watch & learn

GLS Conference Pics

2008-07-18T10:54:00.000-07:00

Here are some photos of the conference:

Opening breakfast at the Frank Lloyd Wright designed Monona Terrace

My advisor kickin' it

talk, talk, talk

The lounge

Highlighted Talk from GLS 4.0

2008-07-17T14:19:00.001-07:00

If you're at all curious about why in the world video games might be worthwhile, watch this thought compelling argument by James Paul Gee (given last week at GLS 4.0) on how video games are good for learning and society.

Find "Talks Beyond Games" (page 3) and start at 39:15

----------

I jotted down bullet points here:

How we can make choices for a different future
Complex Systems are biting us
Students need to be thinking about complex systems - this should be a 21st Century Skill
Baby boomer - Linear thinking fails to rethink goals
Passion Communities around complex systems - they organize and produce knowledge that competes with expert knowledge
Our job is to design things like a game with social, passion communities organized around them.
(Next game I'm going to buy: Portal)
Education can/should be about giving people tools to help them see world in new way, and that enables people to leverage powers.
Games at their best give you empathy for complex systems.
Humans learn from experience, but when they're given tools to theorize about their experiences (often through social groups) better learning happens.
Bottom line: People need to theorize in social (passion) groups around complex systems to learn and produce solutions.
"Prosumers"

Take away question: So how do we a) design places that are malleable by learners and b) provide tools for theorizing that combined will foster self-organizing passion communities? What does that look like for organized education?

Interface Possibilities

2008-05-29T10:43:00.000-07:00

Microsoft Surface

The YouTube of Digital Games

2008-05-09T09:49:00.000-07:00

Hi. I'd like to introduce you to the YouTube of digital games - Kongregate. You've already met? Great. If not, I highly recommend getting acquainted - the games are Flash authored, and some of the things people are making are pretty creative.

Example 1: Chronotron.

Example 2: The Fancy Pants Adventures

Great Talk on Media, Society, & "Cognitive Surplus"

2008-04-28T06:26:00.001-07:00

The speaker, Clay Shirky, argues (among many interesting ideas) that producing and sharing media content is good because "at least people are doing something." This is said in the context of the last 60 years of society primarily consuming T.V. and Film content. Is the practice of viewing shows really just a consumptive process? I think it depends - he uses Gilligan's Island as an example. I wonder how LOST or Jericho might make a case for cognitively demanding T.V.

Also, about the consumption metaphor. Watching media does seem a akin to the act of eating. I'm curious if the author of Katie's Cafe, who is a dietician, would say that consuming food is a mindless activity. I think that it can be, but that healthy, deliberate eating takes planning, and with reflection can be a cognitively challenging practice.

Also, he says World of Warcraft players are at least doing something (as opposed to consuming T.V.) Thoughts?

Storytelling, Games, and Mobile Phones

2008-04-25T09:36:00.000-07:00

I've been fortunate this semester to be part of a team developing an educational game using mobile, handheld technologies. Our aim is to continue developing this game for sixth graders who use phones to participate in a time travel story involving solving puzzles in the Madison Capital building.

Our biggest (and most fun) challenges have been (and still are) to create engaging game mechanics & puzzles that utilize physical space, as well as exploring the use of story structure techniques to also foster engagement.

On the story side of things, one tidbit my folklore course professor told me has stuck like glue. She said that immersive stories usually do two things: One is that they violate expected (or traditional) conventions. The second is that they still use some expected conventions. Just enough familiarity is needed to keep the audience's attention, but violating the form causes gaps in the audience's expectations, and then questions are formed, meaning there is serious yearning for resolution. Shrek is a well known example of playing with form as well as using familiar ones. LOST is a great one.

In the case of our mobile game, we don't have to worry about violating form - we're already doing that by using a new, mobile medium. What we're doing is deliberately using tried and true storytelling techniques (Propp's 31 narratemes have been really helpful).

Roger Ebert's blog post today reminded me of this "violating the form" principle as he reminisced about "Joe Versus the Volcano".

Trailers Today

2008-04-15T14:36:00.000-07:00

Blakesley Academy Award Winners '08

2008-02-27T20:37:00.000-08:00

Thanks to everyone who voted on this years awards (and apologies if you didn't get the email - we know some emails didn't make it to inbox's).

We had twelve voters total (five female, and seven male). Emily and I were surprised to see a few landslide victories and a few stalemates.

Best Picture and Best Drama had ties. Harry Potter had a good night, tying for Best Picture and winning best literary adaptation. Juddy brought up a good point about that latter category - is it "good" by being true to the source or by creatively branching out into an interpretive story based on the source?

Enchanted and Jericho were hands down winners, and Fantastic Four was the favorite loser by winning Most Disappointing Movie. No one mourns that movie more than I. It could have been so much more.

I hope Kyle doesn't mind me outing his vote of the Kite Runner. That's now on my list for movies to see.

Thanks for everyone's chiming in on this! See you in '09!

Best Picture:
-Ratatouille (5)
-Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (5)
-King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (1)
-Kite Runner (1)

Best Drama
-Lars and the Real Girl (5)
-Amazing Grace (5)
-Ratatouille (1)

Best Action Movie:
-The Bourne Ultimatum (5)
-Live Free or Die Hard (3)
-I AM Legend (3)

Best Music Movie:
-Enchanted (8)
-Hairspray (2)
-Music & Lyrics (1)
-Once (1)

Best Literary Adaptation
-Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (7)
-I Am Legend (4)
-The Golden Compass (1)

Most Disappointing Movie:
-Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (7)
-Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2)
-National Treasure: Book of Secrets (2)

Best T.V. Show:
-Jericho (5)
-The Office (3)
-LOST (2)
-Man vs. Wild (1)

Mountain Wingsuit

2007-11-19T13:48:00.000-08:00

And I thought cliff jumping at Island Lake was intense! What do you think of this?

http://www.biertijd.com/mediaplayer/?itemid=4262

The Office writers and the WGA strike

2007-11-08T06:01:00.000-08:00

Not only is this clip funny, but it's a good explanation of why the writers guild of america are striking.

Conan & the Fire Alarm

2007-10-19T11:41:00.000-07:00

I may not have time to blog like I want to, but I'm at least going to post the media that makes me laugh! This clip reminds me how funny I think Conan is, how glad I am that he's gonna host the Tonight Show, and that good comedy is often unplanned.

The Office

2007-09-25T06:21:00.001-07:00

Who else is ready for The Office to start again this week? To whet appetites, check out this clip of what Andy did over the summer. It makes me laugh.
http://www.nbc.com/The_Office/video/#mea=156293

Darth Vader Being a Jerk

2007-09-22T07:57:00.000-07:00

Second Life & MIT

2007-09-21T07:21:00.002-07:00

If you're kind of turned off of Second Life, like I have been because of the inevitable creepiness that exists in parts of a virtual world, this MIT space (follow link below for short video) shows some redeeming possibilities.

http://chronicle.com/media/video/v54/i04/secondlife/

What do y'all think of Second Life. Has anyone spent much time in-world? or is real-world the only world for you?

Pumping Iron - Gem of a Doc

2007-08-27T13:29:00.000-07:00

Watching Pumping Iron was a fascinating experience for me, and brought back memories of working out with the cousins at Gold's Gym in Provo. This is a doc about Arnold Schwarzenneger's final defense of his Mr. Olympia (bodybuilding) title. The doc follows Schwarzennegger juxtaposed with Lou Ferrigno (T.V.'s The Hulk), who is hungry to win the title and beat Ahnuld. This is entertaining, funny, reflective, and suspensful documentary filmmaking. I highly recommend it.

And if only we would have known about this when we went to Golds! It would have taught us true techniques of how to conduct effective flexing sessions after lifting. Also, this film is motivating ; making me want to get out and lift and exercise.

And, the making-of bonus features are really insightful, where the filmmakers reveal how Schwarzennegger was an integral part of the production and how much of his outrageous dialogue was fabricated to make the movie a success. The movie really illustrates the fine line between reality and fiction in documentary film.

Here's a mash-up of Pumping Iron someone put on youtube; they put clips to the Gladiator theme song and called it AVL (Arnold vs. Lou). Enjoy

New Google Earth lets you Explore Universe

2007-08-22T17:16:00.000-07:00

This is awesome.

I'm still looking for Vulcan and the Degobah System...

http://earth.google.com/

Colbert Interview on Persuasive Video Games

2007-08-08T08:13:00.000-07:00

Here's a funny interview by Mr. Colbert with Ian Bogost, a Georgia Tech professor I was fortunate to meet, and whose workshop I attended at the Games Learning & Society conference. Colbert voices the misgivings most people probably think when talking games and learning, and Ian voices some key game-learning affordances with skill. Is Ian convincing that video games can teach things worth your while?

Pretty good

2007-07-30T08:19:00.000-07:00

AOL's 77 Most Unforgettable Movie Songs

Logical

2007-07-27T11:16:00.000-07:00

Y'all know Sylar (THE Villain, played by Zachary Quinto) from "Heroes"? He's been cast to play the young Spock in J.J. Abrams's new Star Trek movie, to begin shooting in November!! First, I love that this may mean the cast may primarily be made up of non-mega stars. Secondly, Leonard Nimoy is going to be in the film! This is exciting when you consider that he turned down his role in Star Trek: Generations because of what he thought was a poor script (and, as it turned out, he was right). He's apparently enthusiastic about this movie, and, boy, I can't wait. There are too few good Star Trek movies...

More can be read about this here, the AP's report of the announcement made at San Diego's Comic Con. I can't see the Rumbler in the picture, but I'm sure he was there.

Conference Time!

2007-07-10T13:18:00.000-07:00

Well, two days from now I'll be feasting on the words of game, media, and learning scholars from around the globe at the Games Learning Society Conference. I'm fortunate enough to be volunteering with the GLS committee, so I'll be armed and ready with my walkie talkie and official nametag.

I'll also be co-presenting with my advisor and another faculty member on cultural representations of games and short films (a.k.a. how Muslims are represented and received in games and short films in a post 9/11 world). I'm discussing the entertaining and adept "Rules of Engagement." Since I was invited after the proposal was submitted, etc., and I'm relatively new at this, I didn't even think to ask for my name and bio to be included in the conference publications. Oh, well, at least I get to help out, present, and attend this awesome conference at the beautiful Monona Terrace.

Among those I'm excited to hear, and hopefully talk to, are him, him, him, and him.

Movies

2007-07-09T13:56:00.001-07:00

Ian's movie post, and selections inspired me, so we went on a movie blitz during the last few weeks, and it was so refreshing.

We all got to see 'Ratatouille', and I loved it! First, it's a rare original story; not a sequel or adaptation. But was it good? I thought the movie snowballed, getting better and better, really hitting it's stride in the third act. It also has one of the best monologues on criticism I've ever heard. 3.5 stars

We rented Rocky Balboa, and watching it for the second time was better than I expected. I love how the movie takes it's time, and has dialogue both inspirational and satisfying to Rocky fans. I thought it was as visually interesting and symbolic as the first (notice the meat plant reflecting Pauly's life). And I liked how the steadycam and high contrasts made the film feel authentic like the first. (Rocky was the first feature film to use steadycam). 3.5 stars

We rented Casino Royale also. I really liked the first scene, the last scene, the poker games, and Daniel Craig. I didn't love the length, and thought it felt crammed with too much. 2.5 stars.

Lastly, we saw a Benji sequel. The 70's costume design and music was awesome. Mary gives it 3 stars!

Rickroll

2007-06-22T07:01:00.000-07:00

I feel bad about my last post. I played with the hearts of Ender's Game fans to demonstrate the rickroll, but thought I'd stop so both of my readers won't get upset.

Similar to viral videos online, this is a kind of viral online practical joke - to offer a link to something highly anticipated leading to the awesome 80's music video by Rick Astley below. This link (http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070516182851AArhHWu) explains the rickroll gaming roots.

I love this video. Mary, my 2 year old, started dancing to it the other day, and I'm trying to teach her to move her arms like Mr. Astley.

Ender's Game Trailer

2007-06-19T05:54:00.000-07:00

Awesome.

Ender's Game

Family Media: Part ll

2007-06-06T13:28:00.000-07:00

Comments on my last post by Darth Spencer and Rob were so good that I decided to respond in another post.

First, I feel I was kind of unfair towards the National Institute on Media and Family. They are working to help families avoid media pitfalls, and do a very thorough and useful job. I've used some of their tips, and I think Mary and our whole family have benefited. They condone family-media use on a basic level (http://www.mediafamily.org/facts/tips_tametube.shtml).
They are not anti-media - though they give that impression, as the picture below demonstrates.

Still, the Institute could do more in addressing the next step. That's my beef, and why I feel kind of critical when going through their site. After a family has media use under control in the home, then what? Are there good teaching techniques parents should try?

That said, Spence, I agree that video can do things (like demonstration) too well to be ignored. The Institute seems to define media primarily as video games, computer & internet, television, and music. I think they'd say that media/books like you describe are outside of the dangerous media boundary. It would be nice if they recommended things like that.

Rob, as I read your comments I recalled that the research I did this last semester were all on families in which there was a lot of parental involvement with children consuming media. I studied ideal examples of family media use. I agree that especially with children, human interaction is key to learning and benefiting from media like computer games and television.

I like the phrase "learning at an accellerated rate with media". It rings true that watching a movie or playing a game is kind of like a concentrated dose of something. The brain takes on so much so quickly, that parental briefing and debriefing with their kids about media might be important for learning.

So I am advocating family media use - given that it is under control in the home. I also wonder if family media use could help to control media in the home.

Media has such negative influence, as the Institute lays out, and thankfully fights. Media also has positive influence, and yet we don't hear much about that.

Family Media: Friend or Foe?

2007-06-03T20:51:00.000-07:00

After a semester of observing families play computer games, and interviewing mothers about their children's media habits (from a grounded theory approach), I found what I'd call positive results (I am viewing all of this mainly from a learning/education perspective). The two families played Disney's Toontown Online, and both parents felt their kids were learning positive things (like community building and literacy skills, such as reading and computer). The four mothers (3 from U.S. and 1 from India) all generally felt t.v. and video/computer games were culturally and instructionally useful, but also consistently reflected that after 1-2 hours of media a day, kids behavior would get negative, selfish, and defiant (these were 2-5 year olds). There's more to all this to report, but that's the summary.

The interesting thing, though, was what I found in my literature review. Maybe I shouldn't be suprised, but I'd say 90% of what I found was paranoid advice. With all the positive family-media experiences I witnessed, it's logical to me that parents should be informed on educational/cultural strengths of media so they can take advantage of them for their children's benefit (as well as the whole family). I saw parents helping siblings to teach each other gaming strategies - and the sharing working - and I saw children excitedly taking direction from their parents. Positive interactions any family would want.

So I was suprised when I found groups like
The National Institute on Media and the Family who bleakly give the impression that no media is the best media. They give parents strategies on how to police their children's media habits and limit consumption. This is important, as media is dangerous and parents are wise to limit and be aware of what their children are seeing. But where is the pro-active approach? What about examining what good things happen when families spend time together with media? And then creating ways to share and teach best practices? In any case, the academic approach to family media habits seems pretty lopsided right now.

Comments? I'd be interested to hear what others think (especially disagreements) about media in the family setting.

Which Super Villain are You?

2007-05-16T18:33:00.001-07:00

Your results:
You are Mystique

Mystique		52%
Dark Phoenix		46%
Apocalypse		40%
Juggernaut		40%
Venom		36%
Dr. Doom		35%
Riddler		32%
Lex Luthor		32%
Magneto		32%
Poison Ivy		29%
Catwoman		27%
The Joker		26%
Two-Face		24%
Kingpin		23%
Mr. Freeze		14%
Green Goblin		0%

Sometimes motherly, sometimes a beautiful companion, but most of the time a deceiving vixen.

Click here to take the Supervillain Personality Quiz

Superhero Personality Test

2007-05-09T17:30:00.000-07:00

Rob Au's blog led me to this test. Pretty accurate.

Your results:
You are Superman

Superman		80%
Spider-Man		75%
Green Lantern		70%
Hulk		65%
Robin		60%
Supergirl		53%
Catwoman		50%
Wonder Woman		48%
The Flash		40%
Batman		35%
Iron Man		35%

You are mild-mannered, good,
strong and you love to help others.

Click here to take the "Which Superhero am I?" quiz...

Hip Hop Handheld Game

2007-04-24T12:44:00.000-07:00

This Milwaukee article is about a school using Hip Hop Tycoon, one of the augmented reality handheld games being developed here at UW. I'm inspired! The writer notes that the game effectively set the stage for invested learning to happen. Brings to mind the phrase "take some time to save some time."

gmail notifier

2007-04-20T19:15:00.001-07:00

FYI for those with macs - a pretty cool email notifier can be downloaded at: http://toolbar.google.com/gmail-helper/notifier_mac.html

Conferences, Conferences - Part 2

2007-04-16T21:08:00.001-07:00

AERA in Chicago was a whirlwind in the windy city. It was a great and I learned a lot. I'm going to list off some highlights and then answer my questions from an earlier post.

"The Silent Epidemic" refers to the third of high school students that regularly drop out. Students in this bottom third become attracted to school because of video games (such as Civilization 3 as an after school program used for history class)
No Child Left Behind may be trying to improve a problematic, antiquated entity (schooling based on industrial, factory principles). Someone said it is like raising the deck chairs on the Titanic 5 inches.
Becoming global citizens is a value I heard more than any other.
Students work hard on beating games when they are almost impossible to beat.
I've heard it repeated that reflecting on the right answers is more worthwhile than reflecting on the wrong answers.
Metaphors shape the way people act.
Language shapes (people's perceptions of) reality
Aristotle said the state should conduct education if the parents don't. (So Aristotle was for home-schooling?)
Many people are thinking that we learn well through introduction to professional practices.
Students using "cheats" to beat a game may be a good example of good learning.

Some short answers to my earlier questions:

How are video/computer games being used in education today? Games used in classrooms today are largely what Kurt Squire calls "chocolate covered broccoli" (like spaceship math, or something). Serious games may be really integrated in education contexts in around 5 years (judging by federal grant spending, and projects in the works).
What, besides embodying effective pedagogical techniques, are virtues of commercial video games? One example is that games, especially MMOG's afford (instantaneous) collaborative teamwork on a worldwide scale. That's a skill valued in today's global economy.
What to people learn from making amateur movies, and from watching amateur movies (youtube movies, class assignment movies, home movies). I didn't find this out, but I did find out that a professionally produced 1/2 video (Read Between the Lions) costs thousands of dollars, teaching about 7 words per episode.
What is Brett Shelton & Co. at Utah State doing with games for instruction? They are beginning a very cool sounding game production for firefighters in Utah. Shelton & Co. are collaborating with UVSC to make a game that teaches firefighters how to make judgments and command decisions. Think Star Trek's Kobiyashi Maru for firefighters. This is great, since games reputably excel at encouraging comlex, higher level thinking.
What are the theoretical leanings of other universities, and how does that compare with UW-Madison (known for Critical Theory)? All i learned about this is that at UW-Madison I hear a lot about the importance of situated learning (the social context in which a learner learns). One seminar on games was led by cognitivists (that was my general impression...cognitivists view the brain as a computer which processes information), and they seemed to stress individual problem-solving as a virtue of video games. At the end of the session, the discussant, who works for the Department of Defense, suggested they consider collaborative aspects of games for education. This made an impression on me - a federal government employee recommending the virtue of collaboration possible through games. This is a "teacher" who teaches content on which lives depend, and games/simulations are an important part of that.
How can I beat Christopher at Fantasy Baseball? I went to a Cubs/Reds game, and learned that highly rated players can lose a game in one inning.

Free Trial of LOTR Online Game

2007-04-15T19:32:00.000-07:00

BTW, there's a free trial of the new Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows on Angmar for nine more days before the official release. To the shadows of Mount Doom, past the leaves of Lothlorien!

Conferences, Conferences: A very journalish entry

2007-04-07T21:06:00.000-07:00

It's baptism by fire these two weeks. Last week I attended a two-day Apple Education conference here in Madison (Steve Jobs didn't show up:(... and no free iPhones - sob), and next week I'm going to Chicago for AERA (American Educational Research Association). The Apple conference, a relatively small, localized deal, probably had about 100 people participating. AERA will be in the thousands.

One thing I've learned in graduate school is that good questions are often better than good answers. So here's are questions I'd like answered while at AERA:

How are video/computer games being used in education today?
What, besides embodying effective pedagogical techniques, are virtues of commercial video games?
What to people learn from making amateur movies, and from watching amateur movies (youtube movies, class assignment movies, home movies).
What is Brett Shelton & Co. at Utah State doing with games for instruction?
What are the theoretical leanings of other universities, and how does that compare with UW-Madison (known for Critical Theory)?
How can I beat Christopher at Fantasy Baseball?

Hopefully this list will help me get the most out of my time in the windy city!

How do I know what I think 'till I see what I say?

2007-03-31T05:34:00.000-07:00

When I was living at my Grandma Blakesley's house I stumbled upon a few "one subject" spiral notebooks. I'm not sure what Grandma used them for, if anything, but I've habitually used them since for a journal/idea book that I take with me most places. I think of her a lot when I use them.

Benefits: they're light, compact, cheap, and come in several delightful colors. Disadvantages: I suppose they could rip easily, but I haven't had issues with that so far.

A graduate school professor once advised that writing is key to developing, understanding, and retaining thoughts. I've found that if I'm not writing daily, many things I learn are forgotten. And it's cool when writing produces new new ideas.

I guess this is a little plug for writing, but mostly a thanks for those notebooks at Grandmas.

new trailer: pirates of the caribbean 3

2007-03-21T08:22:00.000-07:00

umm, yeah, I want to see this one. Looks better than the second. Hope it's written as good as the first! Notice shots in the trailer of the Utah salt flats

http://www.moviecitynews.com/views/2007/070318_POC3.html

Wife-o-Meter

2007-03-14T04:22:00.000-07:00

Shigeru Miyamoto, the video game design living legend who made Donkey Kong, Mario Bros. and Zelda, gave a keynote last week at the Games Developer Conference. He used the symbol of a "wife-o-meter" to describe how successful his games are at winning approval from his wife. DK and Mario Bros. were low. But the Nintendo Wii console ranks very high on the wife-o-meter, he says, for social and family participation reasons.

I never really knew this before, and maybe it's because of Miyamoto, but Nintendo operates on a mission to make games that (cliche as it sounds) the whole family will enjoy. In a way this means their games have to be really good to keep different age groups interested.

We should all get a Wii to make our women happy!

Musing Ian's Day

2007-03-05T19:46:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday Ian! In my 28 years, I've had the joy of attending many of Ian's birthday parties, and being influenced by his adventurous character and true sensibilities. This break dancer nicknamed Kool Rock Ski conversed many a night with me about literature, honeys, religion, and cinema while we roomed together at BYU.

In trying to remember Ian's birthday parties when we were tikes, I vaguely remember being really happy if he got a new nintendo game like Kid Icarus, or Denver Broncos stuff. I'm glad we've been friends since our youth, and not just because I got to play different video games, and play with his dad's star trek figures (just a little Uncle Scott...we'd just move the arms).

Hope you have a great day with your women, Kool Rock. Happy birthday to your blog, too:)

blakesley academy award winners

2007-02-25T20:22:00.000-08:00

For the heck of it, emily and I held our own academy awards. We asked some family and friends to nominate and vote for their favorite movies (actors, acresses, etc.), to see what would happen in contrast to the Oscars. So we had 7 nominators and 12 voters in all! Thanks to those who participated:) See you next year.

And, a while ago Salt Lake City film critic Sean P. Means said that if the Oscars were left to the masses, not the elite, Pirates of the Caribbean would win for best picture because it made the most money. In this instance of a small sample of mass, he's wrong - Pirates won for technical awards, but wasn't even nominated for best picture. Goes to prove that while people shell out money for spectacular entertainment, people generally know when they see quality movies.

And the winners are:

Best Picture: Tie between The Prestige and Stranger than Fiction
Oscar picked: The Departed

Best Comedy: Nacho Libre

Best Animated Feature: Tie between Over the Hedge and Cars
Oscar picked: Happy Feet

Best Foreign Film: Nacho Libre :)
Oscar picked: Leben der Anderen, Das

Best Actor: Kevin Spacey, Superman Returns
Oscar picked: Forest Whitaker, The Last King of Scotland (obviously a late nod to his work in "Bloodsport."

Best Supporting Actor: Philip Seymour Hoffman, MI:3
Oscar picked: Alan Arkin, Little Miss Sunshine

Best Actress: Meryl Streep, The Devil Wears Prada
Oscar picked: Helen Mirren, The Queen

Best Supporting Actress: Natalie Portman, V for Vendetta
Oscar picked: Jennifer Hudson

Best Director: J.J. Abrams, MI:3
Oscar picked: Martin Scorsese, The Departed (and Raging Bull...and Goodfellas...)

Best Art Direction: Tie between Superman Returns and Flyboys
Oscar picked: Pan's Labrynth

Best Original Screenplay: Tie between Rocky Balboa and The Fountain
Oscar picked: Little Miss Sunshine

Best Adapted Screenplay: The Prestige
Oscar picked: The Departed

Best Short, Live Action: Der Ostwind
Oscar picked: West Bank Story

Best Cinematography: The Prestige
Oscar picked: Pan's Labrynth

Best Sound: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
Oscar picked: Dreamgirls

Best Costume Design: The Devil Wears Prada
Oscar picked: Marie Antoinette

Best Makeup: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
Oscar picked: Pan's Labrynth

Best Visual Effects: Night at the Museum
Oscar picked: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

Best Original Musical Score: The Fountain
Oscar picked: Babel

Best Song: "I am I am", Nacho Libre
Oscar Picked: "I Need To Wake Up", An Inconvenient Truth

a night at borders: david schaffer, jim gee, computer games and children learning.

2007-02-20T20:56:00.000-08:00

Tonight I skipped out of class early to go see Jim Gee interview David Williamson Schaffer about his new book, "How Computer Games Help Children Learn" at Borders. It was an "Inside the Actor's Studio" kind of interview, and there was an interesting mix of people - about half academics and half parents concerned about their kids' computer game habits.

What the book is about is how Schaffer and others in the Learning Sciences dept. of UW have created a series of simulation type games currently being tested and researched as they are used by students in schools. The games imply Schaffer's vision (shared by many) of what schools need to be: tailored for the digital age rather than the industrial age (for which our schools were designed). Schaffer stated that 50 years of cognitive science research indicated that our schools are not working. By "working" he seems to mean that our industrial age schools are not adequately preparing students to compete, express themselves, and contribute in a digital age - where global economy and communication is a reality.

I like that his educational games (he calls them epistemic games) are Vygotskian and Dewey-an in nature: they place students in professional, social roles, like journalist, urban planner, business owner. Why are these computer games educational? They give students power (which, Schaffer added, equals fun), they have goals embedded in authentic contexts - meaning facts are learned out of necessity to accomplish said goal.

So what hit me tonight was that a major value in playing video and computer games is that we learn how to look at life from different perspectives because of this technology. Perspectives that for students would otherwise be difficult if not impossible to experience. Why is that good? If we're talking about Schaffer's epistemic games, games are good because after "being" an urban planner working with a community to improve Salt Lake City, for example, the student will often perform better in routine aspects of life - conversing with adults better, problem solving better, expressing opinions on current events better. All because he was able to experience a role in a simulated world.

Anyway, I'm starting the book, and thinking about the question: Of all the simulated perspectives we can experience, which ones matter?

cool video about web 2.0

2007-02-15T12:37:00.000-08:00

best sentence I read today

2007-02-14T12:34:00.000-08:00

"Gee argues that Ninja Gaiden, when taken as a piece of instruction is artfully constructed to produce learning, learning that is not just of any sort, but in this case, teaches the player to play like a ninja (as opposed to, say, like Rambo)."

-Kurt Squire

school, video games, narrative, and Wii!

2007-02-08T04:18:00.000-08:00

my advisor here at school writes 500 words a day to stay in "shape," and I made the goal to do the same for a while, so I thought today at least I'd write about school and what I'm up to at UW.

First of all, one of the coolest things I've done here so far is play Nintendo Wii in one of my classes this semester. It is really fun, and if I ever buy a new console, this is what I'll get. With all the hubub of Playstation 3 just coming out, Nintendo Wii has been a suprise hit that I think is hard to find in stores still because people keep buying them up. Why it's cool: the players use wireless "wand" like controls with wriststraps that communicate the players' motion. So sports games are popular with it - I played bowling, tennis, and baseball and had a lot of fun.

My opponent and I were standing up and active while playing, so chalk one up for nintendo being smart in making a console that encourages physical activity. The games are "simplified" (in baseball you don't field the ball, you just pitch or hit), but still a lot of fun. The other cool thing is that despite the graphics being relatively simple, you can design your own players to look suprisingly similar to yourself or people you know. And in bowling, all of the created characters lounge and interact in the background during a game, and it's just kind of fun to see. Celebrities were also characters, like Spock, and the fish captain guy from Return of the Jedi. So I'm pumped about it, and will probably buy the Wii 2 by the time I can afford to get one.

Video games are the focus I'm taking on for my dissertation, though I'm still working on finding my exact focus. Here's my thinking: I'm coming from a film background and an instructional design background, and now am in an educational program researching video games heavily. I'm interested in all three areas (or four areas, I guess), and after brainstorming figured out that I'm really interested in the "story" and how stories can be used to teach.

Right now I'm looking into the question of how the design of narrative structures in video games might impact how people learn from them. It's really broad, and I'm talking with other grad students and professors to whittle it down to a good research question, but i'm still having trouble. Story, or narrative is the commonality between film, instruction, and video games that interests me, but I'm trying to find that "so what?" answer.

Some of my questions: Would tweaking the narrative structure (or narrative architechture, as Henry Jenkins would say), of a game affect the things people learn? Are there narrative design practices that could inform good instructional design? Or does good narrative design in a game pretty much just enhance engagement of the player? It seems to me that scaffolding (supporting the learner, and then gradually taking away that support as they become autonomous) is a technique used in both video games and instructional design. Good scaffolding (think helping a child learn how to ride a bike) is a delicate thing, I think; a learner needs to feel in control of something (increasingly) to be happy while learning. So maybe I could look into scaffolding techniques used in both practices and compare.

The education world and federal government are really interested in video games and simulations right now, so it's an exciting time to be looking at education and video games. In one of my classes we're using video game design software that is being built right now in our department. Any ideas for a video game I should make this semester? Maybe I'll stick to my roots and make my own Street Fighter game.

Also, my prof. Kurt Squire assigned us to play through 2 or 3 games this semester. Sweet! By a twist of fate my brother in law James let me borrow his Playstation 2, and tons of games. So right now I'm playing "Kingdom Hearts," a 2002 hybrid of action and rpg (role playing game). I've never been big into rpg's, like Zelda, but I'm liking the genre more as I play this. The premise is that four characters from the "Final Fantasy" world are involved in a story with Disney worlds and characters. I've just started, and am a final fantasy guy trying to get off of an island. I'm getting into it.

If you've read this far, thanks for spending the time!! And if you can find a way, play a Wii!!

watched 'Der Ostwind'

2007-01-25T10:00:00.000-08:00

I loved it. It looked great, and I liked the story. I thought the desaturated look, animation, and narration made for a subtle expressionistic feel. The animation was at least equal to hollywood's 'Flyboys,' I thought. While I'm obviously biased, I'm pretty sure I'd really like this short even if I didn't know the creators.

I'm looking forward to asking Rob how they integrated some of those live action scenes with animation. Green screens? Did they use soundstages? At the LDS MPS? Cool stuff.

Sundance '07

2007-01-19T06:33:00.000-08:00

So the Sundance Film Festival is underway, and there's one film I'm really pulling for. Rob Au is the visual effects supervisor for Der Ostwind, an entry in the Short Film competition. I also knew Ostwind's director Kohl Glass, a little, and he is a smart, talented filmmaker. Rob is brother-in-law to my (and Ian's) BYU roommate Rob Rogers, and Rob Au was even in the Intro. to Film class I TA'd at BYU. So I take most of the credit for this success. Good luck Rob!! If I was living in Salt Lake I'd get up to Park City and pass out buttons and stickers for you in a heartbeat.

Sundance Shorts (including Der Ostwind) and Docs are available to watch online here.

Also interesting is that "Napoleon Dynamite" director (and BYU alum) Jared Hess is on the jury for the Short film competition. There's two other members on the jury, so even if he wanted to play favorites, it probably wouldn't matter. In any case it's good to see BYU-ites continuing to represent at Sundance!

Make news come to you

2007-01-15T10:33:00.000-08:00

If readers of this blog are, like me, checking blogs and news sites daily, you may, like me, get tired of the time it takes to open and close browser windows - often to find that no new posts have been made. Time is easily wasted.

A popular solution are rss aggregators/readers (rss stands for real simple syndication). Does anyone else use these? I use bloglines, and find it pretty useful (click here to see other rss readers) Some may find it more trouble than it's worth (bloglines is a little tricky to figure out), but I - in trying to keep up with about a dozen sites - find worth in being able to just look once at a list to see if any new post or news is available.

Here's a screenshot of my rss list:

Also, Amber got me into the dashboard feature on macs, and I use a bloglines widget on that. Technology can save time!:)

vacation pictures

2007-01-09T21:43:00.000-08:00

It's been a busy holiday break with a lot of great things happening. Here are some of my favorite pictures of us in California.

the baby blessing at Katie's family's church

notice mary fitting right in

the favorit baby lucas (left) and baby ben (right) picture

check out mike's pinstripe tux

sam and mary at the reception

the sisters

juddy's catch

"Captain EO" Clip

2007-01-03T19:45:00.001-08:00

On Judd's (aka The Rumbler) blog he brought up "Captain EO," the 3-D Michael Jackson short movie. The ensuing discussion got me curious about the movie's availability, and it isn't for sale. I found a clip, and (since Judd's YouTube link was deleted) I thought I'd embed this clip (it may run smoother if you let it completely load before playing). Judd is right - I can see the Star Trek - Borg influence. Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas have come up with such original stuff. That's great that FFC wrote and directed, and that Lucas wrote the story.

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A few pics of our little ones

2006-11-26T12:36:00.000-08:00

We're so glad baby Ben is with us!

Below is Mary and her new baby bro.

Thanksgiving Break Pictures

2006-11-25T08:30:00.000-08:00

Some pictures from Grandpa and Grandma's visit to Madison during Thanksgiving break.

Grandma Jane and Mary

I think she was asking for fruit snacks...

A shot of Lake Mendota from Picnic Point

Chris and Mary at Picnic Point

Grandpa Jimbo and Mary

Movie Review: Happy Feet

2006-11-22T11:44:00.000-08:00

Grade: B-

'Happy Feet' is such a dissappointing delight. The first half was better than I expected - full of impressive motion-capture animation, plucky scenes, and pop-music weavings the caliber of 'Moulin Rouge' (also Australian made). The story begins as a tale of a penguin who can't sing (necessary for finding a mate), and becomes an outcast due to his tap dancing talent. But then the movie gets political and preachy, with the main lesson being that we humans need to be careful where we fish. That's great, but subtlety would have been a virtue in this children's movie. I agree with Kris Kaltenbach of the Baltimore Sun, who said "let's just say this is a perfect film for penguin lovers who also are devoted members of the Green party."

Maybe this movie would be good for a 8 year old, or so, but I felt uncomfortable with my 2 year old daughter during some darkly realistic scenes.

With mixed feelings, I'd recommend 'Happy Feet' to those old enough to spell 'environmentalism.'

mary meets ben for the 1st time!

2006-11-18T07:08:00.000-08:00