloomsburg University for the award, I am honored.)

More impotantly, here is the MSIT Second Life Wiki which ontains the paper for the conference and a ton of useful resources.

Here are some resources I mentioned concerning other Second Life presentations I've done.
Here are the slides from anASTD TechKnowledge Presentation.

Here are a couple of books used for Second Life.
Here are the links:



Other resources:

SL Portal
LSL Wiki

Here is a post to additional links:
Second Life Resourses: Supporting NCTT Opening Address
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Monday, April 14, 2008

Understanding the Generations

A while ago (I am so far behind in "posts I want to make"), Colleen asked me if I had any references or anything about the differences in generations in the workplace so I wanted to provide her with some references and then thought I would share with everyone so...here they are.

Of course the first book I would recommend is "Gadgets, Games and Gizmos for Learning" but that really just has the first chapter concentrated on the gap between boomers and the net generation (gamers).

In terms of discussing four generations in the workplace, I have found some interesting books on the topic from a variety of disciplines and approaches.

I find this one article Mixing and Managing Four Generations of Employees in the Fairleigh Dickinson University Magazine to be a good read and a good overview of the issue.

This article Retaining the Four Generations in the Workplace which is not too deep but a nice overview, works well with the FDU article mentioned above.

Forbes Magazine has a good article titled When the Old and Young Collide at Work.

This article, Four Generations Working Together contains a broad definition of each generation by year.


In terms of books, check out:

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Thursday, April 10, 2008

Great Women of Web 2.0 Talk

I really enjoyed my talk the other night with the Women of the Web 2.0. I had a great time and it is a great group of people to work with.

We discussed games and how they can be used in the classroom. And we discussed a number of great web sites from all over so here are a few of the sites we discussed.

Here are some sites where teachers can create their own online games and/or 3D environments.
  • The Hot Potatoes suite includes six applications, enabling you to create interactive multiple-choice, short-answer, jumbled-sentence, crossword, matching/ordering and gap-fill exercises for the World Wide Web. Hot Potatoes is not freeware, but it is free of charge for those working for publicly-funded non-profit-making educational institutions, who make their pages available on the web. Other users must pay for a license. Check out the Hot Potatoes licensing terms and pricing on the

  • Alice is a 3D programming environment that makes it easy to create an animation for telling a story, playing an interactive game, or a video to share on the web. Alice is a teaching tool for introductory computing. It uses 3D graphics and a drag-and-drop interface to facilitate a more engaging, less frustrating first programming experience.

  • Twilight Software Adventure Game Engine. This is for the more tech savvy teacher, The Twilight AGE game engine allows for the creation and delivery of commercial-grade first-person adventure games and other multimedia. The engine, which runs under Microsoft Windows 95, 98 and 2000, utilises Microsoft's DirectX and DirectXMedia technologies for maximum performance.

  • For an interesting discussion and examples of video game design and development in the classroom, go to Clickteam. The site has TeacherTube videos and a place to download the software.

  • For all kinds of links to game development sites, go to the Ambronsine web site provides all kinds of game related resources for various types of games and types of game engines.
If you know of any other great sites, please add to the comments.

And to listen to the talk, go to Women of the Web 2.0 Show # 70.

Check out the delicious links for the show.
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Catalog of Recommended Books, Games and Gadgets
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Monday, April 07, 2008

Joining Women of the Web 2.0 Tomorrow Night

Tomorrow night at I will be joining a group of distinguish web personalities in a live talk show called Women of Web 2.0. It will be show number 70 and we will be covering a range of topics from games for educators to the need for textbook editors to provide more engaging content to teachers.

If you would like to listen to the show live, (it's free) you can go to EdTechTalk and click on Women of Web 2.0 and hear my discussion with Cheryl, Sharon, Jennifer and Vicki (Cool Cat Teacher).

The show starts at 9:00 EST (6:00 PST) so don't miss your chance to chat live about Gadgets, Games and Gizmos for Learning. If you miss the live version, there will be a recorded version you can check out as well. (I'll be posting a link after the show.)
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Catalog of Recommended Books, Games and Gadgets
Recommended Games and Gadgets
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Friday, April 04, 2008

Blog Changes Happening

Over the next few days, you will see some changes to my blog...so please bare with me. And, if you have ever wanted something added to my blog, now would be the time to let me know.
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Catalog of Recommended Books, Games and Gadgets
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Big IBM/Second Life Announcement this Week!


Thanks to Tony O'Driscoll at Learning Matters! for pointing this out. He let everyone know on his blog posting The i-web Singularity Redux that at Virtual Worlds III this week the announcement was made that Second Life has worked out a deal with IBM to move Second Life behind the IBM corporate firewall. If this can be a standard business practice for Second Life (living behind corporate firewalls) it is a removal of a huge obstacle for entry into 3D worlds for many industries like Pharmaceutical and Financial.

Over at Virtual Worlds News blog, the posting reads:
There's always been interest in using Second Life for business. For most corporations, though, it's been too insecure, lacking the ability to hold determinedly private conversations, host the platform behind a firewall, or generally treat the world as an intranet as opposed to the Internet. IBM announced today that it was changing that. In a pilot program, IBM will host its own sections of the Second Life Grid behind a firewall, allowing the company's users to come and go between private and public spaces at will.

You can see other IBM efforts in Second Life such as the Healthcare island. Read about it in IBM Opens New 3D Virtual Healthcare Island on Second Life

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Thursday, April 03, 2008

Thanks to Rupa!


Writing a book is a lot of hard work and, as an author, one always wonders whether or not the book has value. Sales can tell you a little bit but not the entire story.

So I was delighted to read the wonderful review by Rupa of Writer's Gateway. Rupa is an Information Developer in SAP Labs,India and a post graduate in English Literature from Pondicherry University.

Recently, she made a posting titled Games Gadgets and Gizmos for Learning - Worth a Read

She writes
Of all the time I spent in March, reading Prof Karl Kapp‘s book called Gadgets, Games, and Gizmos for Learning has been the most delightful experience ever...This book is certainly worth a read and I strongly recommend this book for all organizations including, schools, colleges, corporate houses and training institutes and for teachers, trainers, people in leadership roles in workplaces and even parents.

So all I can say is:
1) Rupa, I hope your April is a little more exciting than your March.. :)
2) Thanks for the endorsement and for taking time to blog about the book, very much appreciated.
3) I am glad you like it and that it is making a positive impact.

Take care Rupa and thanks!

Judge for yourself. Pick up a copy of the book at the book's website: Gadges, Games and Gizmos for Learning.(or just browse about the web site, lots of good, free stuff on the site.)
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Wednesday, April 02, 2008

Second Life Pictures from Webinar

A few days ago, I presented a webinar titled "Second Life in Education" for NETWORKS which is is a National Science Foundation Resource Center that is focused on the advancement of semiconductor, automated manufacturing, and electronics education. NETWORKS has a Digital Repository that contains classroom ready resources that are current, relevant, and easy to implement into a curriculum.

We had a little over 30 attendees at the webinar and had a really good time checking out our island and looking at all the educational benefits of a 3D world like Second Life. You can read a little more about the tour in TechSpectives:Second Life in Education blog entry.

During the tour I "took some pictures" and so here they are.

Special thanks to Mark Viquesney for arranging the entire event.

Here is the entire group putting on our firefighter gear.



Here is the group trying their hand at building.

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