From the Escapist: Shadows of the Colossus
A brief article about the history and inner workings of the GDC, and more specifically, the Conference Associates program. I think it does a good job capturing the experience of being a CA, and definitely gets me psyched up to go and see old friends and meet an eager new bunch of volunteers at this year's conference.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
a pound of promotion
Today municipal elections are being held in Chicago and I happen to live in one of the wards with the most heated race for alderman (thankfully I voted early so I didn't have to deal with lines and even more signs and flyers). I've been hanging on to all of the promotional material that I've received in the last few weeks and brought it in to the office to weigh today...it came to a whopping total of 1 pound and 1 ounce.
mac vs. pc
The mac - pc ads always amuse me, here's a funny little piece (not suitable for all ages) that pokes some fun at it, and the guys that started it all...
http://www.current.tv/network/pods/supernews/PD05440?id=22074700
http://www.current.tv/network/pods/supernews/PD05440?id=22074700
Monday, February 26, 2007
Educational Value of Video Conferencing
From eSchool News: Videoconferencing in education segment aired on today's CBS Early Show -
CILC coordinates content providers that appeared on the show
I'm always amazed at how long its taken for video conferencing to take off - but I'm also aware of some of the bigger roadblocks that still haven't been tackled. Back when I worked at the Center for Excellence in Education at Indiana University we had a set of video phones which were used to demonstrate the potential of point-to-point, casual video conferencing. The phones always got "oohs" and "ahhs" from our guests because they seemed so futuristic...that was more than 10 years ago! We also had a plethora of other video conferencing technology that we demonstrated which was more or less the same type of stuff that is still available to educators today: various types of computer-based conferencing technology and programs as well as some of the higher end audio/video systems delivered by TV via highspeed Internet connections.
In the beginning its all about technology...the whiz and bang! However, being able to do something and actually doing something productive with the technology often end up being very different things. I've worked on a few videoconferencing projects that have given me some insight.
First, my experience helping to develop content for Turner Adventure Learning's early virtual field trips. The field trips were very engaging experiences (high end productions in exciting locations like Kenya or Los Alamos National Laboratory, concurrently multi-cast to schools around the US, bundled with a rich set of resources and lesson guides to aid students and teachers before, during, and after the multi-day experiences) but logistically challenging for schools to coordinate and often under-utilized by educators. For many of the participating schools it proved to be just as difficult to arrange day-long videoconferencing programs as it was to arrange local field trips offsite (what with a new set of legal issues and budget cuts). I couldn't find any active info about the program (just dead links and references from webpages created in the mid 90's) but my understanding was that the model was not profitable and the program was subsequently abandoned.
If its hard to create a financially viable model for delivering quality video conferencing to many consumers at the same time, its somewhat understandable that one-to-one videoconferencing hasn't flourished yet either. I worked on another project, funded by the US Department of Education, to link teachers in three school districts via distance learning technologies (Internet and high-end video conferencing equipment) to create instructional units and provide collaborative experiences for students. Sadly the video equipment was rarely utilized during the program, and often only used to facilitate administrative meetings rather than meaningful educational experiences. Only a few sites and a few teacher-participants at those sites found ways to use the equipment in a more meaningful fashion - often with the help of outside agencies such as the Chicago Consortium for Higher Education (that served as a clearinghouse/contact site to connect educational content providers with educators). The equipment wasn't utilized more often, in part, because so few of the participants had had meaningful personal experiences with videoconferencing to serve as a foundation on which to create/explore potential experiences that could be equally meaningful for their students, access to ready-made conference experiences or experienced providers, nor the time to create extensive plans and possibly resources on their own - plus come up with a "plan B" in case the technology malfunctioned.
Organizations like the CILC, referenced in the linked article, do a fantastic job of providing quality videoconferencing programming. Their successful examples of the educational potential for videoconferencing give me hope for the future use of educational video, but also highlight the importance of organizations that can facilitate the process of identifying providers and organizing quality programming.
CILC coordinates content providers that appeared on the show
I'm always amazed at how long its taken for video conferencing to take off - but I'm also aware of some of the bigger roadblocks that still haven't been tackled. Back when I worked at the Center for Excellence in Education at Indiana University we had a set of video phones which were used to demonstrate the potential of point-to-point, casual video conferencing. The phones always got "oohs" and "ahhs" from our guests because they seemed so futuristic...that was more than 10 years ago! We also had a plethora of other video conferencing technology that we demonstrated which was more or less the same type of stuff that is still available to educators today: various types of computer-based conferencing technology and programs as well as some of the higher end audio/video systems delivered by TV via highspeed Internet connections.
In the beginning its all about technology...the whiz and bang! However, being able to do something and actually doing something productive with the technology often end up being very different things. I've worked on a few videoconferencing projects that have given me some insight.
First, my experience helping to develop content for Turner Adventure Learning's early virtual field trips. The field trips were very engaging experiences (high end productions in exciting locations like Kenya or Los Alamos National Laboratory, concurrently multi-cast to schools around the US, bundled with a rich set of resources and lesson guides to aid students and teachers before, during, and after the multi-day experiences) but logistically challenging for schools to coordinate and often under-utilized by educators. For many of the participating schools it proved to be just as difficult to arrange day-long videoconferencing programs as it was to arrange local field trips offsite (what with a new set of legal issues and budget cuts). I couldn't find any active info about the program (just dead links and references from webpages created in the mid 90's) but my understanding was that the model was not profitable and the program was subsequently abandoned.
If its hard to create a financially viable model for delivering quality video conferencing to many consumers at the same time, its somewhat understandable that one-to-one videoconferencing hasn't flourished yet either. I worked on another project, funded by the US Department of Education, to link teachers in three school districts via distance learning technologies (Internet and high-end video conferencing equipment) to create instructional units and provide collaborative experiences for students. Sadly the video equipment was rarely utilized during the program, and often only used to facilitate administrative meetings rather than meaningful educational experiences. Only a few sites and a few teacher-participants at those sites found ways to use the equipment in a more meaningful fashion - often with the help of outside agencies such as the Chicago Consortium for Higher Education (that served as a clearinghouse/contact site to connect educational content providers with educators). The equipment wasn't utilized more often, in part, because so few of the participants had had meaningful personal experiences with videoconferencing to serve as a foundation on which to create/explore potential experiences that could be equally meaningful for their students, access to ready-made conference experiences or experienced providers, nor the time to create extensive plans and possibly resources on their own - plus come up with a "plan B" in case the technology malfunctioned.
Organizations like the CILC, referenced in the linked article, do a fantastic job of providing quality videoconferencing programming. Their successful examples of the educational potential for videoconferencing give me hope for the future use of educational video, but also highlight the importance of organizations that can facilitate the process of identifying providers and organizing quality programming.
a mind like a steel trap...
Scientific American: A Digital Life [ INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ]
New systems may allow people to record everything they see and hear--and even things they cannot sense--and to store all these data in a personal digital archive
The article linked above mentions many of the logistic and legal issues associated with essentially recording every aspect of someones life. It immediately struck me that there would be some incredible implications for the field of education at point where this type of digital memory enhancement becomes ubiquitous (when/if?). If all memories can be digitally stored and recalled via sophisticated search tools we might finally see real evolution within education - e.g. veering away from reliance on antiquated pedagogical strategies such as rote memorization and greater focus on advanced thought processing and problem solving strategies. More value might, in turn, be placed on students' ability to think (and think creatively) than on how much info they can manage to cram into their minds for a short period of time - only to be forgotten before the end of the semester rolls around if not immediately after each test.
Speaking of steel traps, my 4 year old niece doesn't forget anything! She brings up things that we did together months ago like it was yesterday (like references to one of the Burger King XBox games that I'd let her dad play with around Thanksgiving of this past year) or the "icky caterpillar" nickname that we gave her little brother while playing a game this past summer. She also remembered the exact video we'd watched the last time I'd babysat for her (only about a month ago, but she's probably watched at least 100 videos since then). With all the things she's learning, seeing, hearing and doing every day it amazes me how well she is able to recall them all and sort them into categories of who they are associated with. I won't go as far to say my niece has a mind like steel trap - because maybe that's just the way 4 year olds are supposed to be, but I'm literally amazed every time I get to hang out with that kid!
New systems may allow people to record everything they see and hear--and even things they cannot sense--and to store all these data in a personal digital archive
The article linked above mentions many of the logistic and legal issues associated with essentially recording every aspect of someones life. It immediately struck me that there would be some incredible implications for the field of education at point where this type of digital memory enhancement becomes ubiquitous (when/if?). If all memories can be digitally stored and recalled via sophisticated search tools we might finally see real evolution within education - e.g. veering away from reliance on antiquated pedagogical strategies such as rote memorization and greater focus on advanced thought processing and problem solving strategies. More value might, in turn, be placed on students' ability to think (and think creatively) than on how much info they can manage to cram into their minds for a short period of time - only to be forgotten before the end of the semester rolls around if not immediately after each test.
Speaking of steel traps, my 4 year old niece doesn't forget anything! She brings up things that we did together months ago like it was yesterday (like references to one of the Burger King XBox games that I'd let her dad play with around Thanksgiving of this past year) or the "icky caterpillar" nickname that we gave her little brother while playing a game this past summer. She also remembered the exact video we'd watched the last time I'd babysat for her (only about a month ago, but she's probably watched at least 100 videos since then). With all the things she's learning, seeing, hearing and doing every day it amazes me how well she is able to recall them all and sort them into categories of who they are associated with. I won't go as far to say my niece has a mind like steel trap - because maybe that's just the way 4 year olds are supposed to be, but I'm literally amazed every time I get to hang out with that kid!
Friday, February 23, 2007
Program Eval Info
This resource link was shared through a listserv that I'm on for folks interested in wireless/pen-enabled technology.
It was created by SRI for HP and, as of this point in time, is still in draft form (but there's a link to a feedback survey to assist them in making subsequent revisions):
http://ctl.sri.com/projects/displayProject.jsp?Nick=hpguide
It was created by SRI for HP and, as of this point in time, is still in draft form (but there's a link to a feedback survey to assist them in making subsequent revisions):
http://ctl.sri.com/projects
GDC07
I've attended the GDC a few times as part of the Conference Associate program (the best volunteer-based conference staff program in the universe!) - starting in 96 (in Santa Clara, when it was still the Computer Game Developers Conference), again in 97, then down to Long Beach in 98, back up to San Jose in 99, as press for Unwebbed.com in 00, and after a brief hiatus: 05 in San Francisco, 06 in San Jose, and I'm looking forward to 07 back in San Francisco. Time can really fly when you are having fun...and I guess that's what games are all about. Being a CA is a ton of fun, and making new friends through that program has given me a whole new love of gaming (and a good reason to keep being a CA til I'm old and gray).
In true nerdly fashion I've combed through the conference schedule to pick out all the sessions that I'd like to attend:
Game Developer’s Conference 2007 – Jen's Sessions To See
MONDAY MARCH 5th
09:00:00-10:00:00
1886 Serious Games Squared, Ichiro Otobe
11:45:00-12:45:00
1836 Testing Assumptions: Creative Approaches to Gathering Evidence of Serious Game Impacts Brian Winn, Caitlin Kelleher, Carrie Heeter, David William Shaffer, Richard Van Eck
13:00:00-13:50:00
1837 Group Meet-up: Research & Assessment Alicia Sanchez
14:00:00-14:30:00
1861 Labyrinth: Keeping the Play in Learning Games Dan Roy, Kristina Drzaic
14:40:00-15:10:00
1839 A Practical View on Interactive Storytelling: Drama Games Santiago Siri
14:40:00-15:10:00
1862 Designing Selene: Theory-based Game Design and Data Mining Dr. Debbie Denise Reese
15:00:00-15:45:00
1791 Finding the Fun First: An Agile Mobile Game Development Case Study Jeferson Valadares
15:00:00-15:45:00
1875 Using Touch, Sight, and Gesture in Mobile Games Paul Coulton
15:20:00-15:50:00
1863 Location-Based Learning with Mobile Games Karen Schrier
16:10:00-16:55:0
1841 Serious Games: A Preparation for Future Learning Approach Chuck Kinzer, Gillian Andrews, Jessica Hammer, John Black, Zhou Zhou
17:00:00-17:45:00
1865 Colonial Williamsburg: Revolution Postmortem - How Commercial Game Engines Affect Pedagogical Design Brett Camper, Matthew Weise
TUTORIAL- ALL DAY
10:00:00-18:00:00
1988 (108) Do-It-Yourself Usability: How to Use User Research to Improve your Game Charles Harrison, Hiroko Nakata, Kevin Goebel, Kris Moreno, Ph.D., Ramon Romero, Tracey Sellar
TUESDAY MARCH 6th
08:00:00-08:50:00
1843 Group Meet-up: Educational Game Designers Jim Parker
09:00:00-10:00:00
1892 One Laptop Per Child & Serious Games SJ Klein
11:45:00-12:45:00
1894 The Future of Collective Play: Fostering Collaboration, Network Literacy, and Massively Multiplayer Problem-Solving through Alternate Reality Games Jane McGonigal
14:00:00-14:30:00
1847 Teaching Kids About Nutrition Through Edu-Gaming in Whyville.net James M. Bower
14:40:00-15:10:00
1848 Cool School: An Inside Look at a Federally Funded Conflict Resolution Game and Interactive Tool for Classrooms David Warhol, F.J. Lennon
17:00:00-17:45:00
1798 Location, Location, Location (Based Gaming) Marta Vieira
WEDNESDAY MARCH 7th
09:00:00-10:00:00
1852 One Laptop per Child: Gaming Platform for the Developing World? SJ Klein SKIP?? SIMILAR PRESENTATION DAY BEFORE
09:00:00-10:00:00
1721 Developing Next-Gen Grads: Collaborating On Proactive Student Experiences (Day One) Stephen Jacobs
10:30:00-11:30:00
1956 In-Game Advertising 2007 Robb Lewis
THURSDAY MARCH 8th
09:00:00-10:00:00
2164 LucasArts: True Next Generation Gameplay in Service of Story & Character Denny Thorley, Haden Blackman
09:00:00-10:00:00
2100 Are Serious Games Worth Taking Seriously? Noah Falstein
12:00:00-13:00:00
1994 Ten Games You Need to Play: The Digital Game Canon Christopher Grant, Henry Lowood, Matteo Bittanti, Steve Meretzky, Warren Spector
13:00:00-14:00:00
1696 English Speaking Players as In-Game Content: New Ideas for Marketing to Youth in Asia Edd Schneider, Kai Zheng
14:30:00-15:30:00
1949 Breaking the In-game / Out-of-game Barrier Sean Flinn, Todd Northcutt
14:30:00-15:30:00
1980 Creating Innovative Launch Titles for the Nintendo Wii and Its Unique Controller Andrew Oliver
14:30:00-15:30:00
1932 Burning Man: Takeaways for Game Developers Daniel James, Daniel Terdiman, Lorne Lanning, Michael Steele, Ron Meiners
16:00:00-17:00:00
2103 The Secret Garden: Mobile Games and The 4% Addressable Market Who Love Them John Szeder
16:00:00-17:00:00
2012 Designing Games for Everyone: Harmonix Design in Practice Rob Kay, Tracy Rosenthal-Newsom
17:30:00-18:30:00
1687 ARG Group Gathering Adam Martin
FRIDAY MARCH 9th
09:00:00-10:00:00
1688 Academics/Students Group Gathering Susan Gold
11:45:00-12:30:00
1971 Tips & Tricks to Making a Lasting Impression Darius Kazemi
16:00:00-17:00:00
1940 Rethinking Challenges in Games and Stories Ernest Adams
As you can see there are a couple overlaps - thank goodness for GDC radio. Recordings from several GDC sessions are available for download at: http://www.gdcradio.net/
In true nerdly fashion I've combed through the conference schedule to pick out all the sessions that I'd like to attend:
Game Developer’s Conference 2007 – Jen's Sessions To See
MONDAY MARCH 5th
09:00:00-10:00:00
1886 Serious Games Squared, Ichiro Otobe
11:45:00-12:45:00
1836 Testing Assumptions: Creative Approaches to Gathering Evidence of Serious Game Impacts Brian Winn, Caitlin Kelleher, Carrie Heeter, David William Shaffer, Richard Van Eck
13:00:00-13:50:00
1837 Group Meet-up: Research & Assessment Alicia Sanchez
14:00:00-14:30:00
1861 Labyrinth: Keeping the Play in Learning Games Dan Roy, Kristina Drzaic
14:40:00-15:10:00
1839 A Practical View on Interactive Storytelling: Drama Games Santiago Siri
14:40:00-15:10:00
1862 Designing Selene: Theory-based Game Design and Data Mining Dr. Debbie Denise Reese
15:00:00-15:45:00
1791 Finding the Fun First: An Agile Mobile Game Development Case Study Jeferson Valadares
15:00:00-15:45:00
1875 Using Touch, Sight, and Gesture in Mobile Games Paul Coulton
15:20:00-15:50:00
1863 Location-Based Learning with Mobile Games Karen Schrier
16:10:00-16:55:0
1841 Serious Games: A Preparation for Future Learning Approach Chuck Kinzer, Gillian Andrews, Jessica Hammer, John Black, Zhou Zhou
17:00:00-17:45:00
1865 Colonial Williamsburg: Revolution Postmortem - How Commercial Game Engines Affect Pedagogical Design Brett Camper, Matthew Weise
TUTORIAL- ALL DAY
10:00:00-18:00:00
1988 (108) Do-It-Yourself Usability: How to Use User Research to Improve your Game Charles Harrison, Hiroko Nakata, Kevin Goebel, Kris Moreno, Ph.D., Ramon Romero, Tracey Sellar
TUESDAY MARCH 6th
08:00:00-08:50:00
1843 Group Meet-up: Educational Game Designers Jim Parker
09:00:00-10:00:00
1892 One Laptop Per Child & Serious Games SJ Klein
11:45:00-12:45:00
1894 The Future of Collective Play: Fostering Collaboration, Network Literacy, and Massively Multiplayer Problem-Solving through Alternate Reality Games Jane McGonigal
14:00:00-14:30:00
1847 Teaching Kids About Nutrition Through Edu-Gaming in Whyville.net James M. Bower
14:40:00-15:10:00
1848 Cool School: An Inside Look at a Federally Funded Conflict Resolution Game and Interactive Tool for Classrooms David Warhol, F.J. Lennon
17:00:00-17:45:00
1798 Location, Location, Location (Based Gaming) Marta Vieira
WEDNESDAY MARCH 7th
09:00:00-10:00:00
1852 One Laptop per Child: Gaming Platform for the Developing World? SJ Klein SKIP?? SIMILAR PRESENTATION DAY BEFORE
09:00:00-10:00:00
1721 Developing Next-Gen Grads: Collaborating On Proactive Student Experiences (Day One) Stephen Jacobs
10:30:00-11:30:00
1956 In-Game Advertising 2007 Robb Lewis
THURSDAY MARCH 8th
09:00:00-10:00:00
2164 LucasArts: True Next Generation Gameplay in Service of Story & Character Denny Thorley, Haden Blackman
09:00:00-10:00:00
2100 Are Serious Games Worth Taking Seriously? Noah Falstein
12:00:00-13:00:00
1994 Ten Games You Need to Play: The Digital Game Canon Christopher Grant, Henry Lowood, Matteo Bittanti, Steve Meretzky, Warren Spector
13:00:00-14:00:00
1696 English Speaking Players as In-Game Content: New Ideas for Marketing to Youth in Asia Edd Schneider, Kai Zheng
14:30:00-15:30:00
1949 Breaking the In-game / Out-of-game Barrier Sean Flinn, Todd Northcutt
14:30:00-15:30:00
1980 Creating Innovative Launch Titles for the Nintendo Wii and Its Unique Controller Andrew Oliver
14:30:00-15:30:00
1932 Burning Man: Takeaways for Game Developers Daniel James, Daniel Terdiman, Lorne Lanning, Michael Steele, Ron Meiners
16:00:00-17:00:00
2103 The Secret Garden: Mobile Games and The 4% Addressable Market Who Love Them John Szeder
16:00:00-17:00:00
2012 Designing Games for Everyone: Harmonix Design in Practice Rob Kay, Tracy Rosenthal-Newsom
17:30:00-18:30:00
1687 ARG Group Gathering Adam Martin
FRIDAY MARCH 9th
09:00:00-10:00:00
1688 Academics/Students Group Gathering Susan Gold
11:45:00-12:30:00
1971 Tips & Tricks to Making a Lasting Impression Darius Kazemi
16:00:00-17:00:00
1940 Rethinking Challenges in Games and Stories Ernest Adams
As you can see there are a couple overlaps - thank goodness for GDC radio. Recordings from several GDC sessions are available for download at: http://www.gdcradio.net/
Ed Tech Trends to Watch
A recent eSchool News article highlighted the top trends to watch in educational technology:
http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/PFshowstory.cfm?ArticleID=6870
Not surprisingly, gaming, mobile technologies, and social networking made the list.
http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/PFshowstory.cfm?ArticleID=6870
Not surprisingly, gaming, mobile technologies, and social networking made the list.
Flash Point
So here was the link that lit a fire under me (in a figurative sense) today and got me to set up this blog. I have way too much writing on my plate now (working on a commissioned paper for the National Research Council about media use and outcomes in Informal Science Education) to dive into all these resources in depth, but from a quick overview it seems like a good/helpful collection of articles.
Collaborative Learning Site on eSchool News:
http://www.eschoolnews.com/resources/reports/collaborative_learning/index.cfm
Collaborative Learning Site on eSchool News:
http://www.eschoolnews.com/resources/reports/collaborative_learning/index.cfm
FYI - About me, just in case anyone has randomly stumbled by here...
I work for a company called Rockman et al, based in the Bay Area - but I work out of a small office in Chicago. Here's the official blurb from the Rockman et al company website:
Jennifer has an M.A. from the Mass Communications program at Indiana University, where her research focused on educational technology, physiological responses to media stimuli, and human-computer interface design. Before joining the team at Rockman et al, Jennifer worked for the Center for Excellence in Education, developing and studying the use of learning resources for the Turner Adventure Learning program, researching technology’s impact on new teachers, and conducting an assessment of technology competencies for the U.S. Department of Defense. Since coming to Rockman et al in 1998, she has been involved with the evaluation of several Technology Innovation Challenge Grants as well as a handful of school-based and district-wide technology initiatives within Chicago and surrounding communities. She recently led a two-year evaluation of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s “Where fun and learning click!” program to fund educational Web sites for 9-12 year olds. Jennifer specializes in the evaluation of media programming and learning technologies. As an amateur photographer and videographer, Jennifer is interested in finding new ways to use still and moving images to enhance the work she does as an evaluator. Jennifer is an avid Science Fiction fan and also enjoys teaching swim lessons at a local YMCA.
Sadly, I'm not teaching at the Y any longer due to my travel schedule for work - but I did join a new gym that's a little closer to the office (the West Loop Athletic Club) and love it!
Here's some additional background:
I've presented at evaluation and education conferences throughout the US and also in Spain and The Netherlands. My research interests are varied, but include: technology-mediated communication, patterns of collaborative interaction and collaborative problem solving/game play, youth-oriented media, and information literacy.
At Indiana University, on the telecom side of things I was an Associate Instructor for Video and Studio Production, Intro to Telecom, and Human Computer Interaction Design. I also managed the Telecom Website for a brief period and was a member of the Institute for Communication Research. On the Education side: I worked for the Center for Excellence in Education (CEE) developing educational resources for Turner Adventure Learning (Virtual Fieldtrips), studying and reporting on the impact of teachers' technology skills and usage during their induction years, examining technology core competencies for education (a project for the Department of Defense), Evaluating new technologies and assisting with training programs to help teachers integrate these technologies effectively, and running the Summer Distance Learning Seminar (a program that brought educators together from around the country to learn how to be more effective as providers of video and computer-based distance learning courses/programs). While attending IU I was also involved in Student Government (Director of Advertising, PR, Media Relations, Summer Senator, Academic Assembly - Speaker of the Assembly, and Student Body Vice President for Administration), and rode for the Equestrian Team.
I've also worked for the Children's Museum of Indianapolis (as a youth volunteer coordinator and video instructor in the Center for Exploration (CFX), The Indiana Educator's Technology Center (as newsletter editor), I was a lifeguard and long-time swim instructor for the YMCA, I was also a counselor and unit coordinator at Camp Tecumseh YMCA (and now volunteer there as a member of the Heritage Preservation and Torchbearer's groups), I was a volunteer mentor/coach for the Thinkquest program at Hinkle Creek Elementary School, I've been a volunteer "Conference Associate" for the (Computer)Game Developers Conference for several years, and I'm currently involved with my sorority (Alpha Delta Pi) as president of my chapters' corporation board, and the Chicago alumnae association, the Chicago Chapter of the IU Almuni Association, the young adult board at Old St. Pats Church, board president of my condominium association, and the Chicago City Administrator for My People Connection (a social networking/event programming group).
In a nutshell - I love to teach, and I love to learn! And, as you can probably tell, I'm also horrible at saying "no!"
Jennifer has an M.A. from the Mass Communications program at Indiana University, where her research focused on educational technology, physiological responses to media stimuli, and human-computer interface design. Before joining the team at Rockman et al, Jennifer worked for the Center for Excellence in Education, developing and studying the use of learning resources for the Turner Adventure Learning program, researching technology’s impact on new teachers, and conducting an assessment of technology competencies for the U.S. Department of Defense. Since coming to Rockman et al in 1998, she has been involved with the evaluation of several Technology Innovation Challenge Grants as well as a handful of school-based and district-wide technology initiatives within Chicago and surrounding communities. She recently led a two-year evaluation of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s “Where fun and learning click!” program to fund educational Web sites for 9-12 year olds. Jennifer specializes in the evaluation of media programming and learning technologies. As an amateur photographer and videographer, Jennifer is interested in finding new ways to use still and moving images to enhance the work she does as an evaluator. Jennifer is an avid Science Fiction fan and also enjoys teaching swim lessons at a local YMCA.
Sadly, I'm not teaching at the Y any longer due to my travel schedule for work - but I did join a new gym that's a little closer to the office (the West Loop Athletic Club) and love it!
Here's some additional background:
I've presented at evaluation and education conferences throughout the US and also in Spain and The Netherlands. My research interests are varied, but include: technology-mediated communication, patterns of collaborative interaction and collaborative problem solving/game play, youth-oriented media, and information literacy.
At Indiana University, on the telecom side of things I was an Associate Instructor for Video and Studio Production, Intro to Telecom, and Human Computer Interaction Design. I also managed the Telecom Website for a brief period and was a member of the Institute for Communication Research. On the Education side: I worked for the Center for Excellence in Education (CEE) developing educational resources for Turner Adventure Learning (Virtual Fieldtrips), studying and reporting on the impact of teachers' technology skills and usage during their induction years, examining technology core competencies for education (a project for the Department of Defense), Evaluating new technologies and assisting with training programs to help teachers integrate these technologies effectively, and running the Summer Distance Learning Seminar (a program that brought educators together from around the country to learn how to be more effective as providers of video and computer-based distance learning courses/programs). While attending IU I was also involved in Student Government (Director of Advertising, PR, Media Relations, Summer Senator, Academic Assembly - Speaker of the Assembly, and Student Body Vice President for Administration), and rode for the Equestrian Team.
I've also worked for the Children's Museum of Indianapolis (as a youth volunteer coordinator and video instructor in the Center for Exploration (CFX), The Indiana Educator's Technology Center (as newsletter editor), I was a lifeguard and long-time swim instructor for the YMCA, I was also a counselor and unit coordinator at Camp Tecumseh YMCA (and now volunteer there as a member of the Heritage Preservation and Torchbearer's groups), I was a volunteer mentor/coach for the Thinkquest program at Hinkle Creek Elementary School, I've been a volunteer "Conference Associate" for the (Computer)Game Developers Conference for several years, and I'm currently involved with my sorority (Alpha Delta Pi) as president of my chapters' corporation board, and the Chicago alumnae association, the Chicago Chapter of the IU Almuni Association, the young adult board at Old St. Pats Church, board president of my condominium association, and the Chicago City Administrator for My People Connection (a social networking/event programming group).
In a nutshell - I love to teach, and I love to learn! And, as you can probably tell, I'm also horrible at saying "no!"
Notes from MacArthur Foundation Session - Do Games Help Kids Learn
On February 8th I attended a Session hosted by the MacArthur Foundation as part of its new R Digital Media and Learning initiative. The session, entitled Do Games Help Kids Learn?, invited three panelists to speak about their experiences developing games and digital media resources and discuss what they had come to learn through the process and through related research efforts.
In theory, my notes should be available via the REA Website: here.
In theory, my notes should be available via the REA Website: here.
Starting off
In an effort to minimize the number of things I'm printing off to read later, I wanted to start a digital archive of things related to digital learning that I find interesting or helpful. Its long been a goal, but this year it became a resolution so there is actually action being taken.
I thought I'd start off with this paste of a note that I recently wrote to a teacher who participated in a study that we did for DragonflyTV - she'd inquired about some of the important trends/issues in education. "Our basic questions: What skills will our students need to be successful in the future? What will our schools (elementary, middle, high school) need to look like? (Communication, teaching methods, project oriented, etc.)."
Here's my response...and I'd welcome any feedback that folks want to share.
There are a lot of initiatives related to school restructuring that are attempting to tackle the same kinds of questions that it seems like you are trying to address. I suspect that you are familiar with the 21st Century Learning Skills initative, but if not, that's a great place to start ( http://www.21stcenturyskills.org ) That movement, now a few years old, started out of a partnership between business leaders and educators - to think through the types of skills students would need to be competitive in the global workforce as adults. Most people think that "21st Century Skills" is synonymous with "Technology Skills," but there are actually a wide range of skills including communication skills, collaboration skills, info seeking skills, etc. A quick read of "The World is Flat" is also a must for folks looking to get a good sense of what today's students will likely face as adults in an increasingly global economy.
Another area that I work in/have personal interest in that is starting to change the way some people and schools are thinking about teaching/learning is Gaming and Digital Media. There is a huge project-funding and research initiative supported by the MacArthur Foundation that is currently underway to better understand the potential uses of gaming (and other rich media resources) in education. Past research has shown games to be powerful learning tools in nearly all areas of the curriculum when used properly ( e.g., as an integral component of instruction, wherein students are given agency to explore, experiment, make mistakes, genuinely learn from their mistakes, and - with help from their teachers - figure out how lessons learned in-game can transfer to the real world). The appeal of games is undeniable, but educators who have embraced their innate ability to teach (to succeed at most games - a player must be able to learn, adapt, and apply what they've learned in increasingly challenging tests) have been fascinated by the positive outcomes, not only in student motivation, but also in terms of learning gains & and true comprehensive of complex subjects. One of the fears of MacArthur, and other proponents of highly interactive media use in education, fear that current educational systems in the US are unable to fully embrace new media resources because of reliance/dependence on outdated pedagogical and assessment techniques ( e.g., some teachers being reluctanct to pass control to students and a mind-set that failing is bad - even if more powerful learning ultimately results). It is definitely worth looking into and considering - here's a long link that gets you to the MacArthur site (and theyve got some other great resources listed from there) http://www.digitallearning.macfound.org/site/c.enJLKQNlFiG/b.2029199/k.BFC9/Home.htm?&auid=2276796
Those are the two programs/initiatves that most readily come to mind. I'm sure its also come up in your discussion with stakeholders in your district that today's students are so different than those of 10 or even 5 years ago. They have grown-up with access to the internet, are experts at multi-tasking (sending instant messages, while downloading music, while posting messages on friends' blogs, while doing homework...) They live in a global world, but so often, in school they are cut off from that world. Outside of school they are developing skills for living in the 21st century, but during school hours they are learning 19th and 20th century knowledge via 19th and 20th century learning techniques ( e.g., memorization of facts delivered via lecture). That is, of course, a gross generalization - there are certainly educators doing fantastic things with technology and media (we certainly saw some of that in the DragonflyTV study) but there are also a whole lot of teachers and schools that haven't yet made a shift into the 21st century where teaching and learning are concerned. Training and mentoring are key components of any program that seeks to have teachers implement new media and instruction that incorporates 21st Century Learning Skills more fully. Partnerships between k-12 schools and teacher education programs have also proven to be quite successful (you can check out information about grants funding through the US federal government's PT3 program: - the old website www.pt3.org seems to be down, but try: http://pt3.altec.org/about/grants_action.html ). Successful partnerships give schools a chance to help shape the skill sets of future educators while giving them practical experiences in educational settings - and teacher education candidates bring a wealth of knowledge about new techniques and teaching strategies to try out, its a win-win!
Finally, I'm a big proponent of media literacy - and this is part of most 21st Century Learning Skill-sets as well. Traditionally, we learned to read and write print literature of various types. We learned how to critically interpret what we were reading, and we learned to distinguish good examples of writing from bad examples of writing, and we got to practice what we knew through various writing exercises where-in we created our own "literature." The same types of techniques can, and arguably should, be applied to media as well. Students need to better understand how to visually and verbally communicate and can come to do so more proficiently by a more thorough study and subsequent understanding of media.
I thought I'd start off with this paste of a note that I recently wrote to a teacher who participated in a study that we did for DragonflyTV - she'd inquired about some of the important trends/issues in education. "Our basic questions: What skills will our students need to be successful in the future? What will our schools (elementary, middle, high school) need to look like? (Communication, teaching methods, project oriented, etc.)."
Here's my response...and I'd welcome any feedback that folks want to share.
There are a lot of initiatives related to school restructuring that are attempting to tackle the same kinds of questions that it seems like you are trying to address. I suspect that you are familiar with the 21st Century Learning Skills initative, but if not, that's a great place to start ( http://www.21stcenturyskills
Another area that I work in/have personal interest in that is starting to change the way some people and schools are thinking about teaching/learning is Gaming and Digital Media. There is a huge project-funding and research initiative supported by the MacArthur Foundation that is currently underway to better understand the potential uses of gaming (and other rich media resources) in education. Past research has shown games to be powerful learning tools in nearly all areas of the curriculum when used properly ( e.g., as an integral component of instruction, wherein students are given agency to explore, experiment, make mistakes, genuinely learn from their mistakes, and - with help from their teachers - figure out how lessons learned in-game can transfer to the real world). The appeal of games is undeniable, but educators who have embraced their innate ability to teach (to succeed at most games - a player must be able to learn, adapt, and apply what they've learned in increasingly challenging tests) have been fascinated by the positive outcomes, not only in student motivation, but also in terms of learning gains & and true comprehensive of complex subjects. One of the fears of MacArthur, and other proponents of highly interactive media use in education, fear that current educational systems in the US are unable to fully embrace new media resources because of reliance/dependence on outdated pedagogical and assessment techniques ( e.g., some teachers being reluctanct to pass control to students and a mind-set that failing is bad - even if more powerful learning ultimately results). It is definitely worth looking into and considering - here's a long link that gets you to the MacArthur site (and theyve got some other great resources listed from there) http://www.digitallearning
Those are the two programs/initiatves that most readily come to mind. I'm sure its also come up in your discussion with stakeholders in your district that today's students are so different than those of 10 or even 5 years ago. They have grown-up with access to the internet, are experts at multi-tasking (sending instant messages, while downloading music, while posting messages on friends' blogs, while doing homework...) They live in a global world, but so often, in school they are cut off from that world. Outside of school they are developing skills for living in the 21st century, but during school hours they are learning 19th and 20th century knowledge via 19th and 20th century learning techniques ( e.g., memorization of facts delivered via lecture). That is, of course, a gross generalization - there are certainly educators doing fantastic things with technology and media (we certainly saw some of that in the DragonflyTV study) but there are also a whole lot of teachers and schools that haven't yet made a shift into the 21st century where teaching and learning are concerned. Training and mentoring are key components of any program that seeks to have teachers implement new media and instruction that incorporates 21st Century Learning Skills more fully. Partnerships between k-12 schools and teacher education programs have also proven to be quite successful (you can check out information about grants funding through the US federal government's PT3 program: - the old website www.pt3.org seems to be down, but try: http://pt3.altec.org/about
Finally, I'm a big proponent of media literacy - and this is part of most 21st Century Learning Skill-sets as well. Traditionally, we learned to read and write print literature of various types. We learned how to critically interpret what we were reading, and we learned to distinguish good examples of writing from bad examples of writing, and we got to practice what we knew through various writing exercises where-in we created our own "literature." The same types of techniques can, and arguably should, be applied to media as well. Students need to better understand how to visually and verbally communicate and can come to do so more proficiently by a more thorough study and subsequent understanding of media.
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